City of Yokohama Adopts its First ECO Cycle™

Two new facilities (accommodating 504 bicycles) to be built in front of Shin-Tsunashima Station on the Tōkyū Shin-Yokohama Line, opening March 2023

2022.10.25 NEWS RELEASE

The City of Yokohama has decided to build two underground ECO CycleTM facilities accommodating a total of 504 bicycles in front of Shin-Tsunashima Station on the Tōkyū Shin-Yokohama Line (currently under construction) in the city’s Kōhoku-ku area. ECO CycleTM is a mechanical bicycle parking facility developed by GIKEN LTD. (Head Office: Kochi-shi, Kochi; President: Shinnosuke Moribe; hereafter “GIKEN”). GIKEN Group company GIKEN SEKO CO., LTD. (Head Office: Kochi-shi, Kochi; President: Akihiro Nishigawa) has accepted an order from the City of Yokohama to work on its “Shin-Tsunashima Station bicycle parking facility development project,” and is planning to commence construction this summer. These will be the first ECO CycleTM facilities constructed in the city.

Focused mainly in the Kanto region, adoption of ECO CycleTM facilities is steadily increasing. There will be 48 facilities in operation at 19 locations within the Kanto region, including Yokohama, with 63 facilities in 26 locations nationwide.

■ Background

Yokohama has the largest population* of Japan’s ordinance-designated cities. The city’s Tsunashima area, with its extensive residential estates, is extremely popular due to its good access to central areas of Tokyo and Yokohama. With the area around the new station currently being developed, including new roads infrastructure and redevelopment of highrise buildings with apartments, commercial spaces, and public functions, the numbers of permanent residents, non-residents, and young families is expected to grow further. With the easy terrain within the area, there are already many bicycle users, but this number is also expected to grow. The city considered ECO Cycle™ facilities to make effective use of limited land area while meeting demand for bicycle parking spaces when the new station opens.

*Approximately 3.77 million people as of June 1, 2022

Adoption of ECO Cycle™ facilities in the Kanto region (cumulative)

ECO Cycle™ mechanical bicycle parking facility

■Reasons for Adopting ECO CycleTM

Yokohama was impressed with ECO CycleTM because of the easy construction and level of perfection of the underground framework that the Implant™ Method provides, and because of the overall convenience of a facility that enables fast deposit and retrieval of bicycles and avoids crowding even during the commuting and school rush periods. Standard specifications enable the facilities to accommodate 204 bicycles each, but the proposal this time was for new specifications to accommodate a maximum of 252 bicycles each. Therefore, the large capacity to meet a shortage of bicycle parking spaces was an important factor. Other factors in the decision to use ECO CycleTM were its ability to handle bicycles with child seats and to meet the needs of increasing numbers of young families, and the high level of after-sales support provided based on 21 years of operation. The April 2020 opening of facilities in the neighboring City of Kawasaki also helped.

■Future Outlook

Because bicycles are carbon neutral, emitting no CO2 when ridden, and they are a means of transportation that contributes to the promotion of health, they are expected to be used more and more in the future. As a technology that uses underground space and enables large numbers of bicycles to park in a compact space, ECO Cycle™ is being adopted increasingly with the aim of contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals by further encouraging bicycle use and ensuring safe traffic environments through improved access to public spaces and reduced incidence of abandoned bicycles.

With a high level of interest in the Yokohama for tourism and residential purposes, this adoption of ECO CycleTM is expected to further raise visibility of the system and enhance its solutions capabilities. It will help drive expansion into other regions as well.

■Planned Location of ECO Cycle™

■OpenStreetMap
ⒸOpenStreetMap contributors

■ Overview of Development

Location1-chome district, Tsunashima Higashi, Kōhoku-ku, Yokohama
Project NameShin-Tsunashima Station bicycle parking facility development project (Part 2)
Project OwnerCity of Yokohama
ContractorGIKEN SEKO CO., LTD.

■Profile of GIKEN Group
GIKEN developed the SILENT PILERTM, the world's first reaction-based hydraulic pile jacking machine, installing piles with no noise and vibration. GIKEN Group now actively promotes the Press-in Technology worldwide and contributes to the construction industry by proposing and implementing innovative solutions. The innovative technology of press-in provides a unique solution and the adoption of this technology has grown to more than 40 nations and regions.


Contact Information:
GIKEN LTD.
Management Strategy Department
TEL: +81-3-3528-1633 (weekdays: 8:30 to 17:30)Tokyo Head Office: 16F Ariake Central Tower, 3-7-18 Ariake, Koto-ku, 135-0063, Japan