August 30th, 2008
Robotic Bike Parking in Tokyo
In Tokyo, robotic arms park bicycles, speeding commuters to the office.
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A bicycle ride is a flight from sadness.
— James E. Starrs
In Tokyo, robotic arms park bicycles, speeding commuters to the office.
Posted in Policy & Infrastructure


8 Responses to “Robotic Bike Parking in Tokyo”
THAT is amazing! I really wish we had that kind of bike culture here in America.
i visited new york city once-like my friend said, there’s no place like nyc. i felt like this was the high pressure heart of the world-not an artery, not a vein. under such pressure, “diamonds” can form..diamonds of great ideas like robotic arm bicycle parking? so tokyo is the nyc of the east?
i suppose great ideas can form under low pressure too-bicycles are the original low pressure vehicle-but when you combine high and low pressures, “brainstorms” can form
While this looks really cool to see operate and the security of such a system is much better than an exposed system, I still must look at it and imagine how much space it takes up compared to a rack, how much power it uses, the maintenance costs, purchase costs, life expectancy…well, it still beats a car, but it still adds quite a bit to the operating overhead of a bicycle.
slick………..
@Timothy S
They mention a 20% increase in bicycle use associated with implementation of the system. If that’s true, I wonder if it offsets the costs?
Awesome… the best part, I think, is not worrying about your bike getting stolen. I think that’s one of the biggest reasons people don’t bike commute in the US- your car won’t get stolen, but your bike will!
Awesome… the best part, I think, is not worrying about your bike getting stolen. I think that’s one of the biggest reasons people don’t bike commute in the US- your car won’t get stolen, but your bike will!
I really want to try this place.
There isn’t much of risk of your bike getting stolen here in Tokyo. The big problem is overcrowding of the official cycle parks, which means that you often have to park illegally. Every so often the police come along and scoop up all the bikes parked illegally, then you have to track your machine down and pay a fine to get it back.
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