You know, I'm something of a tourist myself. And I am appalled at the (relative) lack of heavy public transit in Kyoto. I was dreaming up ways to tackle this and came up with: (1) Third subway line (in blue) that forms an incomplete loop around the city linking up several major tourist attractions like Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji and Nanzenji while providing connectivity with every other train / subway / tram line in the city. (2) Extending the Kitano line (in black) from Hakubai-cho to near Ginkakuji. Please appreciate my completely amateur diagram!
by EloquentManatee
15 comments
almost as realistic as using self flying cars…
Well they’ve done a better job than the city planners ever did ….. that’s not saying much but credit where it’s due. But yeah, I’d go with flying cars first.
Great idea. Start digging and report back to us in a few decades
Look! Up in the sky…
Ah yes, destroy all the old homes that live in those areas
A problem with Kyoto is that because it has a long and rich history, being the previous capital, there is always the possibility of coming across buried artefacts. Once that happens, construction halts indefinitely at enormous expense. That’s why companies are reluctant to begin risky large scale projects.
Did you think these ideas haven’t already been discussed and dismissed many many years ago?
They used to have a tram that runs up and down the Horikawa dori. I’d say they should bring that back, taking passengers from the main train station to the Golden Pavilion, and then loop back connecting the Arashiyama train lines, before returning to the train station. If they use the Showa era styled carriages, it would be a big tourist attraction too!
The thing is, Kyoto actually had plans for a more extensive and normal public transportation system, but they had to stop because they kept finding old artifacts. It’s not that the city doesn’t realize a subway is desperately needed, it’s that they can’t do the digging for it. (Even though I really wish they would.)
Nice! If it could loop in Arashiyama too it’d be close to perfect.
Getting from Arashiyama to Kinkaku-ji has always been bothersome.
Ah, the Wild Wild West of Kyoto, the Great Western Frontier, after the last outpost that is Omiya.
Tobakaido to Shuugakuin seems doable, maybe light rail rather than subway. I’d support the idea.
Give up on Shuugakuin to Kaege, way too much historical density to allow for construction of that magnitude.
And a reminder for the uninitiated – Kyoto used to have *trams*.
https://preview.redd.it/p0yn3p7km2ye1.jpeg?width=2896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=013a54328afc4a758c8bcbabaa993b7135c0fe9b
Well, before busses were hailed as the future… here’s a map of the old tram network.
It’s a nice idea but I think a lot of tourists don’t realize Kyoto is broke. Like with what money are you expecting them to do this with? Yes, Kyoto has huge tourism which should lead to a lot of profit but once everyone has taken their share…yeah, the city doesn’t have a lot of money. I believe they tried to do this by adding a new bus line that goes to popular tourists spots, but there’s just simply too many tourists.
Kyoto’s size and geography is perfect for bicycles. It’s only 12km from Higashiyama to Arashiyama, which would be 40 minutes at a leisurely pace on mostly flat ground. In a compact city, bicycles can be much faster than subways or cars. Whenever I’m biking around town, I’m always frustrated that such a perfect natural place for bicycles has practically no infrastructure for bicycles at all.
My proposal would be to completely pedestrianize a couple of major streets, like Marutamach Dori. A linear park with protected bicycle lanes would move more people by *orders of magnitude* than a road for cars. It would fit perfectly with the city’s historical character, and it would be more useful to more different kinds of users.
Fun fact : Road maintenance cost scales like x^4 with vehicle weight. A super fancy linear park would cost much less than maintenance for an urban arterial. Roads aren’t just ugly and dangerous, they are *expensive*.
Given that most people who come to Kyoto are here to visit the temples, they probably should leverage some kind of fee on them. They’re not taxed (afaik) and are probably the ones that most benefit from the tourism (guessing).
They’ll then probably raise temple fees, but they can choose to have a local ticket based on if you have a mynumber card or not.
They might get a bit cranky about it, but they’ve had a pretty sweet ride out of things, and if they’re part owners of the new lines?
For a tourist, you have a good eye!
The blue third subway line would be my pipe dream, and my idea follows basically yours. Funny enough, there used to be a tram line that basically followed this route.
The Tozai line should also extend out to Arashiyama for the tourists, it would only be like 2-3 more stops on the Tozai line from the current terminus (Uzumasa Tenjingawa)
Kyoto would never need anything else really.