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Can anyone comment on this graph from the article? https://www.amsterdamclassictours.com/uploads/3/0/2/2/3022280/share-of-bike-rides-dutch-cities_orig.jpeg htt

Can anyone comment on this graph from the article? https://www.amsterdamclassictours.com/uploads/3/0/2/2/3022280/share-of-bike-rides-dutch-cities_orig.jpeg https://www.amsterdamclassictours.com/uploads/3/0/2/2/302228... Seems like, despite the strike, bicycle usage is half of what it was in 1920s? (despite growth in population)

emj 6y ago
It's still going up though, bicycle modal share is over 50% at least since 2017, going up abit quicker than Copenhagen which is still barely at 40%. My personal feeling is that the cities still feel very much car oriented, I guess that in it self is a great testament to the space efficiency of bicycles that they are so invisible in those cities...
- jacquesm 6y ago
  It's mostly waiting for the first city to declare cars absolutely un-welcome. After that it will rapidly accelerate because the advantages will make that city one of the most popular ones to live in very quickly.
adamjb 6y ago
The strike (was part of a trend that) stopped it getting any worse. The Dutch Ministry of Transport admitted in 1983 that: > Until the early 1970s, attention to bicycle traffic was minimal. The prosperity expectations were such that within the foreseeable future bicycle traffic would decrease, certainly for commuting, to a negligible share compared to car traffic. [0] [0] The Dutch Bicycle Master Plan: Description and evaluation in an historical context, 1999, p31, which incidentally also features the graph on the next page.
caturopath 6y ago
Yes, bike mode share is way down from then. Back then, people basically biked: transit didn't exist and cars were very rare. In modern times, rich societies are structured different than 100 years ago: people travel long distances for work and for non day-to-day shopping (to buy a lamp or a wedding dress, for instance) and for social/personal things (sports, church, etc.). These changes are of course affected by policy, but for the most part they aren't unwanted. Today, almost a third of trips in Amsterdam are by transit, more than by car. Transit trips are mostly a success from the strikers' goals, and just didn't exist back in the 20s.
jacquesm 6y ago
In the 1920's personal cars were a rarity, and public transport infrastructure in general was still developing. The dutch road side assistance started out initially to help bicycles and only later branched out into cars.

emj 6y ago

It's still going up though, bicycle modal share is over 50% at least since 2017, going up abit quicker than Copenhagen which is still barely at 40%. My personal feeling is that the cities still feel very much car oriented, I guess that in it self is a great testament to the space efficiency of bicycles that they are so invisible in those cities...

jacquesm 6y ago
It's mostly waiting for the first city to declare cars absolutely un-welcome. After that it will rapidly accelerate because the advantages will make that city one of the most popular ones to live in very quickly.

adamjb 6y ago

The strike (was part of a trend that) stopped it getting any worse. The Dutch Ministry of Transport admitted in 1983 that: > Until the early 1970s, attention to bicycle traffic was minimal. The prosperity expectations were such that within the foreseeable future bicycle traffic would decrease, certainly for commuting, to a negligible share compared to car traffic. [0] [0] The Dutch Bicycle Master Plan: Description and evaluation in an historical context, 1999, p31, which incidentally also features the graph on the next page.

caturopath 6y ago

Yes, bike mode share is way down from then. Back then, people basically biked: transit didn't exist and cars were very rare. In modern times, rich societies are structured different than 100 years ago: people travel long distances for work and for non day-to-day shopping (to buy a lamp or a wedding dress, for instance) and for social/personal things (sports, church, etc.). These changes are of course affected by policy, but for the most part they aren't unwanted. Today, almost a third of trips in Amsterdam are by transit, more than by car. Transit trips are mostly a success from the strikers' goals, and just didn't exist back in the 20s.

jacquesm 6y ago

In the 1920's personal cars were a rarity, and public transport infrastructure in general was still developing. The dutch road side assistance started out initially to help bicycles and only later branched out into cars.