The Community Bus Yawata (コミュニティバスやわた)
The Community Bus Yawata is the bus route managed by Yawata City, while Yawata City commissioned the Keihan Bus Co. Ltd. to operate the bus route.
This article also describes about the Yawata City North-South Bus Route established for testing and researching for the substantiative experiment. This Yawata City North-South Bus Route was the publicly demonstrated route.
The Community Bus Yawata is operated by the Keihan Bus Co. Ltd. Otokoyama Management Office, while the Yawata City North-South Bus Route is operated by the Keihan Bus Kyotanabe Management Office. The Yawata City North-South Bus Route ceased its operation on June, 30, 2009.
History
On February 6, 2005, the Community Bus Yawata began its operation.
On October 19, 2008, the Yawata City North-South Bus Route began its operation (it was publicly operated as a real-world evaluation until March 31, 2009.)
In March 2009, the test operation of the Yawata City North-South Bus Route was ended. Because the number of passengers did not meet the target estimate, the administration of the Yawata City North-South Bus Route decided to extend the test operation period until the end of June 2009, although the administration decided to discontinue the route after this testing period without re-launching the route as a regular service ('The Asahi Shinbun (Newspaper)' South Kyoto Edition: The announcement by the Yawata City administration office posted at Yawata City City Hall on March 5, 2009).
Operation route
The Community Bus Yawata
Hashimoto Higashi-Yamamoto - Akeno - Otokoyama Yutoku - Hikari - No. 318 Apartment Front - Izumi - Yawata Municipal Yawata Second Elementary School - Hachijyuen Front - Shimizu - Osada - Yawata City City Hall - Kawaguchi Bessho - Shimo-Nara Nikaido - Kouzuya Ishinoto - Kouzuya - Yawata Civic Gymnasium
The buses operated during weekdays (working days of the City Hall) stop by at the entrance gate of the Yawata City Hall.
"Hashimoto-Higashi Yamamoto" bus stop is situated within the residential area, about 10 minutes away in the walking distance from the train station, Hashimoto Station of the Keihan Main Line (Kyoto Prefecture).
The bus stop "Otokoyama Yutoku" is located about 50m north of an intersection, while this intersection is 100m west from the Otokoyama Bus Garage (two traffic lights away in distance).
The Yawata City North-South Bus Route
Matsui Yamate Station - Kinmei Park - Gokoudani - Kubota - Osada - Yawata City City Hall Front - Yawata City Station
Passenger Fare
The Community Bus Yawata
Adult: 200 yen/Child: 100 yen
1-day pass: (Unlimited ride available only for this route) 300 yen (common price for an adult and a child)
Multi-trip coupon tickets for this particular route are also available for purchase.
One bundle of coupon tickets: 1000 yen (11 one-way trip tickets for 100 yen each)
Limited to those passengers transiting from Oshiba/Shokado and Yawata Municipal Second Elemental School to Mino Yamaguchi area, the fare is reduced to 50 yen (common price for an adult and child).
The PiTaPa IC Bus Card shared among all the buses operated by Keihan Group is not accepted for this bus route.
The Yawata City North-South Bus Route
Adult: 290 yen/Child: 150 yen (the price reflects the fare for riding the entire route)
The PiTaPa IC Bus Card shared among all the Keihan Group buses is accepted for this bus route.
Operating vehicle
The Community Bus Yawata
The buses being operated for this route are two buses called 'Poncho' by the Hino Motors, Co. Ltd., both owned by Yawata City, while one bus for the substitutional usage (the company registration number of this vehicle is 503M) is stationed at the Keihan Bus Otokoyama Management Office and registered as "the bus for a pick-up service."
The Yawata City North-South Bus Route
This route is under operation with two medium sized buses (W-3175/W-3179) and three medium sized, short length buses (W2007/W2008/S-1065). Those buses running through this bus route are fitted with the symbol marks of the route at the front and the side of their bodies.
Other notes
Although the Community Bus Yawata Route was at first established for testing purpose to conduct a real-world evaluation for the period of one year, the operation period of the route was later extended for another year from the first expiration date of the test in 2006, and again another year from the second expiration date of the test in 2007. However, this route is still under operation as of the year 2008.
The timetable of the Community Bus Yawata was set up by considering the connection of the route with the Yawata City North-South Bus Route.