Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich
Out of curiosity, what's your opinion on the subject of that article, Wizened?
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A) Tokyo is a far more orderly place- particularly in view of it's huge population- than almost any other large metropolitan area on earth. One aspect of this orderliness is a low crime rate which I am sure extends to low bicycle theft. Although I have no hard proof on Tokyo bike theft, I would not be surprised if the number of reported bikes stolen in Tokyo in 2012 was less than the 1,666 reported in Denver in 2012 (Denver Post, 7/22/13).
Bikes can be left with a cable lock, or no lock at all, I suspect in many parts of the city of Tokyo for long periods of time.
My point here is, that, as bike theft is not a big issue, that bikes are viewed more as a way to get somewhere, and less as a status symbol. Because of this, bikes are viewed differently. If you are able to ride a bike and shave 10 or 15 minutes of one's total commuter time, it is done, rather than via tailoring one's life style to be 'bike friendly' etc.
B) The Japanese, as a people, tend to respect their authorities a great deal, and, these authorities are permitted access to citizen's lives in ways hard for North American's to imagine. Everywhere you go in large cities, you are politely told via recorded voice and music messages when to cross streets, where to stand for a train, when the train starts moving, how dangerous the train is, etc.
Japanese regard obedience to their traditionally respected authority figures as normal.
C) Despite the article being written by an Occidental, a very Japanese like phrase is included in the article that hits the nail on the head:
"In order to avoid more cyclists from coming and leaving their bikes carelessly, the local government will soon impose a ban on bicycles being parked beyond the designated areas in Yurakucho and Otemachi."
The issue here to the Tokyo authorities, IMO, concerns how sloppy and disorderly the bikes are parked outside of defined areas where such parking has been permitted. The question is more of a question of disobedience to an order to park in designated areas that do not slow down passenger flow to and from Tokyo Station.
Bear in mind that Tokyo Station is a very busy train station- per data used in a youtube video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVZAJsgxyPk uploaded in 2011, the station has 1,08 million boarding and disembarking passengers per day. Per Wikipedia, Tokyo Station is the 8th busiest worldwide. To compare, also per Wikipedia, Pennsylvania Station serves 300,000 passengers per day. Per
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/02/0...ms-82-of-them/
Pennsylvania Station does not even make the list.
(the enclosed graph, with the names are in Japanese on the left, are also found in English on the site. Tokyo Station is number 8, per the English list, and per the Japanese labeled graph serves a little over 400,000,000 passengers per year.)
D) Tokyo Station is being renovated, and, this likely makes passenger access even more difficult. This factor might even be the major reason.