Design Responses > About Parking Facilities > Case Studies >
Transport Interchange
Kasai (Tokyo JP)

Underground bicycle parking serving Kasai Interlink bus train and bicycle station below Kasai Tokyo Metro Station. Parking is provided for 9400 bikes on racks, plus 600 on freestanding areas (unofficial estimate) with bikes distributed across 17 bicycle-parking areas. Access to the facility is via open access ramps equipped with ejection bands. Japanese shopper bicycles (mamachari) are stored within underground towers, each of which has a top booth where users place their bicycles on a rail-platform, insert prepaid cards and then the internal system pulls the bicycles inside and places them on available racks. For other types of bicycle there are double deck tier racks and freestanding space.

The facility is open 24hrs and staff act as guardians and technical support assistants; they sell and renew subscriptions as well as check for those who over-stay. Bicycles can park 24hrs, with a cost of ¥100/day, ¥1800/month.

Provider
Edogawa communal administration, East Tokyo Japan

Designer / Architect
Central consultant corporation (Central Consultant Inc.)
104-0042 Tokyo, Chuo Ku, Irifune, 1 Chome 4-10
TEL 03 (5117) 1061 FAX 03 (5117) 1081
E-mail: central@central-con.co.jp

Cost of provision
Undisclosed information. Funded by Edogawa Ku local administration, Central, the designer and project manager states that this design is 15% cheaper per bicycle than any facility of its type due to its large capacity

Strengths
• A major work of infrastructure that solved the provision of bicycle parking
• Gave a new clean face to Kasai station, where in the past illegal parking and abandoned bicycle problems were widespread
• Made inhabitants of Kasai feel proud of the bicycle parking - even those who are not users

Weaknesses
• The site could receive more bicycles on this site, in some areas the walkways are too wide

Useful References
jp.youtube.com/watch?v=mIUKlksL7r8
jp.youtube.com/watch?v=6QPTg_K5UCM
jp.youtube.com/watch?v=yy7nkZJQkdg
jp.youtube.com/watch?v=gCRRBmW8TAI
jp.youtube.com/watch?v=dZO91ECFvbY