本給文は地域公共交通政策の策定理念や運用に関する内外格差が顕著であることの原因として交通企業の自立採算原則を重視したわが国の伝統的な地域公共交通政策と地域公共輸送に表れがちな"市場の失敗"現象への対応を重視した先進賭外国のそれとの格差に着目し, それぞれの得失について検討を加える。さらにわが国の地域公共輸送における "市場の失敗"現象が地方部だけでなく大都市圏にも表れるようになった近年の状況を諸例を用いて解説し, 地方都市の都市づくり政策と連動した公共輸送の再生あるいは大都市における快適通勤の実現など, 地域公共交通政策の基本的課題に対応するには公と民の聞の合理的な連携システムの構築が重要であることを論じる。 (英文) This paper discusses the factors in Japan which induced a large inside-and-outside difference concerning local public transport policies in economically advanced countries. As compared with Japan, in which a self-supporting principle of transport companies has been regarded as most important even in the local public transport market that has various kinds of unprofitable businesses, most advanced foreign countries have had sufficient concerns about an effective correspondence to market failure phenomena arising in their local transport markets. However, recently in Japan, some kinds of problems for local public transport have begun to be unsolvable due to the conventional Japanese way of considering transport policy. The achievement of comfortable train commuting in metropolitan areas and the revitalization of public transport in local cities suffering from the blighted inner-city problem are a good example of problems which cannot be solved without public assistance for transport companies. It also necessitates private-and-public partnership for reaching their goals. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the subjects and the policy methods used by Japanese governmental policy for local public transport, related to the possibility of the phenomenon of market failure arising.