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Tokyo's New Strategy for Easing Subway Overcrowding: Free Soba, Tempura
CityLab:For all the efficiency that Tokyo’s subway system boasts, the morning commute is hell. At peak hours, trains and platforms are notoriously crowded, so much so that the city has to hire “pushers.” The city has also long been trying to ease crowding by asking riders to stagger their morning commute hours, and this time around, they’re appealing to people’s stomachs.
According to the Japan Times, the Tokyo Metro Co. is launching a nearly two-week-long trial on Monday urging commuters on the busiest line—the Tozai line, which runs east-west through the city—to head to work either before 8 a.m. or after 9 a.m. Those who sign up for the program and take part in it for at least 10 consecutive days will be rewarded with free soba noodles with tempura.
And as any office worker—or “salarymen,” as the Japanese calls them—anywhere will tell you, free food is hard to pass up. (For those who don’t know, soba noodles are the healthier but equally delicious cousin of ramen, and tempura is heavenly fried goodness.) To participate, riders will have to register their transit card and, according to the Times, use it before a designated time for each station along the line.
But it has to be a collective effort.
If fewer than 2,000 people sign up for the initiative, there will be no rewards give out. But if riders meet that threshold, each will get a coupon for just one piece of tempura at a restaurant that’s agreed to participate. If at least 2,500 people participate, then they will get a coupon for a bowl of soba at participating restaurants. To get coupons for both a bowl of soba and a piece of tempura, Tokyo wants to see at least 3,000 people signed up and taking part in their initiative.
According to the Japan Times, the Tokyo Metro Co. is launching a nearly two-week-long trial on Monday urging commuters on the busiest line—the Tozai line, which runs east-west through the city—to head to work either before 8 a.m. or after 9 a.m. Those who sign up for the program and take part in it for at least 10 consecutive days will be rewarded with free soba noodles with tempura.
And as any office worker—or “salarymen,” as the Japanese calls them—anywhere will tell you, free food is hard to pass up. (For those who don’t know, soba noodles are the healthier but equally delicious cousin of ramen, and tempura is heavenly fried goodness.) To participate, riders will have to register their transit card and, according to the Times, use it before a designated time for each station along the line.
But it has to be a collective effort.
If fewer than 2,000 people sign up for the initiative, there will be no rewards give out. But if riders meet that threshold, each will get a coupon for just one piece of tempura at a restaurant that’s agreed to participate. If at least 2,500 people participate, then they will get a coupon for a bowl of soba at participating restaurants. To get coupons for both a bowl of soba and a piece of tempura, Tokyo wants to see at least 3,000 people signed up and taking part in their initiative.
Slurp 'em if you've got 'em...