Bicycle lanes are a familiar system design issue. Karen Ellemann, the Danish Minister for the Environment, bicycled through Tokyo during her visit to Japan to attend COP10 in October. She commented that bicycle lanes and traffic education for children are necessary in this country. Around the same time, a chief researcher in a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism research institute reported that over 6000 kilometers of main roads have enough space to set up 1.5 meter-wide bike lanes. However, such a project to set up bicycle lanes on 300 kilometers of model roads was said to face difficulties since negotiation with the related parties takes so long. These phenomena represent the typical governmental and social issue of lack of infrastructure, despite the dramatic increase in cyclists caused by social trends such as environmental symbiosis, ecological considerations, and promotion of good health. When counting the number of agencies involved in road maintenance, including those responsible for the safety and convenience of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, it seems like the list is longer than the list of those agencies that are not involved. This is one of the most important research topics in Keio SDM. In this limited space, I'd like to briefly mention the two messages I heard in Ms. Ellemann's remarks. One is that users should have top priority, and the other is that a hands-on approach should be taken. Those responsible for this issue must seriously consider returning to these principles.
Yoshiaki Ohkami
Director, SDM Research Institute
Dean, Graduate School of System Design and Management