Now, I don’t know about you but the last time I put something in the ground, I ended up with this….
Pretty isn’t it? Yes I thought so too.
However, Japanese cyclists are planting something rather different into the ground – their bikes. Take a look at this..
This, my cycling brothers and sisters, is the Giken Eco Cycle system that has taken Japanese cycling to a whole new level…mainly underground. The Eco Cycle system is capable of storing up to 200 bikes at any one time and it does all of this 11 meters below Tokyo’s streets.
Cyclists join the scheme and for the equivalent of just 28 pence per day, they can rest assured when they park their bike, it will be safe when cycling around the city.
So how does this technological marvel work?
Well, cyclists have a microchip placed on their bike containing their information so when they approach the storage system, it opens up and they place their bike in the stand.
After placing their bike into the designated zone, mechanical arms clamp it into place. The owner’s then swipe their membership card to approve the storage. It is then taken underground and stored in an individual space and its location is stored in the system ready to be collected.
When the user comes back, they simply swipe their card and their bike is retrieved and brought back to the surface. The whole process takes about 16 seconds to store and retrieve each bike.
Brilliant!
Will we ever see them in the UK?
Who can say?
“Boris Bunker” anyone?
Let's Ride Birmingham! 