A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MICRO ELECTRIC VEHICLE IN THE METROPOLITAN SUBURBS

The purpose of this study is to clarify the effectiveness of MEV in Saitama, the metropolitan suburbs based on the demonstration tests in 2014. Although the car depended areas are relatively less public transport coverage, aging population is just increasing in such areas, so they need to suffer from the difficulty of moving by themselves. In downtown, public facilities are widely spread, therefore, people should take a long walk from the central station to reach these facilities. Tackling these issues, we had two demonstration tests. The former was held at Kawai area in Iwatsuki-ward, where public transport is not convenient. In this test, people who took MEV class, could drive free two MEVs in the area. We found that older people tend to shop or go hospitals by MEV driving. The second demonstration test was tried around Omiya Station, the central station in Saitama. We set 34 stations and put 9 MEVs in this area, and operated one-way car sharing system. As a result, we found that high percentage of people tend to use MEVs within the central area in the weekend and weekdays.