Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 19 august 2019

Can Tokyo's efficient rail system handle Olympic strain?

By ALEX BARREIRA the level of congestion in
Associated Press subway cars down to be-
TOKYO (AP) — First, Tokyo tween 150-180%, a fairly
Olympic fans will have to pleasant day for Tokyo
find scarce tickets and commuters. Also, perhaps,
pay the price. Then there's a lofty goal.
the quandary of landing a Taguchi and organizers
hotel room with rates that agree on one thing: keep-
are being inflated due to ing Japanese workers at
unprecedented demand. home during the Olympics
And the summer heat and could go a long way to-
humidity will be off-putting ward solving the problems.
for some. Organizers are asking com-
Then there's one more panies in Tokyo to encour-
hurdle: getting around, or age their employees to
even finding a tiny space work from home during the
to stand on Tokyo's famous- Olympics, which open on
ly efficient but over-stressed July 24, 2020, and close on
rail system. Aug. 9. They say more than
Japanese professor Azuma 2,000 companies have
Taguchi at Chuo University agreed to participate.
has researched Tokyo's sys- Tokyo University professor
tem for years and says it's In this July 26, 2019, photo, an officer monitors the flow of public transportation in front of a screen Katsuhiro Nishinari is working
already running at double showing Tokyo's web of train lines at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's traffic control with the organizing com-
its capacity and the Olym- center in Tokyo. mittee, an expert in what
pic crunch could push it to Associated Press he calls "jam-ology" — the
the breaking point. 200% capacity as giving committee question Tagu- are often overestimated study of crowd behavior.
"When peak capacity is passengers just enough chi's dire predictions. They and subsequently man- "We're used to having one
twice or three times above space to read a magazine. acknowledge the railways aged, as was the case in game per day at the sta-
normal, it's possible some This probably represents a will be packed with 800,000 London in 2012. Potential dium, but at the Olympics
people could be killed," Ta- normal commuting week- added passengers daily. tourists sometimes stay we have a tight schedule
guchi told The Associated day in Tokyo. They also anticipate that away, knowing it's a bad and we have 3-4 games
Press. At 250%, they "cannot even Tokyo expressway conges- time to visit with prices soar- in one day," he said. "We
His computer simulation move a hand." tion will double. ing. That happened in 2008 have to exchange the au-
predicts that the biggest Taguchi's study predicts Hoping to head off the in Beijing and again three dience two or three times.
wave of Olympic specta- 15 stations will experience crowding, the commit- years ago in Rio de Janeiro. That's where we don't have
tors will collide with work greater than 200% capac- tee wants to launch a "Living in Tokyo we experi- experience."
commuters at popular ity, with several reaching smartphone app, boost ence this 100%, 150%, 180% Another major challenge
transfer stations during the nearly 400% at their peak. multilingual signage, and crowding every day. We will be convincing a fa-
morning rush hour, while Since Tokyo last hosted the use boats and robot-as- know how to navigate the mously industrious work-
small stations closest to ven- Summer Olympics in 1964, sisted technology to help stations at these times," said force to avoid the com-
ues will be overwhelmed. railways have designated fans and commuters get Katsuhisa Saito, the head mute — or the office alto-
Add to the mix, newcomers special oshiya, or "push- around. As with all Olym- of transport strategy for To- gether — for two weeks
carrying luggage aboard ers," to pack commuters pics, authorities are testing kyo's organizers. "The main next summer.
subway cars and struggling into rush hour cars— often special highway lanes and concern is when foreigners "We're explaining to all the
to maneuver off the train wearing white gloves. Lo- altering the city's transit attend these events and companies and the media,
and through crowded sta- cals are accustomed to flow. use the stations. They might asking people not to work
tions. the treatment, but visitors Concerns about transpor- not know how to deal with during those two weeks,"
Tokyo transport officials may not be. tation are nothing new at this." Nishinari said. "Just enjoy
characterize train cars at Tokyo's Olympic organizing the Olympics, and crowds Organizers hope to bring the Olympics."q

NASA picks Alabama's 'Rocket City' for lunar lander job

By MARCIA DUNN ry an American woman near a rocket test stand at
AP Aerospace Writer and a man to the moon's Marshall one month after
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. south pole by 2024. Under the 50th anniversary of the
(AP) — NASA picked Ala- the plan, the astronauts first lunar footsteps by Neil
bama's "Rocket City" on will depart for the surface Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Friday to lead develop- from a small space station "'Houston' was one of the
ment of the next moon around the moon and re- first words ever uttered on
lander for astronauts. turn there.Three Republi- the Moon, and Houston,
Marshall Space Flight Cen- can members of Congress the city that last sent man
ter in Huntsville beat out from Texas — Sens. Ted to the Moon, should be
Johnson Space Center in Cruz and John Cornyn, where the lander that will
Houston, which managed and Rep. Brian Babin — once again send Ameri-
the Apollo lunar lander a had asked that the de- cans to the lunar surface is
half-century ago. This illustration provided by NASA on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, cision be reconsidered. developed," they said in a
shows a proposed design for an Artemis program ascent
The new lunar lander — vehicle leaving the surface of the moon, separating from a Babin, who was on the ini- statement Thursday.
not yet built or even de- descent vehicle. tial guest list, was missing Marshall is the longtime ex-
signed — is meant to car- Associated Press from the ceremony, held pert in rocket propulsion.q