Japan – shared bus-taxi powered by used cooking oil encourages community interaction

Tottori Ecotown 2020, an incorporated nonprofit organization in Tottori Prefecture, conducted a two-month pilot project (Dec. 2004 – Jan. 2005) which provided transportation services using eco-friendly shared bus-taxis powered by cooking-oil waste collected from households. Japan for Sustainability reports that the bus, called Inaba EcoLimo Waiwai Go-Go, made two round trips a day between Wakaba-dai (location of the Tottori University of Environmental Studies) to Karo via Tottori University, a route not covered by public transportation.



Passengers can ride without charge if they obtain membership in the “Be Nice to the Earth Club.” Membership in this club is awarded to people who bring used cooking oil to collection sites at elementary schools, and to bus passengers who promise to perform eco-friendly activities such as volunteering for cleanups and buying green products at eco-friendly shops.



The NPO aims to set up a shared bus-taxi company co-organized by university students, residents and local businesses. The company will own buses powered by biodiesel fuel refined from used cooking oil, and run them in areas with inadequate public transportation. It hopes that local residents will eventually use this eco-bus instead of their private cars, reducing total use of fossil fuel use in the area. It also hopes that the bus service will encourage interaction between passengers