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Tokyo By Bike - Article.

Pretty much spot on.

Remember riders like us "Sports Riders" as what we are classified under a goverment study only make up 10% of the cycling population of Japan.
 
I would just add one more thing to the article: traffic lights. Their over-population (so many here are completely unnecessary) and lack of co-ordination mean I can get pretty much anywhere here faster by bike than car.
 
Traffic lights

Also, traffic lights here are not pressure sensitive so rely on timing. Lights in the middle of nowhere at squat in the morning telling you to stop while they run their time. Though in the city I can see the timing lights, out in the suburbs it would be nice to see lights that react to cars pressure. When I commute in the city I take great pride in timing the lights so I rarely have to stop.
 
It's not pressure, it's the steel of the car as it passes a magnetic field in an induction loop (usually buried inside the road, but sometimes suspended overhead). As the car enters or exits the magnetic loop, the field strength changes, which induces a voltage spike in the loop that gets detected.

I have one of those near my house. The light stays red almost forever unless I drive right up to it.
 
Too bad Japan doesn't (or do they) have the signal interrupters that can be triggered by strobes..
 
It's not pressure, it's the steel of the car as it passes a magnetic field in an induction loop (usually buried inside the road, but sometimes suspended overhead). As the car enters or exits the magnetic loop, the field strength changes, which induces a voltage spike in the loop that gets detected.

I have one of those near my house. The light stays red almost forever unless I drive right up to it.

up here overhead sensors are the standard, frost heave isn't good for pressure plates.
 
I'm surprised nobody has commented on the contradiction between the freedom of cyclists cited in the article and the crack-down on fixies...:eek:
 
The remark about "anarchy" is definitely accurate, as were those about bikes being faster than cars (in-city) and lax enforcement of "guidelines."

I also liked the second comment:

Much of what makes cycling here better is what makes it more tedious: duffers all over the &^%$ed place. I just need to remember it is them dithering all about the road and sidewalk that makes drivers look out for me, and I'd rather be delayed by a grandmother riding her bike more slowly than I stroll than hit by a car driving faster than the speed limit (the Canadian model).

It will make me look at mama-chari riders more favourably...at least until one of them cuts me off again.:rolleyes:
 
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