The Bicycle Parking Lots

Hello readers! As you have probably gathered from reading this blog, it’s all about gadgets. And which country has the wackiest, craziest and most up-to-date tech? Japan! So for all the readers of this blog, I’ll be writing straight from Japan, talking about all the new gadgetry which pops up here on the other side of the world.

So I was walking around my mom’s district the other day (It’s called Komazawa-Daigaku), and I saw a weird elevator-like structure on the side of the street: two of them lined up side by side. It didn’t click with me at first, but then I realized they were bicycle parking-lots.

In Japan, there is quite a big problem with bicycle parking. There are way too many people who use them and there just isn’t enough space for all of them (as you might know already, Japan also has a lack- of-space issue). If you don’t park your bicycle properly, you might even get fined. It’s that serious…

The bicycle parking lot I saw was built by “GIKEN” (I’m sure there are other companies like them that built their own parking lots around Japan), and they’ve are making/made innovations in the construction industry. You can read all about them at [http://www.giken.com/int/st/index.html ]. Their website is actually pretty cool.

It’s simply space saving. The bicycles are stored underground in a cylindrical structure, and when you put in your bicycle the built-in computer spits out a ticket which you then insert back in when you’re ready to leave: just like any car parking lot.

This idea is old, and I even remember seeing this on TV a few years back. But it seems like these parking lots have become more abundant. However, there are still too many bicycles being parked in inconvenient places. Seriously, I’m sure a lot of people might think I’m exaggerating, but it’s a major issue here… I’ll take few pictures and post them whenever I get a chance.