I've been predicting this for years. With Japan's aging population, it's a matter of time before all the seets on public transport are "silver seats" (priority seasts). On Sunday I took the Minato ku "chii-bus' which winds up and down the back streets of Azabu as it makes its way from Hiro-o to the Minato local govt. office. Every seat on the bus was a priority seat. The tricky thing is deciding which eligible person should be the one sitting down...
The "chii-buses" are actually a great way to see Tokyo, winding through residential areas and shopping strips, ferrying mostly local oldies around the local govt. area. It might be time for a chii-bus challenge!
3 comments:
You know what the next step should be? If everybody is a doddering oldie, then young people - the very people who are still working and funding those pensions! - then YOUNG PEOPLE should get priority! Pamper them, for pity's sake, so that they can continue working, earning money, paying for my pension and providing future generations to continue funding said pensions.
I also wonder how much longer JR will allow oldies to travel for free, or at massive discounts. If 50% of the population can travel for free, how the heck do do you keep the trains running?
This whole scenario is very scary.
Does the Toden Arakawa line even have silver seats at all? I never bothered to sit as I knew I'd be jumping up a minute later to give my seat to somebody. One time it was an elderly man who a few stops later started fighting with a woman who said she was 102. Their argument was over him trying to give her the seat...
But however gallant he may have been, or tried to have been, will all bus or train silver seats make any difference if people don't actually give up their seats?
I often stand up for young kids. Hiro often says the same - we need to pity them and respect them for the fact they will take over such a mess!
I suspect having a driver on the chii bus, and the fact that they are very chii probably means people are not too bad with giving up their seats. There are silver seats on the Toden - right down the back there are two - behind the back door - and I think the front has some too. :)
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