1. Introduction
In Kumamoto we use buses and trains to move as transportation. We also sometimes may use subways. We can use many kinds of transportation to shorten our movement time, and they are convenient for people.
Auckland is the main gateway to New Zealand and center of commerce and industry. There are many various people in Auckland. They use buses, trains, cars so on. There are a lot of hills, so few people use bikes and motor bikes. They use cars the most. However buses and trains are also important transportation. Many people in Auckland who go to school, office and sightseeing mainly use buses and trains.
This paper researched about the systems of buses and trains in Kumamoto and Auckland.
2. In Auckland
The bus is the main transportation for people, because many buses run every day and they run on time. There are three types of buses.
One of them is called “Stage Coach”. It is the city bus. They have increasing fares according to the fare stage, from 1 stage for 1.50 dollars to 8 stages for 9 dollars. This type of bus is popular. They run on weekdays more than on weekends because these buses are for people who go to school or work on weekdays. There are some buses which we can get on for free again and again in one day.
“The link” is a bus following a circular route in Auckland. They run pass through the business areas and sightseeing areas. For example, they pass through Britomart station which is the largest station there, Queen Street which is downtown, Sky City which is a big tower called Sky Tower in, so on. This type of bus is good for visitors. The fare is uniformly 1.50 dollars.
The third type of bus is called “City Circuit”. It is a free bus. It runs through Auckland city, mainly down Queen Street. Queen Street has many clothes’ shops and sweet shops, so it is popular among students. “City Circuit” is often used by students who like shopping. These buses run every 10 minutes, so they are useful for people.
Next, this paper will discuss how to pay fares. In Auckland, fares are paid when passengers get on the bus. Also
[1] When the passengers pay fares, they exchange greetings with the driver like “hello”, or “how are you” so on. In this way, they have good communication with each other.
Trains are used next to the bus. Three railways extend from Britomart Station to east, west and south. This station is the central place in Auckland. It took 204 dollars to build it and it has won numerous design awards and is internationally recognized for its innovation because of the beautiful design of this building. These railways were opened in 2004. The station is underground, because subways will run from this station in about 10 years from now. These trains often don’t run on time, so they aren’t used by students and workers so often. However this system is gradually being improved. (“Britomart Station” Wikipedia, 2008)
Next, this paper will discuss about how to pay a railroad fare. The passengers buy tickets from the person making a round the seat to sell them to their target stations. When they get off they don’t need to hand the tickets to the station staffs.
Cars are the most convenient, so they are used in transportation by citizens. Traffic density of Auckland is not so much, and there are simple and wide roads. Almost of their cars are they made in Japan,
[2] because Japanese cars have good endurance.
A lot of used cars are imported from Japan, the main trading partner. There is left traffic, and the ratio that a Japanese car occupies is extremely large. The company of the car imported most is HONDA. (“Driving rules from Rental Car, 2008)
２. Kumamoto
The biggest bus terminal in Kumamoto is Kumamoto Traffic Center. It has a lot of stores, a bakery, fashion stores, and souvenirs so on.
When passengers get on the bus, they should take number tags from the machine at the entrance of the bus. When they get off the bus they check electrical board which indicates their fares and pay it at the exit of the bus near the driver’s seat. Children who are under the junior high school need half of adults. Passengers say to drivers “Thank you”, or say nothing.
There are four kinds’ of buses turning into there; “Sanko Bus”, “Kumamoto City Bus”, “Kumamoto Electric Railway Bus”, and “Kumamoto Bus”. (“Kumamoto Traffic Center” Wikipedia, 2008)
“Sanko Bus” is bound for Fukuoka, Miyazaki, Amakusa, so on. It works all over Kumamoto prefecture. The fare gradually increases from 130 yen. This type of bus works weekdays more than weekends.
“Kumamoto City Bus” is operating the Kumamoto city all over (The Tazaki west is excluded). Because it is a bus of the public management, it rides into many of facilities for tourist and communal facilities. Also it runs to residential areas.
“Kumamoto Electric Railway Bus” is bound to Kikuchi. It works once an hour, but the time students go to school and go back home is three times an hour. The fare is from 130yen to 800yen.
“Kumamoto Bus” is nicknamed “Red bus” by citizens, because the outside color of it is red. It runs from Kumamoto Traffic Center to southeast of Kumamoto city. This type of buses runs to Kosa and reaches to Misato town.
There are several lines of railways. One is from Hakata station in Fukuoka prefecture to Kagoshima station, and other runs for Oita prefecture through Aso, other runs to Misumi near Amakusa city. There is no “Shinkansen” yet running through Kumamoto, but it will run through Kumamoto from 2011. It will be arterial railroad to which it can run speed of 200-kilometer per hour or more in the main section. (“Shinkansen” Wikipedia, 2008) These trains always run on time, so a lot of students and workers get on them. The passengers buy tickets before getting on the trains, and then they hand the tickets to the station staff.
Next, this paper will discuss about cars. The almost every adult has the car. Some people have cars made in Japan, and others have imported cars. The popular companies of Japan are Toyota, Suzuki, Nissan, so on. Many people choose the cars by the design and the functionality.
4. Conclusion
From this research, there are many buses which run a day in Auckland and Kumamoto. This is the same point. In Auckland, they use buses the most to go to school or work because they run on time and many buses run through Auckland city every day, and Auckland people use trains to go far away. On the other hand, both trains and buses are used by students and workers.
As to different points of the trains, in Kumamoto, the announcement in a platform tells us them to arrive and the announcement in them tells the next station. On the other hand, there are no announcements in Auckland. Auckland people find the station’s name they want to get off, looking at electric scoreboards.
As for cars, the traffic regulations are almost the same between Auckland and Kumamoto.For example, vehicles drive on the left side of the road, and drunken driving is severely punished. The speed limits of Auckland are 100km on the open streets, and 50km on the urban streets. In Kumamoto, they are 50km on the open streets, and 30 km on the urban streets. However cars run more slowly in the morning, because of traffic jams.
5. Bibliography
Driving rules from Rental Car (November 2):
http://www.j-rentalcars.co.nz/rules.htmlBritomart station (2008. October 20) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britomart_Transport_Centre
Shinkansen (2008.October 20) in Wikipedia:
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E5%B9%B9%E7%B7%9A
Bus companies from 熊本県の路線バス（2008.October 20）
http://homepage.mac.com/usagi_piki/hanasi/bus_kumamoto.html
[1] Surprisingly, when I got on the bus with my host mother, Jillian Fleming, in Auckland, she told me to pay fare.
[2] Ms. Jillian Fleming told me “Japanese cars stand long use, so I use one of Japanese cars made in Honda. Honda and Mitsubishi are popular In Auckland”.
1347 words
