Cheaper Gasoline on the Expressways?
Q: Is gasoline really cheaper on the expressways?
A: Sometimes.
There is a maximum gas price that is set once a month and the gas stations on the expressways (like Joban Expressway) do not increase their prices at all during a particular month. The maximum price is set by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) at the end of the previous month. You can see the price on this site. The reason for this is that the number of gas stations on the expressways is extremely limited, so drivers do not have a choice of which station to use when they need to fill up their tanks. If the gas stations could set their own prices, it would be possible for them to set unreasonable prices and the consumers wouldn't be able to do anything about it, since the next station might be 100km ahead. (Also, cars that run out of gas often cause accidents, so it is better not to encourage drivers to shop around for the best price.)
So, this means that if gas prices went up this month as compared to last month, you might be able to get cheaper gas on the expressway than on the regular roads. However, the opposite is also true: if gas prices went down this month, the gas on the expressway will be more expensive.
The prices for regular gas in November and December were 140 yen and 136 yen respectively.
(Note that this only applies to gas stations on the expressways. Regular gas stations do not have to follow this rule.)
Source: Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) Magazine, November 2006
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Crash Testing
This message was posted by Sven in TAIRA.
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The Japan Automobile Research Institute will have an open day, with two full scale car crash tests viewable by the public.
If you are interested in finding out how a car crash test is setup and performed, here are the details:
Thursday April 19, 11am.
Side impact collision
Car 1: 22km/hr, 3 occupant dummies
Car 2: 40km/hr, 4 occupant dummies.
Thursday April 19, 2pm.
Front to front offset collision
Car 1: 0km/hr, 2 occupant dummies
Car 2: 60km/hr, 2 occupant dummies.
In order to see the test, please arrive AT LEAST 30 mins beforehand.
JARI is located along Tsuchiura Gakuen road, about 2km west of Tsukuba Center. There is also an entrance from Kenkyuu Gakuen Station on the Tsukuba express line.
See also...
Map
JARI Website (in Japanese)
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Crash Tests at JARI this Weekend
This information is from Sven.
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The Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) will have its open days this Friday and Saturday. On both days there will be two full scale car crash tests (lots of damage), two sled tests (cute baby dummies in a child seat), and two leg impactor tests (a cheap car-shaped-object hitting an expensive and squishy leg-shaped-object). There's also a bunch of other exhibitions showcasing various car-related research done in JARI (driving simulators, electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, etc), including things to keep kids amused.
The child seat sled tests are at 10.15am and 1pm each day. A full schedule of the full scale car crashes are as follows:
FRIDAY:
10.30am - Car [50km/hr] vs. Rigid Wall [0km/hr] Crash Test
2.30pm - Car [30km/hr] vs. Bicycle (with dummy rider) [15km/hr] Crash Test
SATURDAY:
10.30am - Car [30km/hr] vs. Bicycle (with dummy rider) [15km/hr] Crash Test
2.30pm - Car [50km/hr] vs. Rigid Wall [0km/hr] Crash Test
In order to see the test, please arrive at the times given above, as the tests begin shortly afterwards. After the tests you can inspect the damage and view the tests in slow-motion on the high-speed video
cameras.
JARI is located along Tsuchiura Gakuen road, about 2km west of Tsukuba Center. There is also an entrance from Kenkyuu Gakuen Station on the Tsukuba express line. (map)
More instructions (in Japanese) on the JARI website.
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Extra Traffic Accident Insurance
Registered residents of Ibaraki Prefecture are eligible for a prefectural insurance system (県民交通災害共済, kenmin koutsuu saigai kyousai) that will pay a lump sum in the case of injury or death from a traffic accident that occurs in Japan.
Term of insurance: April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010
Fee: 900 yen for adults, 500 yen for children who are of junior high school age or under as of April 1, 2009
If you apply after September 30, the fees are discounted by 50% since you will only receive coverage for half the year.
Apply at the main desk of any branch of the city hall, or at the Life and Safety Division (生活安全課) at the Sakura Branch Office. Since this insurance only lasts for one year, you will have to go back to the city hall every year to renew it.
For more information, please see the Ibaraki Prefecture website (in Japanese).
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Finding a Place to Park Around Tsukuba Station
With the installment of a new system recently (please see "Watch where you park!"), it has become even harder to find a place to park around Tsukuba Station. Those who didn’t want to get ticketed but still didn’t want to pay for the parking have flocked to the area businesses with parking lots during Matsuri Tsukuba last week. It wasn't hard to see this coming, but Dayz Town, a shopping mall near the station has started charging for its parking spaces. You can still park free in their multistory parking garage, but you’ll be charged 100yen per hour or 2000yen per day if you park directly in front of the store. You’ll get a couple of hours of free parking if you make a purchase there.
Most of the parking facilities around Tsukuba Station are run by Tsukuba Urban Transportation Center or TUTC, and they are all open 24 hours. You can look at the map of their parking facilities here. The orange spot on the map is the TX Tsukuba Station, if you can’t read Japanese. Parking fee is 220 yen for the first hour and 110yen for additional 30 minutes. Fees for people who park for over 10 hours and up to 24 hours is 2200yen, so it’s quite expensive. There are a couple of parking facilities run by private companies that charge only 1000yen a day, but they are still very expensive compared to other parking lots near other Tsukuba area TX stations.
Parking facilities around Kenkyu Gakuen and Banpaku Kinen Koen Stations, for example, charge anywhere from 300yen to 600yen a day. So parking near those stations may be able to save you lots of money if you are heading to Tokyo from Tsukuba, for example.
One of the solutions to all these parking hassles would be the improvement of the other public transportation system, yes, the buses. Kanto Tetsudo doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about providing more local bus services, but Tsukuba City will start a new “Tsuku Bus” route from September 1. I will post the information regarding this new route as soon as I get the new route map. Please see: Gakuen Minami Junkan - a new Tsuku Bus Course.
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