How bady is morning rush hour in Sapporo

My group is planning on travelling from out hotel near Sapporo station to the Historic Village of Hokkaido in April. The trip is about the same time regardless of whether we go by JR train or local subway/bus. I would prefer to take the local Tozai line subway/bus to save a little money, but I also don't want to inconvenience the locals. Is it likely to be crowded enough that we should take the JR train instead or get up earlier in the morning? Every time I try to look up information on the Tozai line I get redirected to Tokyo's Tozai line. We would be headed east on the Tozai line from Odori station around 8 AM

You are heading out of the city against the general flow of commuters. There are two train line options. It is difficult to imagine why your group would inconcvienience the other train passengers (unless it is a truely huge group).

This is the official page for the state of morning congestion of Sapporo Tozai line for Shin-Sapporo direction.

https://www.city.sapporo.jp/st/documents/konzatsu_jokyo2025_3gats2shu_...

After Odori, you don't need to worry about the congestion.

Thanks for the help, and especially for the information on how to look up the details of any other routes myself. There should only be 4-6 of us, so not a huge group. I'm trying to be considerate of the locals every step of the way when I know there can be an overtourism problem partially due to inconsiderate behavior.

Note there is also the Museum of Hokkaido (a short walk or bus between the two) and also Nopporo Forest Park. I usually get the Hakodate Line to Shinrinkoen Station (don't expect too many taxis there.) When I was there in November last, we got the train back from Shin-Sapporo using JR Chitose Line.
There is also a combo-ticket that provides a discount if visiting both museums. The historic village is worth a couple of hours.