expected, countermeasures can be implemented. a typical example for this case is the opening of a high-speed line, which leads to a loss of most of the long-distance travelers on the old line. if it is already foreseeable that the revenues from the remaining regional or even local traffic will be much less than before, then this is the point where a transition of the old line is appropriate. starting from a much higher level of public acceptance prevents the occurrence of a destructive spiral of downgrading and the company can be saved at its present level. an example can be seen in the third-sector rail- ways founded on former jr lines, where the long-distance traffic was converted to shinkansen [6]. typically, the prefecture owns the majority of the shares (more than 51 %), the municipalities along the line hold minor shares, and local businesses own from 10 % to 20 %. as around a dozen long-distance freight trains are using such railway lines, there is also national interest to keep them in service. figure 6 shows a train in hachinohe belonging to the aoi mori rail- way, which runs the local services to aomori. by displaying the mas- cot in large size, the connection to local communities is strength- ened and social acceptance improved [6]. the secret, however, why ppp has been successful in japan is related to the prevalent work mentality of the operating staff as well as the managers. let us explain how this psychosocial and cultural attitude against work affects the financial situation. railways are a predominant example of how to maintain security. in japan, the fol- lowing four pillars of risk prevention are commonly embraced [10]: (1) reduce risk factors, (2) be aware of safety, (3) promote priority improvement plans, and (4) provide individual training to prepare for dealing with critical situations. when converting this concept to financing, it means that instead of increasing control mechanisms such as watchdogs or regulators, it is better to address the question, whether inherent safety design can prevent human errors. ade- quate and appropriate training is the best safety protection measure to deal with human or system failure, together with observation and detailed documentation of work progress. in addition, eliminating the influence of the most uncontrollable or irrational factors (e.g., short-term decisions of individuals, financial instability, or incorrect forecasts of passenger volume) have been mentioned as represent- ing the most critical success factors (csf) for ppps [4]. instead of analyzing the situation passively, active measures of leadership are the key to success. such examples are training of the staff, simple contracts, training to prevent unethical behavior, and open discus- sion to prevent asymmetric flow of information are a few issues that have already been discussed in the guidelines of good governance (ggg) as factors of psychosocial and cultural attitude making fur- ther ppps sustainable [11]. conclusion the examples of successful ppps for railways in japan were based on the willingness of local or prefectural politicians to make deci- sions for maintaining public transport, as shown with the yokkaichi asunaro railway. although it still might be a long way from csf to ggg in ppps, the more private-public partnerships are achieved, ■ the more successful and sustainable such projects will be. references [1] okano-heijmans, maaike (2012), japan’s ‘green’ economic diplomacy: environmental and energy technol- ogy and foreign relations, the pacific review, 25 [3], 339-364, doi: 10.1080/09512748.2012.685090 [2] boll, philip (2007), investitionen in public private partnership-projekte [engl.: investment in public private partnership-projects], schriften zur immobilienökonomie, band 43. rudolf müller verlag. [3] shaoul, jean; stafford, anne; stapleton, pam (2012), the fantasy world of private finance for transport via public private partnerships, international transport forum discussion paper 6, doi: 10.1787/5k8zvv6tn2bv- en, or http://hdl.handle.net/10419/68822 public private partnership best practice [4] osei-kyei, robert; chan, albert p. c. (2015), review of studies on the critical success factors for public–pri- vate partnership (ppp) projects from 1990 to 2013, international journal of project management, 33, 1335- 1346, doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.02.008 [5] van de velde, d. m. (1999), organisational forms and entrepreneurship in public transport, part 1: classify- ing organisational forms, transport policy, 6, 147-157 [6] wunderlich, wilfried (2016), rail network developments: japanese railways go for better social integra- tion, internationales verkehrswesen, 68[3], 51-53. online supplement, http://www.internationales- verkehrswesen.de/rail-transport-in-japan/ [7] mayer, oliver (2017), mehr stagnation als hoffnung: ein überblick über drittsektor-bahnen im ländlichen raum japans [engl.: more stagnation than hope: an overview of third-sector railways in rural japan], bulletin of aichi university of education, humanities and social science, 66, 135-144, http://hdl.handle. net/10424/7016 [8] saito, takahito (2015), overcoming difficulties faced by local railway transport, japan railway & transport review, 65[3], 6-17, http://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr65/pdf/6-17_web.pdf [9] personal communication with the department of urban planning, yokkachi city, march 17, 2017 [10] watari, chiharu (2014), outline of the jr east group safety plan 2018 – the sixth 5-year safety plan, japan railway & transport review, 64[10], 76-83, http://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr64/pdf/76-83_web.pdf [11] united nations economic commission for europe (2008), guidebook on promoting good governance in public-private-partnerships, http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/dam/ceci/ publications /ppp.pdf wilfried wunderlich, dr. professor, tokai university, faculty of engineering,hiratsuka (jp) wi-wunder@rocketmail.com oliver mayer, m.a. professor, aichi university of education, department of educational administration and governance, kariya (jp) omayer@auecc.aichi-edu.ac.jp 2017 european transport conference the 45th european transport conference 04-06 october 2017 casa convalescència, barcelona, spain booking discounts - deadline 30th june 2017 delegates are now invited to book their place at the european transport conference to benefit from an early booking discount. the early booking discount applies to delegates booking 3-day attendance only, with payment received by 30th june 2017: aet or ectri members standard fee* early booking fee* individual member organisation member non-member £720 €850 £800 €960 £760 €920 £690 €820 £940 €1130 £850 €995 single days may be booked from 1st july 2017. in addition, a 50% discount on booking fees is applicable to attendees from new eu member states (joined since 2004) and for young professionals under the age of 26 or with less than 5 years’ professional experience. for those involved in transport planning, research and practice, the european transport conference is the event to find in-depth presentations on policy issues, best practice and research findings across a broad spectrum of transport modes. to secure your place, please complete an early booking form online at: www.etcbookings.org *all fees shown are subject to 20% vat. standard fees may be subject to alteration due to fluctuating exchange rates. international transportation (69) 1 | 2017 25