Car And Bus Usage in The Japan Expo Site Is Low, And Congestion On Direct Rail Lines Is A Concern.

One of the main modes of transportation to the Kansai Expo site in Osaka, Park & Ride (P&R), is poorly utilized. The lack of awareness of the system, which requires vehicles to be parked in designated parking lots and then transferred to shuttle buses, has become apparent. Organizers are increasingly concerned that if use does not increase in the second half of the event, when visitor numbers are expected to increase significantly, then this will have an impact on the railroad, leading to station and train congestion.

The parking lot dedicated to Dancing Island next to the artificial island of Meng Zhou, the site of the Expo, has a maximum capacity of more than 6,000 private cars, but an official of the Expo Association disclosed that the parking lot might not even be 10% full on weekdays after the opening of the Expo on March 13th.

There are three P&R parking lots: Maijima, Sakai City (2,000 spaces), and Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture (3,000 spaces). Reservations are required for all parking lots, but the Expo Association's website shows the reservation status as "available" every day. Jun Takako, Deputy Secretary General of the Expo Association, admitted that the utilization rate was lower than expected.

The World Expo Association estimates that 227,000 people will visit the Expo every day during peak periods; if the use of public parking facilities remains low, passengers may concentrate on the Central Line, which does not require reservations. Since the Central Line enters from the East Gate and the conventional trains enter from the West Gate, on the opening day, even if the West Gate can be passed through in a few minutes, it will take about an hour to pass through the East Gate.