Transportation

My family and I recently completed a week long mountain hiking vacation and we spent the last couple of days enjoying life in the big city, in Niigata. Niigata is a big city, but it's not exactly thriving and appears to have seen better days. Where we live it's a small town, but when in Niigata or any other large city it always seems necessary to take public transportation. By a long shot, Japan's public transportation is superior to that of America's.

My experience in America's public transportation is mostly from having lived in San Francisco and Philadelphia, though I have used the New York, Atlanta, and Chicago public systems when visiting there, not to mention having used AMTRAK on many occasions.

All government run transportation systems in America are inefficient and plagued with poor employee attitudes. The bus schedules are non existent, they show up whenever they feel like it and the trains are usually late. Of course, the employees are rude or non caring for the most part. Since they receive no benefit from being polite and no punishment for being rude or disinterested, why would we expect otherwise?

It's not uncommon that people are mugged or assaulted on America's buses and trains, especially in the subway. Just recently in Philadelphia, a woman called ahead to her family members and asked them to shoot up a bus full of people because one of the other passengers had made a comment about the way she disciplined her unruly child on the bus. The shooting was caught on film by security cameras. Something like that is not at all typical, but crime and violence in the transportation system is far too common, as opposed to Japan where muggings and assaults are most rare.

In Niigata as elsewhere in the Japan, the bus arrives and departs according to a schedule, and an on time performance is typical. We wanted to take the tourist bus that goes to all of the museums and the aquarium at a discount fare. Just as we were crossing the street toward the bus station, that bus departed. My wife was hustling to get to the bus pad before it left, but didn't make it. A bus company employee saw what happened and ran out to the street to knock on the bus door. He asked the driver to stop and open the door for us. Could you imagine a government run bus company employee in America helping out a passenger like that?

In America, on countless occasions, I have seen bus drivers ignore passengers who were knocking on the bus door just prior to the bus departing the bus stop. The driver will keep his or her eyes straight ahead and pull away, leaving the customer standing there waiting for the next bus. The drivers often shout at customers or speak in a rude command voice. It isn't even rare to see all passengers kicked off a bus simply because the driver decides they want to go home. One time, an AMTRAK employee ignored my question about a late train because he was more interested in attending to the fish that he kept in his fish bowl.

Now I doubt that Japanese employees at government run transportation systems get paid more to provide good service. It seems as if politeness and good service are expected as a matter of pride, and poor performance would result in some sort of punishment, perhaps a demotion or a dressing down. No matter the reason, the results are good, and that's what counts.

Using trains to travel instead of our car and using the city bus in Niigata all enhanced our vacation due to the polite and efficient service. Chalk up another win for Japan. Yet another reason it's better here.