Tokyo ward to survey Imperial Palace running route

Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward plans to survey a running route around the Imperial Palace after it received complaints from joggers and pedestrians.

The five-kilometer route around the palace is very popular among runners as they can run without stopping at traffic lights.

The ward established nine rules for the route in 2013. Those include yielding to pedestrians, running in a single line in narrow sections and running counterclockwise.

But ward officials have received complaints from people who said they were forced to step aside or almost bumped into runners who were going in the wrong direction.

The ward plans to survey the number of runners, pedestrians and cyclists using the route by the end of this fiscal year in March. It also plans to look into how people could collide into each other and how issues could occur.

Based on findings from the survey, the ward plans to increase the number of signs and install security cameras accordingly.

Ward officials say that it is important to ensure the safety of pedestrians. They also say they will conduct the survey swiftly and use it to draw up effective measures.