Local residents in Fukushima Prefecture saw the return of public transportation on Jan. 31 after East Japan Railway Co. began a bus service that passes through the exclusion zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The service, which connects the JR Joban Line's Haranomachi Station in the city of Minamisoma and Tatsuta Station in the town of Naraha in 70 to 85 minutes, uses National Route 6 and other roads. It gives residents another option for travel after 46 km of seaside train tracks in the prefecture were destroyed in the March 11, 2011, disasters.
The Cabinet Office estimates a passenger on the new service will receive around 1.2 microsieverts of radiation per one-way trip, assuming the bus passes the exclusion zone at 40 kph. Drivers will carry dosimeters and, if requested, can inform passengers their radiation exposure levels.