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

An overground uncovered bike parking facility serving Takadanobaba train and metro station. Parking is provided for up to 100 bicyles. Access to the facility is open and has no fences and the site is located on a walkway. Parking furniture consists of wall markings and white lines on the tarmac limiting the bicycles to designated areas. The facilty is staffed by The Silver Team (retirees) who clean and reorganize the rows of bicycles, give warning tickets and remove illegally parked bicycles. They work at the site between 0700 and 1800 but are not employed as guardians so bicycle security at this facility depends primarily on the quality of their locks, since it doesn’t have any gate, walls or furniture to lock to. Subscription price vary from ¥1800 monthly (£9) to ¥5000 (£25) annually. The user is given a sticker that must go on their bicycle frames, stating the site (street name or number of the facility) within the borough and the expiring date of the subscription.

Provider
Shinjuku Ward

Designer / Architect
Shinjuku transport and roads administration office

Cost of provision
Undisclosed information, but staff member stated its funding is annually included on road marking and road signage budgets of Shinjuku ward

Strengths
• Reordering and regulating stationary bicycles, assigning paid bicycle parking areas, is a good way of organising the public space
• The site is allocated within 30m of the train station gates, making it very convenient

Weaknesses
• The lack of security on the overall infrastructure, or shelter for the bicycles, reveals little concern about crime
• Some users (5 of 6 spoken to) consider the cost of parking not as a 'service' to be paid for but as an 'expense', i.e. a rent for the privilege of leaving a bicycle in public space without the fear of getting the bicycle removed by the local authorities and without having to pay expensive fines (¥3000, £15)
• The lighting around the facility is extremely poor and bicycles can be a hazard for pedestrians at night
• The street has a steep rise of 15 degrees so bicycles are parked transversely. As a result bicycles occasionally fall downhill pushed by the next bike in a domino effect

Useful References
www.city.shinjuku.tokyo.jp