Amazing Japanese Underground Bicycle Parking

Amazing

Japanese Underground Bicycle Parking

1- with urban cites not having enough street space for setting up proper bike storage infrastructure, the problem of overcrowding and illegal parking can cause potential hazards for emergency situations and general pedestrian navigation. in japan, an earthquake-resistant underground bike parking system has been developed by giken to help resolve the issue, approaching the situation through their design concept, which is based on culture above ground, and function underground. known as the 'eco cycle', the project is engineered as individual cylindrical shaped structures measuring 8.5m x 11.6m below the street surface, where a mechanically operated carrier lifts and organizes bikes into any of the open 204 stalls. the design utilizes a staggered arrangement with loading pallets that maximize the amount of storage with a minimal spatial footprint. 

A mechanical carrier lift brings each bike into a designated parking space

image - alastair townsend + kayoko ohtsuki 

Operation is easy: an IC tag mounted on the front wheel corresponds to the user's membership card-- all they need to do is load the bike onto the bay and press start. inside, a carrier lift that holds the bicycle rotates downwards, placing the vehicle into an open rack. to get a bike out, one swipes their IC card, and the automated system retrieves the bike and places it above-ground in about 8 seconds, ideal and efficient for peak, and rush hour times. 

Left: inside the high-tech underground parking bay

Right: bike share parking lot above 

 'giken eco cycle' construction

                   The individual cylindrical shaped structures measure 8.5m x 11.6m below the street surface

                                                    'giken eco cycle' construction overview

While we do have a load of cars and public transport all over the place - the bicycle is still very much a common way to get around in Japan.
So much so that finding a place to park ones two wheeler can be a problem - its even more of a problem when folks start to park illegally. 

   To remedy this problem, construction company Giken have come up with a solution which stores hundreds of    bicycles underground using a system called Eco Cycle - a robot system which stores bicycles underground in a 11 meter deep well. 

 There is a little chip inside this black attachment which will open the door of the loading bays when you push the  bicycle near it. 

          The machine then pulls in the bicycle and finds and empty slot for it by whizzing around and downwards. 

             If you watched the video you can see the footage taken from this camera we strapped to the seat.

13_This payment unit is available for owners of the bicycle parking systems to charge passers-by for stowing their bicycle away.
For these ones in Shinagawa however, all folks need to have an account.
Folks who are considering to park their two wheeler here should call up the facilities first.

For students it costs 1,300 yen to park for a month and 1,800 yen for the rest of the folks.
Folks can park and retrieve their bicycles an unlimited amount of times for this price.