The NPO ‘Kibaru! Furusato Tango’ in Kyotango City, Kyoto Prefecture, will begin serving the Japan’s first car sharing by using Uber app on May 26 2016. The service is approved for a local government or a local-oriented organization in depopulated areas, and an individual without a taxi license can carry people by his or her own car. In the case of Kyotango City, the car sharing service is based on the Uber app, provided by a driver meeting conditions with a registered car.
Since all of the taxi providers withdrew from their businesses in Kyotango City in 2008, the local government has operated an on-demand bus for local residents. It is, however, true that the bus system is not convenient because it is available on limited days or in limited areas and needs a booking in advance. Also, the local bus system is not effective in terms of attracting international visitors to the region.
The NPO has accordingly decided to use Uber app with 45 different languages and a credit card payment system to improve the local transportation network. Operation hours are from 8:00 to 20:00, and the fare starts with 480 JPY for the first 1.5km and adds 120 JPY every 1km after the first 1.5km.
In Japanese
