The Opening of Okinawa Urban Monorail

In August 2003, rail transportation returned to Okinawa, a southern resort island of Japan, after an interval of 60 years. During a period of about 27 years after the Pacific War, the towns in Okinawa were ruled under occupation by United States, roads grew and propagated almost spontaneously and car transportation was prioritized. Particularly in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa, chronic traffic congestion occurs due to concentrated population and industry. Under these conditions, initial work began in 1981 on a project to develop a monorail, but it took more time than expected to obtain the consent of bus operators, assure profitability and find solutions to various other issues. Despite the delay, development of urban facilities and town areas to be served by the monorail proceeded under the assumption that it would be built. As a result, the utilization of the monorail has been, for the most part, good, and the system is expected to be an arterial axis of new public transportation in the urban area in and around Naha. This paper describes the features of Okinawa Urban Monorail, how it has been used since it opened, and will discuss future developments.