Charters are the official grant issued by Parliament, through the Chokkyo-jo iinkai {Royal Charter Committee for cities and metropolitan areas, or the Letters Patent Committee for other population centers}, to a person or group that have petitioned to start a chartered population center. To obtain a charter you must first register your intention to start a population center, what kind, and where with the Civil Service office of the chiku in which you plan to establish your settlement. You will receive a receipt detailing the submitted information which will then be taken to the Common House MP’s Chiku Jimusho {district office} and a list of the requirements needed to establish and continue your proposed population center, and the documentation you need to prepare and complete will be presented to you. Once this is done you present all the pertinent documents to Parliament’s Letters Patent Committee to arrange your first interview. After the thorough planning of a future population center is presented, negotiated, revised, and approved, with any additional provisions or exemptions by the Committee, the charter is issued. A Charter may be revoked for committing a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth within the charter, failing to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the standards identified within the charter, failing to meet the accepted standards of fiscal management, or violating any provision or law from which the charter population was not exempted from. A Charter may also be issued by the Ichizoku for road stations, villages, towns, and industrial parks within their landholds at their own standards. Chartered communities have a different tax base, and land purchase pricing index, most often they come with significant discounts and incentives compared to private ownership. Chartered Nejiro population centers are: Road Stations generally have a resident population of fifty or less and have mixed economies Village with a full time resident population of one thousand or less, they usually have an agricultural, or recreational and/or tourism based economy Town with a full time resident population of twenty thousand or less, and usually has a mixed economic base, but there are few dozen resort towns Industrial Park with at least two industrial or commercial endeavors with a resident population (some of these have small residential villages, some have small campuses with dormitories etc.) of ten thousand or less >>>factories on Nejiro generally employ a few dozen to a few hundred operators or craftsmen whose pay rate starts at twenty two ryu an hour, a few dozen technicians to maintain and repair equipment (e.g. robots, machinery, etc.) and software whose pay rate starts at twenty eight ryu an hour, a couple of engineers to diagnose, repair, and upgrade equipment and software, a small janitorial staff, a couple of emergency response staff, a security contingent, a small managerial and/or executive staff, employees and staff generally work a nine hour shift (one of three) with an hour for lunch on a four day on, three day off schedule, they all receive at minimum - two contiguous weeks of paid vacation, two weeks of paid sick leave, and two weeks of personal days per annum<<< City with a full time resident population of more than twenty thousand, they may only be chartered by a Dai Ichizoku or Parliament Metropolitan Area with a full time resident population of more than seventy thousand, they may only be chartered by a Dai Ichizoku or Parliament Free Cities develop from a small group of chartered and/or private population centers that have grown into a population, and economy that exceeds the minimum population of a city for at least ten years. After a request from local civic authorities, Parliament may come in and negotiate a charter with local civic leadership. There are also privately owned guard gated communities that are usually near resort areas and other scenic locations, and there are privately owned industrial parks, they are usually located in cities or a metropolitan area. Waysides are automated rest stops mandatorily located every seven hundred fifty kilometers on tollways and primary highways. [avg. fuel range for semi trucks is 2300 km.] They can accommodate up to fifty vehicles, all equipped as overnight bays. They may have small landing areas for aircraft, a few have docks. They may have scenic overlooks, weather shelters, or traffic buffers. The amenities include phones, fuel dispensers, vehicle charging stations, toilets (with japanese style bidet), shaded picnic tables, maps, and weather boards. There are a large number of touchscreen vending machines selling a wide variety of products like hot beverages, media (light novels, tv-shows, magazines, music etc.) hot meals, ice cream, canned coffee, movie and game rentals, snacks, ice, sneakers, gashapon, candy, umbrellas, electronic gadgets, ties, fresh farmstand products (e.g. eggs, honey), onigiri {rice balls}, condoms, fortunes, computers and accessories, toys, souvenirs, t-shirts, fresh flowers, masks, business cards, fresh baked pizza, instant ramen, manga, canned bread, etc.. They also have wifi, emergency satlinks, waste receptacles, recycling receptacles, robot cleaners – both for the facility and vehicles, water, first aid kits, repair kits, and power stations for heat, ac, tablets, smartphones, small appliances, etc.. There are also small parts and tool lockers. All transactions at waysides are through electronic payment methods. They are maintained by the Chiku {district} or landhold they occupy, but are generally operated by corporate contractors that refill the dispensers, maintain and repair the machinery, and clean the facility. They have alpha numerical designations referring to their location and build date. Militia Oases are automated military supply depots. Oases are constructed like small bunkers, many are camouflaged, and some are partially or wholly underground. Many have areas suitable for landing VTOL’s, some have docks for patrol boats. They have fuel and water dispensers, power stations, and communications. Some have vending machines but they are only stocked with non-perishables, candy, and snacks. There are secure lockers with munitions, weapons, armor, trauma medical kits, rations, refit and repair kits, parts, tools, even boots and uniforms to refit and repair units as necessary. Right of way is obtained only with the proper encrypted access cards, codes, and biological data in some cases. The militia oases were first built along, or near the tollways to serve the Nejiro Defense Troop. These oases are maintained through the budgets and personnel of the Nejiro Defense Troop and the Ministry of Defense. In the present, all ichizoku militias, and some NPO (Nejiro Peace Officers) units may access these oases, with their access cards and codes providing tracking for budgetary concerns. The militia oasis system has greatly expanded in the last decades as the Nejiro Defense Troop and the Ministry of Defense have added classified locations to the militia oasis system that are only accessible by the Nejiro Defense Troop, and prescreened personnel with the correct clearance levels. The NPO has also built their own oases for their SRU units and for their emergency response units. Most ichizoku militias have also built their own militia oases on their landhold, on territory they regularly patrol {these must receive the permission of the chiku they occupy}, and possibly on other properties the ichizoku own. Many of these are known only to the individual militia who build and maintain them. Service Plazas are able to accommodate cars, but cater to trucks, rv’s, and buses, - especially freight convoys and digital nomad caravans, and must accommodate at least two hundred vehicles. Some of the larger service plazas accommodate as many as one thousand vehicles. They are located where tollways and highways connect or cross, at major traffic outlets, along high volume convoy routes, and near recreational and commercial destinations. Their amenities may include separate service stations - both full service and automatic, full service maintenance and repair stations, vehicle wash services, barbers, laundrey facilities, lending libraries, private showers, vehicle showrooms, gym facilities, toilets (with japanese style bidets), motels, restaurants, pubs, izakaya {japanese style bar}, convenience stores, farmstands, retail shops, scales, load boards, power stations, theaters, arcades, casinos, game rooms (billiards, pachinko, darts, mahjong), media and entertainment lounges, pleasure quarters, quiet lounges, prayer rooms, stables and kennels, health clinics that treat people and animals, business centers, sento {public baths}, news boards, and weather boards. Like waysides all transactions are by electronic payment method. Service Plazas also honor the programs and accounts of fleets and convoys. They are built and maintained by the chiku, metropolitan area, or landhold they occupy, but are generally operated by corporate contractors, sometimes several different ones. Names are at the discretion of the civic authority of the chiku, landhold or metropolitan area they reside in, but many have courtesy names provided by the contractors, and a few have art names given by their patrons. Road Stations are greatly condensed service plazas and are for the most part owned and operated independently, they rarely accommodate more than seventy five vehicles. Many are found along Nejiro’s numerous rivers and lakes and service amphibious vehicles, boats, and ships. They often house their own, or local agricultural farmstands and/or fish markets. Many include campgrounds or primitive camp sites. Road Stations mostly keep their transactions to electronic payment methods. They are customarily located along or near tollways and highways, but there are outliers, such as remote locations that are central to several nearby agricultural villages. There are a number of un-chartered road stations owned and operated by corporations. There are also some un-chartered road stations owned and operated by villages. Names are at the discretion of the owner or charter holder. All cities, almost all towns, and most villages have some sort of rail station, but many villages and towns have only unpaved roadways. While rail is the backbone of transit and transport on Nejiro, roadways are an important part of its intermodal freight transport system. Nejiroans drive on the left side of the roadway. The civilian speed limit on tollways and highways is 130 kph, urban/town roadways have a speed limit of 70 kph, residential and school zone roadways have a speed limit of 45kph. Roadways are patrolled by the NPO, planetary and ichizoku militias, and by local law enforcement units. Most civilian passenger vehicles are electric or are hybrids that use hydrogen fuel cells. All roadways must meet or exceed the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Transport, and by the Ministry of Public Safety. Tollways are the heavily engineered and reinforced road system designed to move multiple heavy military convoys quickly across the continent of Tairiku. [29.8 million sq. km = 11.5 million sq. miles] They are designed to be easily accessed and/or exited at most any point of the roadways by the planetary militia, the Nejiro Defense Troop. The road system was designed by Shuji Sugai-Izanagi, then built on the advice of the Nejiro Defense Troop leadership, with the advocacy of the Ministry of Defense, and the blessing of Parliament. They are constructed of prefab sections that contain a geothermal earth loop system to prevent ice; solar panels along the edges of the section to support the fiber optics and electric wiring for the programmable RGB lights that are also along the edges of each section to communicate traffic, weather, and other road hazards with symbols, generally kanji, and colors; and a multilayer compound road surface with armor, skid resistance, drainage and shock absorption. The tollways also have a variety of sensors and cameras running along and within the prefab sections to identify road hazards. Tollways have a maximum of three extra wide lanes in each direction, with no meridians. The Nejiro Defense Troop, Ichizoku Militia, emergency response, and law enforcement vehicles are the only vehicles exempt from tolls, and only in the course of their duties. The tolls are collected via rfid passes connected to electronic payment methods and are used to maintain the road system. Repairs and upgrades are covered by a fund, The Tollway Project, that is contributed to from the budgets of The Ministry of Defense, the Nejiro Defense Troop, and also the chiku, and landholds they occupy. New construction of a tollway must be authorized by Parliament. Tollways are numbered in the order that they were constructed. Highways are wide multilane roadways with meridians and a maximum of eight lanes in each direction. They are designed to connect tollways to other roadways and destinations, to facilitate civilian convoy travel, and to connect far away destinations to each other. They are constructed to withstand a high volume of heavy vehicles. They may be built, alone or cooperatively, by any of the chiku, metropolitan areas, cities, landholds, towns, or industrial parks that need them. Many chiku require the authorization of the office of their Common House MP to build highways. They are constructed and maintained by the budget(s) of the lands they occupy. They are also sometimes funded by tolls, or by government, guild, and/or foundation grants. There are several classes of highways: primary a convoy route; expressway a fast moving, efficient route from location to location; motorway a commercial commuter route; parkway a scenic, tree and foliage lined route to or through leisure and recreational destinations; and dual carriageway a roadway designed with increased safety features and that has trees, foliage, and fences lining the sides and meridian of the roadway as traffic buffers. Highways have alpha numeric designations that refer to their class and the order in which they were constructed, though they often have colloquial names derived from the designer or builders project name. The following roadways may be constructed and maintained by any private owner, or chartered village, industrial park, town, city, metropolitan area, or chiku that needs them. They are maintained through their own budgets, sometimes with the assistance of a toll or other user fees. Names are at the discretion of the authority that built them. Roads are roadways that travel to destinations, through destinations, and connect highways and tollways to other destinations. Roads generally have at most three lanes in either direction, and are not heavily reinforced. Some roads have special lanes for motorcycles, atv’s, or agricultural vehicles. Most roads only have pedestrian footpaths and/or cycle lanes in agricultural, and residential areas. Avenues are wide multilane roadways, some with meridians, that travel through locations and connect to roads, and streets. Large cities, and metropolitan areas may have avenues with as many as six lanes of traffic in either direction. They have wide pedestrian footways on both sides of the roadway, many have special lanes for bicycles. Landscaped, tree and foliage lined avenues are called Boulevards. Streets travel through locations, and connect to roads, avenues, other streets, and lanes. They have a maximum of two traffic lanes in each direction, with pedestrian footpaths on both sides. They are lined with buildings in commercial or industrial areas, and with trees in residential areas. Many have special lanes for bicycles. Lanes are narrow residential roadways, that have at most one lane of traffic in each direction, with wide pedestrian footpaths and special bicycle lanes. They are always heavily lined with trees and foliage to buffer traffic noise. Paths are unpaved roadways (sometimes covered in gravel, occasionally cobblestone) are found largely in agricultural areas, or tulou {large circular, enclosed, fortified, ‘earthen’ buildings with very thick walls, (some with transmetal domes over the interior) up to five stories in height - housing as many as eight hundred residents in the interior buildings}. Paths are used at large scale, long term construction areas, mining areas, and within leisure and recreational areas. They are also used in urban residential areas, usually as hutong {narrow alley} within and around siheyuan {chinese quadrangles}. Charters are the official grant issued by Parliament, through the Chokkyo-jo iinkai {Royal Charter Committee for cities and metropolitan areas, or the Letters Patent Committee for other population centers}, to a group of people that have petitioned to start a chartered population center. After the proper documentation; similar to the obligations of a koichizoku; and the thorough planning of a future population center is presented, negotiated, revised, and approved, with any additional provisions or exemptions by the Committee, the charter is issued. A Charter may be revoked for committing a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth within the charter, failing to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the standards identified within the charter, failing to meet the accepted standards of fiscal management, or violating any provision or law from which the charter population was not exempted from. Chartered communities have a different tax base, and land purchase pricing index, most often they come with significant discounts and incentives compared to private ownership. Chartered Nejiro population centers are: Road Stations generally have a resident population of fifty or less and have mixed economies Village with a full time resident population of one thousand or less, they usually have an agricultural or recreation/tourism based economy Town with a full time resident population of twenty thousand or less, and usually has a mixed economic base Industrial Park with at least two industrial or commercial endeavors with a resident population (some of these have small residential villages, some have small campuses with dormitories etc.) of ten thousand or less >>>factories on Nejiro generally employ a few dozen to a few hundred operators or craftsmen whose pay rate starts at twenty six Ryu an hour, a few dozen technicians to maintain and repair equipment (e.g. robots, machinery, etc.) and software whose pay rate starts at thirty two Ryu an hour, a couple of engineers to diagnose, repair, and upgrade equipment and software, a small janitorial staff, a couple of emergency response staff, a security contingent, a small managerial/executive staff, employees and staff generally work a nine hour shift with an hour for lunch on a four day on, three day off schedule<<< City with a full time resident population of more than twenty thousand, may only be chartered by a Dai Ichizoku or Parliament Metropolitan Area with a full time resident population of more than one million, may only be chartered by a Dai Ichizoku or Parliament Free Cities develop from a small group of population centers that have grown into a population, and economy that exceeds the minimum population of a city for at least ten years. After a request from local civic authorities, Parliament may come in and negotiate a charter with local civic leadership. There are also privately owned guard gated communities near resort areas and other scenic locations, and privately owned industrial parks. Waysides are automated rest stops mandatorily located every seven hundred fifty kilometers on tollways and primary highways. [avg. fuel range for semi trucks is 2300 km.] They can accommodate up to fifty vehicles, all equipped as overnight bays. They may have small landing areas for aircraft, a few have docks. They may have scenic overlooks, weather shelters, or traffic buffers. The amenities include phones, fuel dispensers, picnic tables, maps, and weather boards. There are a large number of touchscreen vending machines selling a wide variety of products like hot beverages, media (light novels, tv-shows, magazines, music etc.) hot meals, ice cream, canned coffee, movie and game rentals, snacks, ice, sneakers, gashapon, candy, umbrellas, electronic gadgets, ties, fresh farmstand products (e.g. eggs, honey), condoms, fortunes, computers and accessories, toys, souvenirs, t-shirts, fresh flowers, masks, business cards, fresh baked pizza, instant ramen, manga, canned bread, etc.. They also have wifi, emergency satlinks, waste receptacles, recycling receptacles, robot cleaners – both for the facility and vehicles, water, first aid kits, repair kits, and power stations for heat, ac, tablets, smartphones, small appliances, etc.. There are also small parts and tool lockers. All transactions at waysides are through electronic payment methods. They are maintained by the Chiku {district} or landhold they occupy, but are generally operated by corporate contractors that refill the dispensers, maintain and repair the machinery, and clean the facility. They have alpha numerical designations referring to their location and build date. Militia Oases are automated military supply depots. Oases are constructed like small bunkers, many are camouflaged, and some are partially or wholly underground. Many have areas suitable for landing VTOL’s, some have docks for patrol boats. They have fuel and water dispensers, power stations, and communications. Some have vending machines but they are only stocked with non-perishables, candy, and snacks. There are secure lockers with munitions, weapons, armor, trauma medical kits, rations, refit and repair kits, parts, tools, even boots and uniforms to refit and repair units as necessary. Right of way is obtained only with the proper encrypted access cards, codes, and biological data in some cases. The militia oases were first built along, or near the tollways to serve the Nejiro Defense Troop. These oases are maintained through the budgets and personnel of the Nejiro Defense Troop and the Ministry of Defense. In the present, all ichizoku militias, and some NPO (Nejiro Peace Officers) units may access these oases, with their access cards and codes providing tracking for budgetary concerns. Also in the present the militia oasis system has greatly expanded as Nejiro Defense Troop and the Ministry of Defense have added classified locations, the NPO has built their own oases for their SRU units and for their emergency response units, and most ichizoku militias have built their own militia oases on their landhold, on territory they regularly patrol {these must receive the permission of the chiku they occupy}, and possibly on other properties the ichizoku own. Many of these are known only to the individual militia who build and maintain them. Service Plazas may accommodate cars, but cater to trucks, RVs, and buses, - especially convoys and digital nomad caravans, and must accommodate at least two hundred vehicles. Some of the larger service plazas accommodate as many as one thousand vehicles. They are located where tollways and highways connect or cross, at major traffic outlets, along high volume convoy routes, and near recreational and commercial destinations. Their amenities may include separate service stations - both full service and automatic, full service maintenance and repair stations, vehicle wash services, barbers, laundrey facilities, lending libraries, private showers, vehicle showrooms, gym facilities, toilets with japanese style bidets, motels, restaurants, pubs, izakaya {japanese style bar}, convenience stores, farmstands, retail shops, scales, load boards, power stations, theaters, arcades, casinos, game rooms (billiards, darts, mahjong), media and entertainment lounges, pleasure quarters, quiet lounges, prayer rooms, stables and kennels, health clinics that treat people and animals, business centers, sento {public baths}, news boards, and weather boards. Like waysides all transactions are by electronic payment method. Service Plazas also honor the programs and accounts of fleets and convoys. They are built and maintained by the Chiku, metropolitan area, or landhold they occupy, but are operated by corporate contractors, sometimes several different ones. Names are at the discretion of the Chiku, landhold or metropolitan area they reside in, but many have courtesy names provided by the contractors, and a few have art names given by their patrons. Road Stations are greatly condensed service plazas and are for the most part owned and operated independently, they rarely accommodate more than seventy five vehicles. Many are found along Nejiro’s many rivers and lakes. They often house their own, or local agricultural farmstands and/or fish markets. Many include campgrounds or primitive camp sites. Road Stations keep all their transactions to electronic payment methods. They are most often located along or near tollways and highways, but there are outliers, such as remote locations that are central to several nearby agricultural villages. There are a number of un-chartered road stations owned and operated by corporations. There are also some un-chartered road stations owned and operated villages. Names are at the discretion of the owner. While rail is the backbone of transit and transport on Nejiro, roadways are an important part of its intermodal freight transport system. Nejiroans drive on the left side of the roadway. The civilian speed limit on tollways and highways is 130 kph, urban/town roadways have a speed limit of 70 kph, and residential and school zone roadways have a speed limit of 45kph. All roadways must meet or exceed the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Transport and by the Ministry of Public Safety. Tollways are the heavily engineered and reinforced road system designed to move multiple heavy military convoys quickly across the continent of Tairiku. The road system was designed by Shuji Sugai-Izanagi, then built on the advice of the Nejiro Defense Troop leadership, with the advocacy of the Ministry of Defense, and the blessing of Parliament. They are constructed of prefab sections that contain a geothermal earth loop system to prevent ice; solar panels along the edges of the section to support the fiber optics and electric wiring for the programmable RGB lights that are also along the edges of each section to communicate traffic, weather, and other road hazards with symbols and colors; and a multilayer compound road surface with armor, skid resistance, drainage and shock absorption. Tollways have a maximum of three extra wide lanes in each direction, with no meridians. The Nejiro Defense Troop, Ichizoku Militia, emergency response, and law enforcement vehicles are the only vehicles exempt from tolls, and only in the course of their duties. The tolls are collected via rfid passes connected to electronic payment methods and are used to maintain the road system. Repairs and upgrades are covered by a fund, The Tollway Project, that is contributed to from the budgets of The Ministry of Defense, the Nejiro Defense Troop, and also the chiku, and landholds they occupy. New construction of a tollway must be authorized by Parliament. Tollways are numbered in the order that they were constructed. Highways are wide multilane roadways with meridians and a maximum of eight lanes in each direction. They are designed to connect tollways to other roadways and destinations, to facilitate civilian convoy travel, and to connect far away destinations to each other. They are constructed to withstand a high volume of heavy vehicles. They may be built, alone or cooperatively, by any of the chiku, metropolitan areas, cities, landholds, towns, or industrial parks that need them. Many chiku require the authorization of the office of their Ministry Person to build highways. They are constructed and maintained by the budgets of the lands they occupy. They are also sometimes funded by tolls, or by government, guild, and foundation grants. There are several classes of highways: primary a convoy route; expressway a fast moving, efficient route from location to location; motorway a commuter route; parkway a scenic, tree and foliage lined route to or through leisure and recreational destinations; and dual carriageway a roadway designed with increased safety features and that has trees, foliage, and fences lining the sides and meridian of the roadway as traffic buffers. Highways have alpha numeric designations that refer to their class and the order in which they were constructed, though they often have colloquial names derived from the designer or builders project name. The following roadways may be constructed and maintained by any private owner, village, industrial park, town, city, metropolitan area, or chiku that needs them. They are maintained through their own budgets, sometimes with the assistance of a toll or other user fees. Names are at the discretion of the authority that built them. Roads are roadway that travel to destinations, through destinations, and connect highways to other destinations. Roads generally have at most three lanes in either direction, and are not heavily reinforced. Some roads have special lanes for motorcycles and ATV’s. Most roads only have pedestrian footpaths in agricultural, and residential areas. Avenues are wide multilane roadways, some with meridians, that travel through locations and connect to roads, and streets. Large cities, and metropolitan areas have avenues with as many as six lanes of traffic in either direction. They have wide pedestrian footways on both sides of the roadway, many have special lanes for bicycles. Landscaped, tree and foliage lined avenues are called Boulevards. Streets travel through locations, and connect to roads, avenues, other streets, and lanes. They have a maximum of two traffic lanes in each direction, with pedestrian footpaths on both sides. They are lined with buildings in commercial or industrial areas, and with trees in residential areas. Many have special lanes for bicycles. Lanes are narrow residential roadways, that have at most one lane of traffic in each direction, with wide pedestrian footpaths and special bicycle lanes. They are always heavily lined with trees and foliage to buffer traffic noise. Paths are unpaved roadways found largely in agricultural areas, or tulou {large circular, enclosed, fortified, ‘earthen’ buildings with very thick walls, [some with transmetal domes over the interior] up to five stories in height - housing as many as eight hundred residents in the interior buildings}. Lanes are also be used at large scale, long term construction areas, mining areas, and within leisure and recreational areas. They are also used in urban and residential areas, usually as hutong {narrow alley} within and around siheyuan {Chinese quadrangles}.