102 N. KONO ET AL.
city's own funding. The YGP model project involves monitoring house-
holds from the YSCP pilot study area, and companies have introduced
home energy management systems (HEMS) and PV systems to these
households.
Regarding voluntary actions and environmental ethics, the energy
sector elaborates on lectures on HEMS introduction. Citizen education
programmes focused on energy saving and nature conservation are also
promoted.
(2) Waste
The waste sector is characterized by the G30 plan, a general waste disposal
master plan for 2003–2010. This plan is designed to reduce waste to be
incinerated by up to 30 %. In 2006, the G30 succeeded in reducing 36 %
of waste levels compared to 2001 levels. The 2011 “Yokohama 3RMu
(dream) plan” focuses on reducing total waste quantities by recycling
materials.
The direct charge system for household waste has not been introduced
in Yokohama (embedded in a municipal tax), but bulky waste charging
systems are in place.
As for voluntary actions, the G30 action plan emphasizes citizen part-
nerships for recycling and separating, and city offi cials are largely satisfi ed
with the results.
(3) Transportation
The transport sector emphasizes the development of environmen-
tally friendly modes of transport, for example, public transit and
NMT. Regarding public transit usage, the “15-minute walk from any-
where in the city to a transit station” plan, or the “station power promo-
tion” plan, created in 1997 focuses on the development of amenities in the
vicinity of every transit station. In 2006, 88.4 % of this goal was achieved
(City of Yokohama 2006 ).
In Yokohama, the use of NMTs, transportation that does not involve
motor power, is encouraged. The Yokohama government developed the
“Yokohama Bicycle Path Creation Policy” in 2007, which aims to develop
a new transport option and to ensure safe NMTs. NMT promotion effects
have also been conducted as social experiments on community cycling.
The Yokohama Bay Bike system conducted experiments from 2011 to
- As of 2015, the system is now widely used among citizens and tour-
ists at affordable prices.
Plans for the economic transportation sector have introduced 100-yen
buses for weekend and holiday operation. The buses run alongside tourist