Japan's the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport selected a total of 23 regions for studies on bicycle-sharing in fiscal 2002: 14 to study social factors and 9 for a survey on roads.

The social experiment has been conducted since fiscal 1999 to determine whether or not to fully implement new road-use policies being considered. The experiments include bicycle-sharing around JR Ueno Station and transforming International Street in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, into a transit mall, where vehicles other than public transportation are restricted and priority is given to pedestrians.

The bicycle-sharing experiment uses abandoned bicycles. A total of 9 bicycle rental stations will be designated around Ueno Station, and ID cards will be used to control rentals and returns. Bicycles can be rented and returned at any of the 9 stations.



Posted: 2002/08/26 02:40:56 PM
Japanese version

TAG Government , Transportation