Chronicle Transport Podcast Podcast

OJ 2024, French transport takes lessons in Japan

They left this summer in Tokyo and came back delighted! They are the directors of the French subways and railways. This delegation went to Japan with a question: how to facilitate traffic during the Olympic Games? Between colorful drawings on the platforms and radio messages in the subway, Tokyo has already well anticipated its Olympics next year. An example of an organization whose French experts will be inspired.

The Japanese invented a new profession. The "jamologist": Jam which means in English cap on the roads with cars, but also traffic jams of passengers in the subway.

It is precisely because in Paris, in 2024 during the Olympic Games, he will have to manage crowds of thousands of people that Alain Krakovitch, director of Transilien, the French regional train network, wanted to meet in Tokyo this famous "Jamologist". And the least we can say is that he came back delighted! " The Japanese have studied everything ! For example in escalators and contrary to what we can believe, the movement of people is faster if people stay in single file, one behind the other ! In France, we are used to make two lines, one that goes up and one motionless on the escalators. Another example, the colors ! In Tokyo they have already anticipated : on the docks, they painted large bands of different colors to differentiate urgent departures or less urgent. They are very strong to use all the floor-to-ceiling racks in the subway, you have indications. "

Part of the competitions will take place on the new Olympic site of Fukushima, the city affected by the accident of the nuclear power station in 2011. With the Olympics Japan has decided to restore its image to the world and for this, the Japanese have them also took lessons abroad by learning to open up. For Jean-Francois Estienne, economist of Japan, one of the central issues is the development of languages. " They take this from their geography : the art of anticipation ! The Japanese live on islands that may be prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. They therefore have a very sophisticated emergency information management but their weak point was for a long time the lack of language courses. During their Olympics in 1964, tourists and foreign fans had a hard time finding their way or getting information because the Japanese in the street could not speak English. The situation has improved significantly. Today, whether English or the languages ​​of their neighbors, Korean or Chinese, the younger generations are doing well. "

To smooth the crowds next year, the Japanese had two other great ideas: organize free concerts at the exit of the stadiums: this will prevent everyone from getting on buses and subways at the same time. And more generally, encourage teleworking and staggered hours to avoid employees busy hours anyway already busy with tourists and supporters.

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