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Biking without bike infrastructure: the Netherlands

2 points by saeedesmaili 3y ago

rapnie 3y ago
"Country without oil: Saudi Arabia".
RetroTechie 3y ago
Author obviously hasn't been around much in the NL. :-) Author's observations apply to inner city of most historic, touristic, densily populated towns. These were never laid out for what they've grown into. But what can you do? Move a row of century+ historic buildings, to make room for an extra traffic lane? And: move those buildings where? So this is a tourist's view of a tiny part of the NL's area. And yes, that part is cramped. Also: for example, there are many streets where cars are 1-way, not allowed, or (during business hours) not even cyclists. Providing a pedestrian-only zone. That cyclists will (ofcourse) ignore these rules, and how to police that, is a different problem from "road use not properly designated". Outside of such crowded/historic city centers, the NL is a very bicycle friendly country: As mentioned in article, a network of cycling 'highways' ("fietssnelweg"). Also used by up to 45 km/h ebikes & scooters. In many of the bigger cities, you have large (and free!) bicycle parking garages. Especially near bigger train stations. Some even with 24h supervision. You can take bicycles on trains, or rent 'm cheaply on/near bigger stations. A folding bike (when folded) goes at 0 extra cost on the train as regular luggage. Bicycle paths are found cross-country virtually everywhere, allowing one to reach places you can't reach by car, or with difficulty using public transport (like, walk several km. from nearest bus stop). Nearest bicycle repair shop is rarely more than a few km. away. A->B from one suburb to the next in a big city is often faster than using a car, thanks to shortcuts available to cyclists. > Maybe those white boxes are supposed to delineate between walking and biking? Or maybe there are two lanes for opposite directions? I didn’t figure it out. Correct: the latter. Hint: red-colored pavement / asphalt is often used to indicate bicycle lanes. Which are marked by street signs. No Dutch language needed to read those. :-) > The Dutch has this theory that by abolishing the separation between sidewalk and street, it will force car drivers to pay attention. They claim this has actually reduced accidents (..) This is backed by science, and results... reason is that it forces everyone there to be a bit more alert, cars slowing down, leading to a more relaxed flow of traffic. Same with removing traffic lights. Germany also does this in quite a few inner city areas. Compare with Denmark all you want, that is a much thinner populated country. In the NL, space is at a premium especially in city centers. > The typical dutch person will think nothing of biking 30 miles or the distance between Amsterdam and The Hague as a regular commute. Read: fast ebike owner. Few will commute >15..20km (one-way) daily, unless using 45 km/h ebike or scooter. Longer commute most people will choose between those & car or train/bus/metro. But on a day off w/ good weather, then yes many Dutch easily bike 50..80 km. (some, more) no problem. Especially elderly people with freshly charged ebike & plenty free time. TL;DR author's observations aren't wrong, but most come down to lack of knowledge + not having been around outside tourist / city centers.

2 points by saeedesmaili 3y ago

"Country without oil: Saudi Arabia".

Author obviously hasn't been around much in the NL. :-) Author's observations apply to inner city of most historic, touristic, densily populated towns. These were never laid out for what they've grown into. But what can you do? Move a row of century+ historic buildings, to make room for an extra traffic lane? And: move those buildings where? So this is a tourist's view of a tiny part of the NL's area. And yes, that part is cramped. Also: for example, there are many streets where cars are 1-way, not allowed, or (during business hours) not even cyclists. Providing a pedestrian-only zone. That cyclists will (ofcourse) ignore these rules, and how to police that, is a different problem from "road use not properly designated". Outside of such crowded/historic city centers, the NL is a very bicycle friendly country: As mentioned in article, a network of cycling 'highways' ("fietssnelweg"). Also used by up to 45 km/h ebikes & scooters. In many of the bigger cities, you have large (and free!) bicycle parking garages. Especially near bigger train stations. Some even with 24h supervision. You can take bicycles on trains, or rent 'm cheaply on/near bigger stations. A folding bike (when folded) goes at 0 extra cost on the train as regular luggage. Bicycle paths are found cross-country virtually everywhere, allowing one to reach places you can't reach by car, or with difficulty using public transport (like, walk several km. from nearest bus stop). Nearest bicycle repair shop is rarely more than a few km. away. A->B from one suburb to the next in a big city is often faster than using a car, thanks to shortcuts available to cyclists. > Maybe those white boxes are supposed to delineate between walking and biking? Or maybe there are two lanes for opposite directions? I didn’t figure it out. Correct: the latter. Hint: red-colored pavement / asphalt is often used to indicate bicycle lanes. Which are marked by street signs. No Dutch language needed to read those. :-) > The Dutch has this theory that by abolishing the separation between sidewalk and street, it will force car drivers to pay attention. They claim this has actually reduced accidents (..) This is backed by science, and results... reason is that it forces everyone there to be a bit more alert, cars slowing down, leading to a more relaxed flow of traffic. Same with removing traffic lights. Germany also does this in quite a few inner city areas. Compare with Denmark all you want, that is a much thinner populated country. In the NL, space is at a premium especially in city centers. > The typical dutch person will think nothing of biking 30 miles or the distance between Amsterdam and The Hague as a regular commute. Read: fast ebike owner. Few will commute >15..20km (one-way) daily, unless using 45 km/h ebike or scooter. Longer commute most people will choose between those & car or train/bus/metro. But on a day off w/ good weather, then yes many Dutch easily bike 50..80 km. (some, more) no problem. Especially elderly people with freshly charged ebike & plenty free time. TL;DR author's observations aren't wrong, but most come down to lack of knowledge + not having been around outside tourist / city centers.