Okinawa Prefecture Department of Planning published Tuesday a summary of the results of a survey about introducing a railroad to Okinawa to serve residents and tourists.

Up to 80% of tourists said that they would like to use the railroad if it had connections with feeder buses from stations to cities not directly connected with the railroad.

70% of Okinawa residents said they would like to use the trains for transportation to work, schools, or for leisure. This was the first survey covering residents and tourists imagining the introduction of the railroad. Okinawa Prefecture is planning to use the survey results as a part of its study about the benefits of introducing the railroad to the prefecture.

The survey was conducted through a website this August. The survey received 2,105 answers from Okinawa residents, and 670 answers from tourists who had visited Okinawa within the last two years.

Many of the tourists, who said they would not use the railroad, said that. “I can visit wherever and when ever I want to if I use a rental car”, and “It would be tough to use the trains, if I have a lot of luggage.”

More than 60% of people who answered that they’d want to use the railroad said, “I would visit more sightseeing spots”. 19 of the sightseeing spots where they would like to visit if there were a railroad connection are in the northern Okinawa, including Nago Pineapple Park and Churaumi Aquarium. Eight of the spots are in mid-Okinawa, like Nakagusuku Castle Ruins and Zampa Cape.

According to the answers from Okinawa residents, about 50% of them were interested in using the railroad. However, about 40% of them had little experience of using the monorail, and they were the least interested in the railroad.

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