Hey there, I’ll be staying in shinjuku for a little over 3 months from April to July, and I’m considering commuting by bike to avoid the crowded subway. Is this a bad idea? While the weather shouldn’t be too bad, I imagine the streets might get overcrowded, and I don’t know if there are bike lanes and such. I should add that I’m not particularly used to riding a bike on the street
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Does your school or workplace have a bike parking?
>While the weather shouldn’t be too bad
It will be in the middle of the rainy season.
Everyone I know who rides bikes regularly in Tokyo has stories of being hit by cars while on their bikes.
Hell, one guy didn’t own a bike… borrowed a friends bike to go for a test drive around the block, and was *immediately* hit by a car.
That being said, my office does encourage folks to ride their bikes to work and we do have several bike parking spaces reserved for our company use at our building. The parking does not meet demand however and it gets a bit cut throat down there.
So yeah, biking is fine. Just make sure you’ll have a place to park it (both at your home and at whereever it is you’re going) and watch out for the cars. Don’t forget that bicycle insurance is mandatory in Tokyo.
Make sure to check with your company. Some companies prohibit this. Companies have the power to decide how you commute to work since they are liable for any accidents on the way
Where are you commuting to/from?
There are bike lanes
The bike lanes are frequently blocked here and there because people park their cars in those lanes, because they’re on the side of the road. So you’ll be going around those, and probably going on the sidewalks now and then.
Personally, I’ve done a bike commute to my office before, which is on the side close to Kabukicho, and it’s a fucking mess and I much prefer taking the subway.