March 30, 2018

Tokyo as I walked

Recently, I was invited to visit the Laboratory for Cognitive System Science at University of Tsukuba and explore potential collaborations as a visiting PhD student. In the middle of February, I arrived in Tokyo and spend some time there before going to Tsukuba. During my stay in Tokyo, weather was mostly cold with clear sky and shining sun. So, I tried to walk  as much as I could, not only to get some Vitamin D that I’m missing from living in Seattle but also to get a sense of  people’s daily life in Tokyo. As a transportation engineer, I paid specific attention to how people move around, and in this post I go over some of my observations.

The subway system in Tokyo is fascinating and reminded me of New York’s subway. Tokyo has 13 lines, 285 station and daily ridership of around 8.7 million. What amazed me about Tokyo’s subway is that you can be in any part of the city and easily travel to another part. Metro covers majority of the city and stations are frequently available and well connected. Also, you don’t have to worry about wait times. During rush hour trains can arrive as often as every two minutes, and for the rest of the day, they arrive every 4 to 10 minutes depending on the line. Even though trains are very frequent, during rush hours on weekdays, they are very crowded and packed.

Figure 1. Tokyo Subway Map

During my trip I used a PASMO card to pay for my trips but regular tickets and passes are available as well. You have to purchase the card and add money to it and tap your card on the gate when entering and exiting the station and based on the distance you traveled your card will be charged.

As a person who gets to show people around Seattle a lot, naturally I started comparing the two cities to each other from a tourist perspective. I felt it was more convenient and cheaper to travel to different parts of Tokyo compare to Seattle. In Seattle, the minimum fare for using light rail and buses is $2.5 and the service is not as frequent. I usually end up ordering Uber for my guests in Seattle since buses are not very frequent and city is not well connected and making transfers are time consuming. That reminded me of another fact that the difference in price of public transportation and Uber/Taxi was noticeably higher in Tokyo compare to Seattle. Black Car and Black Van are only options for Uber in Tokyo. A trip that will costs around $2 and takes 30 minute by train, can cost around $40 by Black Car and $30 by Taxi and while saving only 10 minutes.

Figure 2. Comparison of subway and Uber/Taxi in Tokyo

One of the possible explanations on how Tokyo can manage such a massive subway system while keeping the fares low is integration of stations with real estate and retail.  For many of the stations, when you step outside of the platform you can find yourself in a huge mall. Tokyo Station was one the amazing train stations I saw there. Not only you could find many retail stores and restaurants at the station, it was home to famous “Tokyo Character Street”; which features stores selling goods with themes of famous Japanese anime and animation characters.

Figure 3. Some of the stores at Tokyo Character Street

Bikes are very popular in Tokyo even though there are not many dedicated bike lanes. Not being too hilly makes it easier for people to get around biking. People usually bike on the sidewalks and follow lights and signs for pedestrians. Many carry their children with them using specific child seats designed for bikes. Seeing many people biking without helmets surprised me and I found out that helmets are only mandatory for children under the age 13. Tokyo has station-based bikeshare, but on the street I rarely saw anyone on one of those bikes.

Figure 4. Bikes parked on sidewalk. Some equipped with child seat.

Tokyo consists of many wide and narrow highways, streets and intersections like many other comparable cities; However, I found it interesting how convenience and safety of pedestrians and walkability of the city are maintained. For their arterials and wider streets, overpasses seemed to be a popular approach. In figure 5 you can see an all-way overpass that connects all sides of the intersection together, so peds can cross the intersection safely and without interrupting the traffic. The next picture shows an intersection that peds can cross the street diagonally as well. This type of crosswalk is usually used to give priority to peds and make it safer and more convenient for them to cross the road while motorists are waiting on all sides of the intersection. In Seattle diagonal crosswalk has been implemented for a while and they have their own supporters and opposers. We do have an example on campus, at the intersection of NE 40th Street, 15th NE Ave and  W Stevens Way NE (Figure 7). At this intersection, diagonal crosswalk is not painted on the asphalt but there are signs indicating that this intersection is all-way crosswalk.

Figure 5. Round overpass

Figure 6. Diagonal crosswalk

Figure 7. Diagonal crosswalk on campus. (photo from Seattle Bike Blog)

On some of the narrower streets, such as the picture below, the sidewalk is not separated from road by elevation or  surface type. In addition to marks on the asphalt, barricades are used to make sure vehicles do not enter the sidewalk section of the road and peds feel safe while walking through the street.

Figure 8. Narrow street in Tokyo

But the most interesting of them all, is that you in Tokyo can play actual Mario Kart on the streets of Tokyo with your friends!

Figure 9. Mario Kart in Tokyo.

Here is a YouTube video of Mario Kart in Tokyo: