Automated bike parking in Tokyo

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Permalink Reply by Steve Jay on January 16, 2010 at 10:16am

Get rid of all the cars and bike parking becomes easy. Blow these automated, get ripped off, clamped and your wheel untrued "solutions". I presume that in Japan pole parking IS illegal. Much of what gets called illegal bicycle parking in most places is perfectly legal, unless signposted, and only a nuisance otherwise.

I reckon a good solution would be saddle hooks on railway station and carpark walls with lock loops just below. Hang the bike by its saddle, handlebars to the wall, just out of the way passing foot traffic. Low-tech, cheap and the owner has control over access to the bike.

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Permalink Reply by matthew on January 16, 2010 at 3:34pm

I was posting it to create discussion. The sheer quantities of bikes in Japan is a problem as I understand it. Nice problem to have!

Maybe one in Fed Sq would be good to create discussion and excitement. I am a fan of the basic old Sheffield stand though. Did you know many council will put them in on high street locations just from a request? If there isn't one handy outside an oft used shop, why not email and ask for one?

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Craick on February 5, 2010 at 2:28pm

Recently in Tokyo and the bike problem is way out of hand especially around the subway and shopping malls. Bikes dumped just everywhere and not chained to anything as most have built in wheel locks. Nearly every one of them has a pink council fine slip on them. Its against council laws to park bikes on the sidewalk in Tokyo but everyone does it anyway. Its not uncommon to see a truck pull up and two guys in jumpsuits take away 50-100 cylces in one swoop. They leave a little note telling people their bike has been impounded and they need to spend $50 or so to get it back. In some ways you feel sorry for them because the council just isn't taking into account the number of cylists getting around. Mind you they dont treat cars any better either.

The goverment wasn't so broke they should setup a proper proper bike swap plan. With so many people poor and out of work now in Japan there is a massive rush to cheap basic bikes. The place is starting to look more like China with hundreds of thousands of people riding bikes around. Unfortunetly they all seem to ride on the footpath as they dont want to hold up cars.

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