Bicycle Austin forum

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Underground Bicycle Parking Systems in Japan

Hmmm....

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=pcZSU40RBrg

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,455

Website

Re: Underground Bicycle Parking Systems in Japan

That new system will be full in no time.  There's a shortage of bike parking in the major cities.  They actually have multi-story above-ground parking garages *just for bikes*, and they're often full or nearly so, as are the *bike parking lots* surrounding train stations and shopping centers.  And even with all that, people still park their bikes illegally on places like sidewalks, which causes problems for pedestrians, wheelchair users, and strollers, but with insufficient parking it's easy to see why that happens.

The fee to park in a garage starts at about $1, I forget how much time that buys you, probably a few hours.  Commuters can also sign up for monthly plans.

Interestingly, though the Japanese bike way more than we do, very few of them bike all the way to work, because the trains go everywhere, and because there aren't many bike lanes.  (Though on the plus side, Japanese drivers tend to be a lot more careful than American drivers.  And road rage is unheard of there.)  Also, you can't take you bike on the train.  So, someone there will generally bike to a train station, then park their bike and take the train to work or shopping.

Electric bikes are very popular with housewives, many of whom use their bikes to cart around the kids or groceries.

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: Underground Bicycle Parking Systems in Japan

Excellent.
Thank you for framing in some of the details.
My wife lived in Tokyo for a bit. She was amazed at how well she was able to get around via running and the trains. She just wore running shoes and a girly compression back pack.
Our cycling looks a lot more exciting than theirs, though.....