Palau and Japan Collaborate to Establish Eco-Friendly Transportation System
Palau, April 24, 2024 — The series of meeting held on April 12, 2024, at Civic Center, PVA and Culture Center, Koror, marked significant progress in the “Project for Establishing an Eco-friendly Transportation System.” Palauan and Japanese representatives gathered to discuss to start the daytime bus service in Palau.
As the third challenge, following the morning and evening trial buses and the night market bus shuttle, pilot operation of the Daytime Bus had been launched from April 22, 2024, operating on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At the early stage of this pilot project, we started with a route between the Belau National Hospital and the Surangel Supercenter, which is the most active corridor in Palau. After that, we plan to expand the route and the number of services based on the number of users and your opinions. The fare will be set at $1.00 to allow as many islanders and tourists as possible to experience the service at this stage. In addition, 17-year-old and under are free of charge.
In addition to this, transportation education for children on the island is also important, and we had started to conduct educational program using public bus board game at three elementary schools in Koror.
The bus service is the first step toward eliminating the excessive dependence on automobiles on the island. This is an activity that will lead to the realization of an environmentally friendly Palauan transportation society in the future, and JICA is supporting these activities.