In the local setting, private and public bus companies coexist. As
shown in Table 1, the total number of operators in the bus sector,
including their subsidiary companies, was 1185 in 2007, of which
1147 (96.8%) operators were privately owned, while 38 operators
(3%) were publicly owned.2 Public operators typically serve urban
areas as well as some medium-sized cities. In contrast, private bus
companies operate in medium and small cities as well as in rural
areas (Terada, 2000). In 2006, public operations carried about 26%
(3024 million passengers, among operators with more than 30
vehicles) of the total number of bus passengers, possessed about
15% (8801 vehicles) of the vehicles, and accounted for 24% (179.2
billion yen, among operators with more than 30 vehicles) of the
operating revenue of the local bus operators in total.