https://tabiris.com/archives/kyotobus-neage/Kyoto's new flat fare bus ticket pricing system will have three tiers from sometime next year
>you will be able to register your IC card into a system that keeps track of your traveling to provide "resident priority pricing">currently everyone pays 230 yen per trip>under the new system tiers will form based on usage>non-registered/paying cash/less than 8 trips per month - 360 yen>8 to 16 trips per month - 320 yen>over 16 trips per month - 200 yen>or at least that's what the headlines say>in reality, you'll always pay 360 yen, and then get a cashback in Moepo points>however, you can charge your ICOCA with them at rate of 1 point = 1 yen>non-flat fare prices will also get this system, but no specific fares have been published yetWhile this system will only affect buses in 2027, the same transport authority runs the subways, and given the increasingly anti-tourist attitude of Kyoto citizens, there's a good chance the subway will get it too in a few years.
https://tabiris.com/archives/toyamachitetsu-sonzoku/ main article
https://tabiris.com/archives/toyamachitetsu-sonzoku-kaisetsu/ further discussion
Toyama Chitetsu will NOT close down two sections after all
>they were planning closure of sections marked red next year>will instead keep running on entire current network>but it will vertically separate to share maintenance and management costs for tracks, electrical equipment, and rolling stock>split 50% Toyama Chitetsu, 25% Toyama Prefecture and 25% local municipalities>national government will also put in over 5 billion yen through Railway Business Restructuring Project for various improvements>unfortunately instead of fixing it's ecomyca IC card(currently other IC cards can only buy base fare tickets, not discounted ones), it's getting credit card ticketing as part of those improvements 