Vol. 1 Mobility Bringing People Together
As the population of a small Japanese port town continues to age, a local taxi company is setting out to provide a solution for first- and last-mile mobility.
Around half of the residents of the Tomonoura district of Fukuyama in Hiroshima Prefecture are now senior citizens. Here, the small electric carts of Yamaha’s Green Slow Mobility project slowly carry both elderly locals and visiting tourists up and down its narrow and often-steep streets. Wanting to make getting around easier for people in his hometown, the leader of a local taxi company closely engages with the community to help provide a first- and last-mile solution.
As a child, he used to climb up the hill to his grandmother’s house while holding her hand, and as the town’s residents continue to age, he asked himself what he could do to help. Remembering how his grandmother would struggle for breath as she climbed the hill home, he began to paint a picture in his mind of his hometown’s future. Today, the electric carts of the Green Slow Mobility project slowly set off on their trips up and down Tomonoura’s maze of narrow and sloped streets.
For years now, the taxi company has worked to establish and provide intermodal transportation for the area. Believing it his mission to provide better means of transportation not only for the town’s locals but also for tourists, he reaches out to the community for ideas, working together to bring more life and energy to the town.
