Noted by Sarah Hoyt with the blurb:Neat news item! Thanks for posting it.
IT'S HEINLEIN'S WORLD. WE JUST LIVE IN IT.
https://www.newser.com/story/359125/japan-has-a-trucker-shortage-its-solution-is-novel.html
Japan Has a Trucker Shortage. Its Solution Is Novel
Nation plans to build a giant 'conveyor belt road' connecting
Tokyo and Osaka
By John Johnson, Newser Staff
If it works, expect other major cities around the world to
copy the idea to some degree: Japan is building what amounts
to a giant "conveyor belt road" from Tokyo to Osaka to ship
cargo, reports the Guardian. Details:
320 miles: The transport corridor would run 320 miles from
the capital to Osaka aboveground, in the middle of a highway,
per the AP. Meaning, cars would be traveling on either side
of it. The corridor would ship containers the size of a
standard closet, filled with goods. See this Japanese-language
video.
When: The first test runs are scheduled to start in 2027.
If all goes well, the experiment would be expanded to other
cities.
Why: In a word, demographics. Japan has an "intense" shortage
of truckers, per Business Insider, and that is only expected
to worsen as the nation's working-age population gets older.
This comes as online orders for everything under the sun
continue to soar. "We need to be innovative with the way
we approach roads," says Yuri Endo of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism. The project should
also cut carbon emissions, he adds.
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