- The Association, Yokohama City and Kanagawa Prefecture will run a transport demand management (TDM) trial from Monday 7 to Sunday 13 September 2026 to smooth traffic during the Expo. The city, prefecture and Association’s own measures run on the five weekdays from 7 to 11 September.
- Roads: within the area where visitor traffic is expected to concentrate (outlined in red on the release’s map), drivers are asked to detour, avoid the busiest times and directions, and logistics firms to shift delivery times and routes.
- Rail and stations: crowding is expected at Yokohama and Shin-Yokohama stations from 8:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 18:00, and commuters are asked to work from home, stagger their hours, or avoid 8:00 to 10:00.
- On Thursday 10 September, 8:00 to 9:00, a simulated pedestrian-flow test takes place at Yokohama Station.
- The stated aims are smoother traffic during the Expo and identifying problems.
- The release gives neither a visitor forecast for the Expo period nor a date for publishing the results.
Our take
Not Seya, not Mitsukyo: Yokohama and Shin-Yokohama. The Expo’s shuttle buses leave from Seya and Mitsukyo (Sotetsu Line), Tokaichiba (JR Yokohama Line) and Minami-Machida Grandberry Park (Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line), and the trial targets none of them. The organiser expects visitors from further away to change to the Sotetsu Line at Yokohama and to the Yokohama Line at Shin-Yokohama, which matches the routes in our access guide.
From 8:00 to 10:00, people heading for the 9:30 opening overlap with commuters; from 16:00 to 18:00, visitors heading home overlap with the evening rush. Five weekdays of measures, so the thing being measured is that overlap. Weekend crowding lies outside this trial.
The pedestrian test at Yokohama Station is presumably a walk-through of the transfer passages to the Sotetsu Line, though the release does not say, and it gives no date for publishing results. We will follow the Association’s and the city’s announcements and, once results are out, write up which stations and times are easiest.
Tips for visitors
- On a weekday, plan not to pass through Yokohama or Shin-Yokohama between 8:00 and 10:00. The venue opens at 9:30, but you can enter at any time after your reserved slot, so a later arrival costs nothing.
- Two of the four stations avoid Yokohama Station altogether: Tokaichiba on the JR Yokohama Line and Minami-Machida Grandberry Park on the Den-en-toshi Line. Compare them in the access guide.
- For the way back, avoid 16:00 to 18:00. The venue closes at 21:30, so either stay into the evening or leave early. Evening tickets are explained in our ticket guide.
Our take
The trial targets Yokohama and Shin-Yokohama stations from 8:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 18:00. That tells us the organiser expects Expo traffic to overlap with the commuter peaks at these two transfer stations. No date is given for publishing the results.