They don't wear it often but the Dutch do have cycle gear! When the rain comes pouring down the Dutch suddenly show they can dress up for cycling. But of course, as with everything regarding cycling in the Netherlands the kind of gear to protect from the rain is perfectly suited for everyday upright cycling.
While some people ignore the rain, most come prepared. Not always too obvious: you can just see that the man with the hat in the center wears rain pants over his light coloured pants. The man on the far right wears rain pants over his blue jeans while riding a rental bike! He really came prepared!
All sorts of rain capes are worn by men and women, sometimes combined with rain pants as well.
Rain suits come in all colours. The pedestrian on the far right has already geared up on his way to his bicycle.
Some people rely on umbrellas, but you can question how usefull they are. The guy who stole the pink umbrella from his girlfriend doesn't really seem protected, but that's because he broke it.
While most people use their umbrellas over their heads, some try to keep their legs dry.
All these people can be seen in the video I shot during morning rush hour in Utrecht last week. It was one of the few mornings that the rain really came pouring down, which doesn't happen all too often*.
What also becomes very clear from this video is that there are many pedestrians in the Netherlands. From my videos some people get the impression that the Dutch don't walk, but that is not true. You often don't see pedestrians because these two types of traffic are also mostly separated from each other. Just like cycling is not combined with motorised traffic. Here the two flows of traffic, pedestrians and cyclists, do meet and it shows.
This is my last post of the year. I wish you all Fijne Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar (a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!).
* On the site [translated] "it hardly ever rains" a man debunks the myth that it always rains in the Netherlands. After counting his rides for three years they turn out to be wet in only 11.99% of the time. He counts all rain, so the times that it really pours are even less.
The longest cycle bridge of South-Holland. That’s how the media introduced the brand new 600 meter (1968.5ft) long cycle bridge that was opened on 26th October last. It connects the town of Spijkenisse to the Rotterdam Port area to the north. Building had started in April 2010 and this new bridge cost 21 million euros. It was paid for by the “stadsregio” (Rotterdam metropolitan area) and the province of South-Holland.
The cycle bridge is called Hartelfietsbrug (Hartel cycle bridge) because it crosses the Hartelkanaal (Hartel canal). A spokesperson called the new bridge a big improvement for cyclists because it makes cycling more convenient and safer since this bridge puts cyclists further away from car traffic than the original separated cycle path right next to the busy road on the existing bridge did.
The new cycle bridge next to the existing bridge
But he is also crystal clear about another reason, which is that the road for motorised traffic has to be widened from three lanes (two single lanes and one alternate lane) to a road with four lanes (two lanes in each direction). Because the road cannot handle the increasing motorised traffic. Removing the cycle path from the existing bridge gives exactly enough room for the extra lane.
To a cynic or someone with a ‘glass-half-empty-mentality’ this could be seen as “proof” that the Dutch are actually car-centric and that all they want is ‘getting cyclists out of the way of car traffic’. But is that really how you should see this?
Well no of course not. What you see here is how the integral transport approach in the Netherlands works. The goal of the approach is to make transportation in a region possible. Transportation has to be understood in the broadest sense of the word. Cycling is one part of it and so are public transport, professional transport and private motorised transport. If there is a problematic bottleneck in one part of the system (local) governments will look for a solution in the entire system. Improving cycling conditions can lead to less congestion so Dutch authorities do indeed build cycling infrastructure to decrease (motor)traffic congestion. Just this week a network between Rotterdam, Delft and some smaller municipalities was finished. This network of 15 kilometers (9 miles) of new fast convenient and safe cycle paths, with 12 new bicycle tunnels, was built "to reduce congestion on the roads and to contribute to a better health for the people of the province of South-Holland". See article (quirky Google translation).
In this case it was thought best to build a new cycle bridge and use the room on the old bridge for the expansion of the road. Earlier I showed you an example where motorised traffic was diverted and more room for public transport and cycling was created.
Hartelfietsbrug in between the storm surge barrier and the bridge for motorised traffic.
Hartelfietsbrug does not look very spectacular but looks deceive. It was built in between the car bridge and a storm surge barrier. Because of the latter it was impossible to drill a foundation so the bridge was screwed on and glued to that storm surge barrier. This had never been done on such a large scale.
To reach this bridge I had to cycle from the nearest railway station. Which was in Vlaardingen-Oost, about 12 kilometers away. The ride took me through the Beneluxtunnel of which you could see my video earlier. The ride took me also through the large Rotterdam port area with all the petrochemical industry. It is interesting that the large oil refineries can be reached by good cycle infrastructure. Even though it was the middle of the day so there are not many people underway, I did see some employees arrive to and leave from their work at those oil refineries by bicycle! The area is not very scenic to say the least. But I filmed the full 25 kilometer (15.5m) ride and you can see it at ten times the original speed.
The province of South-Holland opened a website about this bicycle bridge. (Dutch but Google Translate does a good job here). Why this isn't so important as you might think Exceptional infrastructure like this is always interesting to see, but what causes people to cycle in large numbers is the very tight network of everyday, but high quality, cycle routes.
Spoorbaanpad is a 12 kilometer (7.45 miles) long fast cycle route in Almere. According to a site about fast cycle routes in the Netherlands it is the longest urban cycle route of the country used by 21,000 cyclists per day. The name means ‘Rail road path’ and refers to the fact that it follows the rail road for its entire length. I visited Almere for my series of modern fast cycle routes in the Netherlands.
"Spoorbaanpad" a cycle path right through Almere, the blue part is shown in the second video Link to map
Almere is the youngest city of the Netherlands. Last month it was only 35 years ago that a handful of people got the key to the first permanent homes. Almere grew rapidly from the first 50 people in 1976 to a city of 190,000 last year. Putting it in the top 10 of largest cities in the Netherlands. By 2030 the city will have an expected population of 350,000 making it the 5th largest city. Almere is so young because it was founded on reclaimed land: sea bottom not 50 years ago. After a ring dike was finished in 1967 the area was pumped dry by 1968. The first trees were planted in 1969 but most of the city is from the 1980s. That makes almost all in the city not much older than 30 years and everything was designed, including of course all infrastructure.
Almere city centre, not your typical Dutch city. From right to left just behind the tall buildings you can see the elevated cycle path "Spoorbaanpad" next to the also elevated railway.
The infrastructure was designed following the Dutch principles of segregation. Traffic with a different speed, mass and direction is kept apart from traffic with another speed, mass and direction to improve overall road safety. Since this city was literally started from a blank canvas the principles could be followed 100%.
We therefore find no less than four entirely separated grids of infrastructure:
an elevated railroad with only multi-level crossings;
separated bus-only tracks (that can also be used by emergency vehicles);
separated fast through cycle routes;
through roads and connector roads for private motorised traffic only.
The four different grids; black dotted line, rail road; green (dotted) lines: cycle paths; yellow lines: bus tracks; thick gray lines: private motorised traffic only, thin gray lines: shared space motorised traffic/bicycles.
Note how direct the cycle/bus routes are and how indirect the routes for private motorised traffic.
Most of the crossings of these grids are multi-level. Unfortunately the bus track crossings for cyclists are all level crossings but they are traffic light controlled and these lights are green for cyclists most of the time, unless a bus arrives. Cyclists also cross most of the main roads at a different level. There is just a handful of level crossings with motorised traffic. Only the end-destinations, the small low speed residential streets, are shared space for private motorised traffic and cyclists. But there the speed differences are almost eliminated because these streets have a speed limit of 30 km/h or 18mph.
Spoorbaanpad, a look into how it is used, the final 90 seconds show the biggest crossing and the interaction between motorists and cyclists.
Some details tell us the route is already a bit older. The width is not consistent for all of the route and neither is the surface. The level crossings with the bus tracks almost seem a design flaw. Even though the route crosses the bus tracks only about 5 times, I had to stop twice for a bus and that is a bit odd for a "non-stop cycle route" to say the least. But one junction is even stranger, a crossing with a main road near the end of the route. It is the only crossing where cyclists do not have priority over motorised traffic which is inconsistent with the principles of a modern fast cycle route. The last 90 seconds of the first video focuses on this crossing because something strange happens there. Even though the cyclists do not have priority here, they do get it most of the time. Here we see the other Dutch road safety principles of predictability and forgivingness at work: since drivers know exactly where the cyclists want to go they are willing to be courteous. Not very strange because the design of the junction (with large speed bumps for drivers) also implies cyclists could have priority. It is interesting to see most cyclists respond just as friendly with a ‘thank you gesture’.
The (almost) full route at very high speed: 11 kilometers in 5 minutes, only the first kilometer is missing but that is going through an area that has yet
to be developed. It then goes through the centre and the end is
in the east of Almere.
More info on Almere on Wikipedia (where you can also see that Almere and Milton Keynes in the UK are twin towns) and a page with pictures of the (sometimes) exceptional architecture. This is the second fast cycle route I covered. The first was the inter urban route between Breda and Etten-Leur.
Historic city centres and modern traffic do not go together well. All the functions of city life compete for a part of the limited space that is available in the old streets. In many places there is no question that private motorised traffic gets a large chunk of this limited space. But in many cities in the Netherlands that is not true anymore. The big shift in thinking about allocating public space took place in the 1970s. This had big consequences for cycling too.
Many cities in the Netherlands are very old. The street patterns of these cities developed in a time when traffic was very different. For centuries pedestrians, the occasional carriage and freight barrows didn’t pose many problems in the largely narrow medieval streets. But in the early 20th century this changed. Mobility increased and the vehicles that were used in higher numbers changed. Trams, bicycles and later motorised vehicles made drastic measurements necessary. For example in Utrecht where from the 1920s some through streets were widened by demolishing whole blocks of buildings on one or even both sides of those streets. This was even before the advent of the private car.
Potterstraat was one of the first streets in Utrecht to be widened. In this 1960s picture the 800 year old street has a four lane road, today no private motorised traffic is allowed here. The development of this street serves as an example in the video with this blog post.
When after World War II the increasing number of private cars became a big problem in the streets, the solution was again sought in widening those streets. In stead of a single street the whole fabric of the city was now targeted. It took decades to make plans and then to execute them. The number of houses that had to be removed was enormous but the people of the 1950s and 60s had different views on the historic value of cities. To them it was a blessing to get rid of the old dark homes that were almost falling apart anyway. The new wide streets with fresh light modern buildings were welcomed. But when the large scale demolitions were taking place several things became clear. The new streets were good for the flow of traffic but not good for people. It isn’t pleasant to be in a street with tall buildings and heavy fast moving motorised traffic. Also the whole appearance and atmosphere of the city changed. In the 1970s there were gaping holes all over the city of half finished street widening projects. Ironically the open places were all used as temporary parking places. But times were changing. People began to see the value of the historic buildings. The human scale of the old streets was appreciated much more when the wide windy streets of modernism became ever more present. They were hard to cross for pedestrians as well. And it became very clear that the scale of motorisation was so large that the old city centres couldn’t be adapted to it. If you demolish the whole city for the flow of traffic what destination for that traffic would be left?
Utrecht, Korte Nieuwstraat in 1968.
Centuries old homes had been removed for the plans of a big through street here. It never came. Today the street is restored, new apartment buildings came in place of this temporary parking lot.
The 1970s became a turning point. A new generation of decision makers scrapped the old plans and the exact opposite was done. In stead of changing the city streets for through traffic, through traffic was gradually completely banned from the city centres. Large pedestrian areas with shops were created. Making these areas places where people wanted to be. Private motorised traffic was diverted wide around these streets. Large parking buildings were built just outside the city centres so cars would not have to enter them, but people could easily reach the shops and other destinations on foot. Removing parking from the centres in itself already decreased traffic enormously. Not every street had to be made car free. By blocking just a few key streets cities were divided in ‘compartments’ with only one or two entrance streets. This makes every destination reachable by car but rat races are impossible. As a bonus the blocked streets remained usable for cyclists giving them a more direct route and an advantage over motorised traffic.
This video shows the development of the Utrecht Potterstraat. It explains
the shift in urban planning in the Netherlands from car centric policies to people friendly cities.
Not all Dutch cities went through this development in the same way. Some cities only made plans or had only just started tearing down buildings. A situation which could easily be reversed. Utrecht had already demolished very many buildings. Some streets were already finished and remained wider. Other streets were reconstructed to their original width. New buildings were built in a similar scale to what had been removed earlier. The more recent the reconstruction the more ‘historic’ the replacement buildings appear to be. To the trained eye the scars in the tissue of the city remain visible but it is good that the “car-first” thinking is a thing of the past. Modern urban planning makes the cities much more livable and it also gives the bicycle much more room.
As a warning and to remember the -in retrospect needless- demolitions, this protest was replaced on the wall of a rebuilt home. It came from one of the demolished buildings and was put there by a protest group. The poem goes a bit like this:
BEHOLD OH MAN
MY GIANT FOOT
THAT CRUSHED ALL HOMES
IN THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD
THE GAPS WHICH YOU CAN SEE
THEY WERE MY WORK
FOR THAT IS WHAT I DO
WHEN LEFT TO WANDER FREE
1983
I had previously made another video in which the 1950s and 60s road widening plans of Utrecht were shown. You can find it in this blog post. In the 1950s and 1960s many cities in the Netherlands had plans for the 'improvement of traffic'. If the plans in my hometown 's-Hertogenbosch had been executed, the 17th century home I have been living in for 16 years now would have been demolished sometime in the 1970s. To make way for a through street. It is a strange sensation to see your property marked as 'to be removed' on a 1960s map for 'city improvement'. Luckily the plans in 's-Hertogenbosch never made it passed the drawing board.
Benelux cycling tunnel is a 2002 cycling tunnel under the Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse). It is a connection between the municipalities of Vlaardingen and Schiedam to the Rotterdam suburbs of Pernis and Hoogvliet and the town of Spijkenisse. The large area of petrochemical industry in the port area of Rotterdam is also easily reached through this tunnel.
Benelux Tunnel is one of the few crossing possibilities of the New Meuse in the Rotterdam Port area.
The original Beneluxtunnel was a tunnel for motorised traffic only, that was completed in 1967. It was built to the west of Rotterdam to relieve the older Maastunnel in the centre. Cyclists kept their ferry from Vlaardingen to the area of the petrochemical industry to the south of the river. The Royal Dutch Shell oil refinery near Pernis is the largest refinery in Europe and one of the largest in the world. With the expansion the old tunnel really became a system of different tunnel tubes for motorised traffic, a metro-line and one tube for cyclists and pedestrians.
North entrance for cyclists and pedestrians
There was no room for an elaborate entrance building, in fact the entrance could only have the width of the cycling tunnel tube itself. So the escalators and the elevators were not placed next to each other but behind each other in line with the tunnel. To make the entrance stand out in the enormous scale of the port area it has concrete columns which are a lot higher than necessary. So cyclists can use it as a point of orientation. The entrance is kept open on three sides to make sure people do not use it for other purposes. The roof is made of glass so a lot of light floods into the tunnel but it is still shielded from rain and snow. The glass plates span 4 meters, a larger span for horizontal glass than ever used before.
A lot of attention was given to the inside of the tunnel as well. For a better atmosphere which enhances the feeling of social safety, the tunnel was finished with high quality materials. The curved ceiling is lighted from below. A mirror of polished steel on one side gives the impression the tunnel is twice as wide as it really is. A poem was integrated in the tiles of the tunnel walls. This gives cyclists and pedestrians not only some ‘entertainment’ while using the tunnel it also gives them a sense of how far in the tunnel they are.
Inside Benelux Cycling Tunnel. To the right a fragment of the poem.
The poem is nicknamed ‘the longest poem in the world’ and it spans the full length of the tunnel which is over 800 meters (half a mile) long. It was written by contemporary Rotterdam poet Jules Deelder and it can be read going from south to north. (In bold the letters you can see on the above picture.)
Lieve Ari
Dear Ari
Wees niet bang
Don’t be afraid
De wereld is rond
The world is round
en dat istie al lang
and it has been for long
De mensen zijn goed
The people are good
de mensen zijn slecht
the people are bad
Maar ze gaan allen
But they all go
dezelfde weg
the same road
Hoe langer je leeft
The longer you live
hoe korter het duurt
the shorter it takes
Je komt uit het water
You come from the water
en gaat door het vuur
and go through the fire
Daarom lieve Ari
Therefore dear Ari
Wees niet bang
Don’t be afraid
De wereld draait rond
The world turns around
en dat doettie nog lang
and it will do for long
And of course: my blog post wouldn't be complete without a video.
's-Hertogenbosch (a.k.a. Den Bosch) won the honour title 'Fietsstad 2011' or 'Cycling City 2011' in the election organised by the Dutch Cyclists' Union. The expert jury was unanimous in its decision. Last August, the city had been selected as one of five nominees, which were in turn selected from a long list of 19 cities that had entered the competition.
School children with the award on the steps of city hall:
signs with the title "Cycling City 2011"
The director of the Fietsersbond (Cyclists' Union) states the following: "In recent years 's-Hertogenbosch has given cycling an enormous boost in a short time with a lot of energy, ambition, creativity and money. That is very good for a city in the South of the Netherlands where cycling levels on average are lower than in the rest of the Netherlands." The Jury was also very positive about how cycling facilities were integrated in the historical centre of the city.
The award ceremony took place at City Hall in ’s-Hertogenbosch. In their speeches the jury and the director praised the city for their efforts to stimulate cycling. From the results in the short time it was obvious to them that this was a deliberate decision by the local government. The jury found it especially good that the city listens to the wishes of the citizens, even children could give their input about the cycling facilities around their schools. In stead of trying to change behaviour of cyclists by educating and training them, Den Bosch decided to facilitate what cyclists apparently want: if they all ride agaist traffic it proves better to make the cycle path wide enough for two way traffic, rather than to try and stop them from doing it. From a mediocre cycling city Den Bosch has now become a rising star that shot up to the top of the list.
For subtitles in English click CC.
It was a fortunate coincidence that a delegation of Velo-city was also present. Today of all days they visited the city to investigate the candidacy of 's-Hertogenbosch to organise Velo-city 2013 (bidbook in English).
I have informed you about the recent very positive developments in the cycling infrastructure and climate of the city on several occasions.
When 's-Hertogenbosch was announced to be one of the nominees I made a video to support the city. One of the jury members made public that she was impressed by it. I would like to think that it helped my hometown just a little to win the title...
* There is an old Dutch children's song titled 'That (party) goes to Den Bosch'. I imagine the jury singing it all the way to Den Bosch...
Whenever you see images of Amsterdam it is mostly of the historic city centre. Yes those pretty canals with their beautiful 17th century houses are what defines Amsterdam, but passed the ring of canals there is a large and much lesser known part of this vibrant city. When it comes to cycling infrastructure that rest of Amsterdam really has a lot more to offer than the traffic calmed city centre.
On September 30th last, I rode a bicycle through Amsterdam for the very first time in my life. It had just never come to it. With the help of OV-fiets and because I wanted to film both Nescio Bridge and Berlage Bridge (you saw those video’s earlier), I finally rode through the city in which my father’s father was born.
Well known junction design, with the distinctive traffic island,
is also common in Amsterdam.
More info in an earlier blog post.
To be honest, riding in Amsterdam wasn’t very special. Cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands is very similar wherever you ride. After over 30 years of experience a standard has grown which is widely used throughout the country. Just as there is a standard way of building motorways with similar exits etc. that is widely accepted as the safest way to build motorways, the Netherlands has developed a way to build cycling infrastructure, that is widely acknowledged to be the safest way to build it. This leads to very similar junctions and paths which is also in line with one of the pillars of Dutch infrastructure design: road design should be instantly recognized by road users to increase safety.
My ride in Amsterdam and the parts in green that can be seen in the video. Link to the map.
In order for you to follow where I rode, there is also a Google map with links to the corresponding time frames in the video. This was asked for the recent Maastricht video, so I thought it would be good to have for this video too.
A man cycles towards a junction. At a steady speed, doesn't slow down, doesn't speed up. A large truck comes to a full stand still to let him pass. Cyclists on the cycle path have the right of way after all. The man passes, but the truck cannot drive on just yet. There is another cyclist coming and the long truck could never clear the junction in time. So the truck driver waits, until the junction is clear and no new cyclists approach it.
Welcome to the every day reality of cycling in the Netherlands.
The above scene is from a new video of the Netherlands' first cycle 'superhighway'. It's been almost two years since David showed you my videos of this "fietssnelweg" (fast cycle route) from Breda to Etten-Leur that was built in 2003 and finished in 2004.
More fast cycle routes were built since this first one. I will try and visit some of them and make a series of videos to show you what the Dutch themselves consider state of the art cycling infrastructure. But a series wouldn't be complete without the first actual route so I revisited it.
The -upright- cyclist icon at a junction
in the Breda - Etten-Leur cycle highway.
We already showed and told you a lot about this route in the post of December 2009, but here is a quick recap of the most important facts.
The route is over 7 kilometers or 4.5 miles long, from the center of Breda to the edge of Etten-Leur.
Cyclists have priority on all junctions but one that is traffic light controlled.
Costs in 2003: one million guilders per kilometer. Total costs amount to about 3.5 million euros.
The route was financed by North-Brabant province (80%) and the city of Breda (20%).
Width of the route at least 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) with a surface of smooth red asphalt.
It has a consistent design, even for the lighting and the distance between planted trees.
Extra features: three shelters that can be used in rain or as a meeting place to ride together
And: one observation tower, height 18 meters or about 60ft.
Some things were striking since my last visit. Maintenance on this route is excellent. It still looks brand new even 7 to 8 years after it was completed. None of the newly planted trees uprooted the surface in any way. Also interesting: the design of the route is not special anymore. This route has set a standard (in width and surface) that has since been largely followed for cycling infrastructure around the country. And lastly Breda’s city limits were moved. I have no idea why, but the built up area of the city expanded to the west by one kilometer.
This new video focuses on aspects that deserve some extra attention: the people using the route and the way the priority on the junctions works.
There is a schoolrun and people going to the supermarket in the town of Etten-Leur. And at the junctions you can very clearly see how the interaction between motorised traffic and cyclists works in the Netherlands. Perhaps interesting to see that in this country motorised traffic is not automatically at the top of the traffic hierarchy. Yes, big trucks yield to children and elderly on a bicycle. I kept the original sound. So you can hear how quiet the route is once it is completely away from motorised traffic.
The city of Maastricht –birth place of the euro– has a bit of a reputation of “not being the best cycling city” in the Netherlands. But with a modal share of cycling of almost 30% of all trips up to 7.5km it is really not doing bad at all. At least not compared to cities in any other country. The historic city (founded by the Romans) in the extreme south of the Netherlands is surrounded by some hills. But since it was formed on the banks of the river Maas (Meuse) the city center is still relatively flat.
Inset: Wikipedia example of a cycle path. The big picture shows it is not used anymore, a bad example of an equally bad situation, and not a good representation of Maastricht cycling infrastructure.
A strange picture of a Maastricht cycle path can be found on the Dutch Wikipedia page ‘Fietspad’ (cycle path), see inset in the larger picture above. A large yellow chunck of concrete is blocking almost the entire width of the cycle path. Weeds are growing in abundance and the surface seems a bit neglected. When you look at the picture you could come to the conclusion that the Maastricht cycling infrastructure does not have the quality we are used to in the Netherlands. But if you were to actually visit the site of the picture it becomes clear that this particular stretch of cycle path has been out of use for a long time. In yellow painted lines it is clear that a diversion was created. Granted, it is a strange situation that has apparently been like this for some years now (the yellow paint has already faded) but it is clear that this selectively cropped picture is not representing Maastricht cycling infrastructure in a good way. Such a delibrate misrepresentation of Dutch cycling infrastructure is something which is seen more often.
Some weeks ago I had a meeting in the Maastricht University Hospital. Some of the people attending arrived by car, another person and myself arrived by OV-Fiets rental bike from the central railway station. After the meeting we decided to all go to the city center to have a drink and something to eat. I decided to film the ride. Judge for yourself how ‘bad’ the state of the cycling infrastructure of Maastricht really is.
Ride from the Maastricht University Hospital to the center of the city.
We arrived in a restaurant in the city center only 10 minutes after we had left the hospital. We ordered a drink and waited for the others. They had to walk a considerable distance to the parking garage. Pay and then find their way through rush hour traffic. For us the ride was 2.5 kilometers. As usual in the Netherlands, the route for the cyclist is more direct. In fact the distance was twice as much for a car. The main arterial streets in Maastricht are quite congested and they had to wait at a number of traffic lights. Once they finally arrived in the city center they had to go to a parking garage there and walk to the café. We had all anticipated they would arrive well after us cyclists. But nobody would have guessed that they were to arrive 35 minutes later! We had just finished our second drinks… No wonder that many of the Dutch are so keen to cycle everywhere.
Some weeks ago the heath was in full bloom all over the Netherlands. Not knowing it from each other David and I decided to cycle through the heath in the same weekend and we both filmed too. His video of the heath in Drenthe province could be seen earlier. I will show you my video of the heath near Hilversum and Laren in North-Holland province today.
Cycle path through the heath near Hilversum
and Laren (North-Holland province).
There are beautiful cycle paths. The white of the crushed shells used as paving material stands out against the purple heath, the blue sky and the green of trees and grass. This heath is special in the history of cycling in the Netherlands, but not the recent history that I covered in last weeks post.
These cycle paths go back a long way. A very long way. In fact they were among the first to be built in the Netherlands. Money for their construction was brought together by societies founded for the specific reason of building and maintaining cycle routes in this richer region of the country. The paths were needed for the well to do who wanted to spend a nice Sunday afternoon on their brand new bicycles. The “Vereniging voor aanleg en onderhoud van wielerpaden in Gooi en Eemland” (Society for construction and maintenance of cycle paths in Gooi and Eemland) was founded on 4th March 1914. Albeit under a different name, the society still exists and takes care of 110 kilometers of cycle paths in a relatively small region.
Chosing the model for directional sign posts for cyclist in the Netherlands,
February 1919.
Early in its existence the society also pushed A.N.W.B. the –then– national cyclists’ union to place road signs. At the heath near Laren some members of the board gathered around three proposed designs. On 21st February 1919 they chose a simple low and square shaped concrete sign post. It was painted white and the destinations and distances were hand painted on all four sides. The signs were soon to be nicknamed ‘paddestoelen’ or toadstool/mushroom because of their shape. To this date the sign posts can be found all over the Netherlands. A replica of ‘mushroom’ number 1 is placed at the heath near Laren on the exact location where the decision was taken.
Highland cattle in the Netherlands
The video shows how pleasant it is to ride your bicycle through the heath. Not only do you meet many others cycling, there is also some wild life. We see roe deer, a lot of sheep and –more surprising– highland cattle too.
Cycling through the heath, Hilversum (Netherlands)
How did the Dutch get their cycling infrastructure? This question keeps coming back because it is of course relevant to people who want what the Dutch have.
Road building traditions go back a long way and they are influenced by many factors. But the way Dutch streets and roads are built today is largely the result of deliberate political decisions in the 1970s to turn away from the car centric policies of the prosperous post war era. Changed ideas about mobility, safer and more livable cities and about the environment led to a new type of streets in the Netherlands.
The recent video to introduce the Dutch Cycling Embassy explains this very briefly, but there is a lot more that can be said about it. That is why I made a longer video for a more in depth look into the history of cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands.
Please watch this video before you read on.
“The Netherlands’ problems were and are not unique, their solutions shouldn’t be that either.”
Thus ends my video, but what do I mean by that? I think the Dutch could and should be copied. If you look at the key factors for the change in Dutch thinking, you see these are just as valid today. The world is still too dependent on fossil fuels and many cities in the world have congested streets. Streets and roads which are also very dangerous, especially for vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. And that is even more so when these road users are elderly or children.
Other elements leading to the change are also not unique. That is not only so for the protest posters.
Cycle protest posters Amsterdam 1980
Critical Mass posters 2007-2011 various places
The mass cycling protests in the 1970s look very similar as well, compared to protests in other countries today. Like the massive number of people protesting by bike on London's Blackfriars bridge just a couple of days ago.
Cycling protest tour 1979, Amsterdam.
Blackfriars protest tour 2011, London. (Picture by Joe Dunckley)
Even the rogue painting of cycling infrastructure on roads is something that could be witnessed just a few weeks ago in Moscow.
Painting cycle lanes, Amsterdam 1980
Painting cycle lanes, Moscow 2011
So where then is the difference? The below picture from 1974 says a lot. It shows the then prime minister of the Netherlands Joop den Uyl and his wife, accepting a record from the foundation ‘Stop de kindermoord’ (stop the child murder) with a protest song.
Prime Minister Joop den Uyl and his wife accepting a record with a protest song by 'Stop de Kindermoord' with the radical title: "playing on the streets: death penalty"
This was at their home where they were adressed as parents. It gives a clear picture of how the pressure groups of the 1970s managed to get the political powers to listen to them and take action. It took them a decade, before not only decision makers, but also the planners finally listened to the protests. Getting the people who take decisions and those who have to draw plans for the streets to adopt the new ideas: that is where the real change started.
How to read this post - a note from David
This is one of the most popular posts by Mark. Note his emphasis in the last paragraph about addressing the Prime Minister and his wife as parents. They were addressed as equals and as people in a similar situation to the protesters. This was not a "them vs. us" situation but one of mutual respect and support.
This is the essential difference between how the Dutch achieved change and how many other campaigns elsewhere have failed to achieve change. Campaigning for cyclists or cycling is not effective as you're then campaigning for an out-group and not proposing something beneficial to the masses. Similarly, there is no point in campaigning against drivers as you are then pitting a small group against a much larger group. What's more, while the Netherlands has been more successful than any other nation at reducing use of motorised transport, this country has achieved that end without alienating drivers and without overt anti-car measures. Choosing to fight against drivers means picking a battle which cannot be won and one which in any case you don't to fight.
The wide age range of people on bicycles is one of the more striking things for visitors to the Netherlands. Very young children can be seen cycling with their parents on the streets, sometimes even still with stabilisers on their mini-bicycles. Younger children are often passengers. These kids start cycling to school and other destinations unaccompanied at the age of 8 or 9, giving them an independence and freedom which is unparalleled in the world. On the other end of the spectrum the senior citizens keep on cycling to a very high age indeed. Sometimes aided by electric bikes, but more often just because they simply still can. It gives this age group health and other benefits similar to the young children: freedom and independence.
Certainly not 8 yet, but why wouldn't you ride with your stabilisers
on the public road...
Safe streets for people from 8 to 80 is not a concept to strive for in the Netherlands, it has already become every day reality. Dutch streets are complete streets and Dutch cities are cities for people. Decisions that led to this reality were taken deliberately in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The (re-)construction of the cycling infrastructure mainly took place from the 1980s up until now. First an a smaller scale but really nationwide from the mid 1990s to the present day.
Certainly not 80 yet, but showing that cycling can be done gracefully
at a more senior age.
Early examples of Tilburg (1977), The Hague (1975-1981) and Delft (1979-1986), already showed that creating a sufficiently dense separate cycling infrastructure networkdoes increase cycling and at the same time makes it safer. The Dutch also learned from their initial shortcomings. Later projects, with many improvements in the details of the infrastructure, ranging from the angle of kerbs (curbs), via widths of paths and smoother surfaces, to more priority on junctions, had even better results in cities and towns in every region of the country. Interestingly enough there are no real separate cycling infrastructure projects anymore. The projects are embedded in an integral transportation policy approach. Making cycling equally important and valuable as motorised and public transport. And more: in recent transport policies cycling is seen as the preferred transportation option in a city or town and as such given benefits and priority over the other means of transport.
Looking at it on a macro scale reveals that all this led to the country with the highest modal share of cycling in the world’s safest streets, and with the widest age range of people cycling. Yes, you can truely say everyone cycles in the Netherlands, which is very visible in the above video.
The Amsterdam Nesciobrug (Nescio Bridge) features in the promotional video for the Dutch Cycling Embassy. The longest cycle bridge of the Netherlands* was completed in the summer of 2006 and has since been on my must-see list. The responses to the video and the beautiful weather we have had in the Netherlands at the beginning of Autumn were reason to finally go there and ride the bridge. Of course I took my camera with me so you can join in the fun.
Nescio Bridge Amsterdam (Netherlands)
The bridge, named after a Dutch writer, is of an overwhelming beauty. The blue sky, bright sunlight and the white construction helped a lot the day I visited. But the bridge is magnificently elegant by design. It is huge, spanning 163.5 meters (536.4Ft) over the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal which makes it the longest one cable suspension bridge in the Netherlands. It has a 10 meter (33Ft) clearance over the canal so large ships can easily pass it. The total length of the bridge is 779 meters (almost half a mile). The long approaches at either end provide a conveniently shallow gradient for cyclists.
The award-winning bridge was designed by British -London based- WilkinsonEyre architects. And it is -in their own words- "the result of a close collaboration between architects and engineers. The Nescio Bridge provides a vital connection for residents of IJburg, a suburb built on recently reclaimed land north of the city, with the ‘mainland’. Simultaneously, it provides access to the extensive green space of the Diemerpark for the people of Amsterdam." The engineers did a great job. Since the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal is a vital connection from the Amsterdam port to the German hinterland the canal could only be closed for 12 hours. It was in this timeframe that the main bridge part was placed. According to the architects the budget for this bridge was 6.5 million pounds in 2005. At the exchange rates of the time that would have been about 9.5 million euros or 11.4 million US dollar. For one cycle bridge to be paid by the city of Amsterdam.
The main bridge part was positioned in under 12 hours.
I made two videos. One to show the bridge and the cyclists using it in all its glory and one with rides over the bridge. The first ride is from North to South (from IJburg to Amsterdam) and then from South to North (Amsterdam to IJburg).
Video showing the bridge and the people cycling on it.
Rides over the bridge.
* The Netherlands has more 'long' bridges, so you can argue which one is "longest". The Nijmegen 'Snelbinder' bridge is a lot longer than this one. But it is attached to an existing railroad bridge and as such not a specific cycle bridge.
Why this isn't so important as you might think Exceptional infrastructure like this is always interesting to see and it makes for easy blogging. However it's not significant so far as getting people to ride bikes. What causes people to cycle in large numbers is the very tight network of everyday, but high quality, cycle routes.
It has been 34 years since I started riding to school on my bicycle. A big change in the life of any Dutch child is going from primary school to secondary school. Primary schools in the Netherlands are usually at walking distance. In my days we even walked there unsupervised. Nowadays kids are usually taken by their parents on foot, by bicycle or indeed by car. But once the kids start secondary school –usually at the age of 12– it means they will be going there without supervision and on their bicycles. Then as well as now.
I looked up my old school diary and I had only written ‘first day at school’ on Tuesday 16th August 1977. My parents didn’t send me unprepared. They had carefully plotted a route for me. In the mid and late seventies cycling was as its all time low in the Netherlands and although cycling infrastructure was there, it was fragmented and you needed to plan to be able to ride a route that was as safe as possible.
So my parents planned a route around the city centre and along busy streets. That last bit may seem odd but it isn’t. In the 1970s traffic calming was not common yet, but the busy main streets outside city centres did have separated cycle paths or lanes and my parents wanted me to be on those. So we had spent several Sundays trial riding the route together. I had to prove I knew the route well and they were also monitoring my behaviour around traffic carefully. Giving me hints and tips.
I have cycled unsupervised from then on. With but one exception. One afternoon my mother suddenly showed up with the family car, worried by the first Autumn storm with heavy rain and wind. Right in front of the school, she put my bicycle in the trunk of the car to drive me home. It was with the best intentions but all my class mates were laughing and I urged my mother never to embarrass me like that again. She didn’t.
I hadn’t seen my old home for years, but recently I rode the route again. Not much had changed! The biggest difference was that a level rail road crossing was now a tunnel. But apart from that little else has changed. Some of the infrastructure seemed old fashioned and one junction is clearly not up to present standards. Riding along the busier streets and on old fashioned cycle lanes is unpleasant. You couldn't call the route dangerous, but you can argue if this is still the best route to take.
Cycling the safe route my parents had planned for me 34 years ago.
That route also meant I had to take a detour. So after some time I rebelled and started following a shorter route right through the city centre. It meant negotiating with heavy traffic, smelly buses that took your breath away in narrow streets that also were full of cars and trucks. Motorised traffic was more often standing still than driving. I decided to ride that route again too. And surprise: almost everything in the city centre has changed!
Cycling the shortest route
that my parents did not allow me to take 34 years ago.
Motorised traffic was diverted around the centre. Streets became one way to make through traffic impossible. Whole areas of the city were transformed into 30km/h (18m/h) zones, making the streets unattractive for through traffic. Bus routes were diverted and cycle paths have been created. The most striking difference is the street in the picture below that I had to cross: in 1977 still a four lane main route, now (and since a long time already) not accessible for private cars anymore, only for buses and bicycles. The whole route was much more pleasant, since you see so little motorised traffic. The route that was more dangerous in the 1970s is the more pleasant and safer route now. And it is also the most direct route.
The same street in the 1970s and now. From four lane major route to a street that is completely closed to private motorised traffic.
So what can we deduct from this?
Traffic calming (diverting and slowing down motorised traffic) can do a lot for cycle safety too. Especially if those traffic calmed areas are connected with good and direct cycle paths where they are needed.
Once there are cycle provisions in streets they won’t be changed much, not even if the provisions are not up to standard anymore. If sub-standard cycling infrastructure is being built. You might be stuck with it for 30 years or more.
(Because) streets that do not have any provisions will be updated first and they may become even better than the earlier updated streets.
Routes to school. In green the longer and safer route in 1977, mostly following main arterial roads since they already had cycle provisions. The red and more direct route stays well away from arterial roads and is now more pleasant since it goes through an area of the city that has been mostly closed to motorised through traffic since 1977.
Link to a google map with these routes.
A healthy cycling climate is not only about safe and protected cycling infrastructure. That there is much more to it sometimes becomes unexpectedly clear. In a newspaper article about moving to a different home a Dutch couple explains what their motivations were.
'When I can take the children
to school by bike
one car will go.'
They tell us that among other things their wish to move from The Hague to Leiden has to do with the commuting distance. Both work in Leiden, go to sports clubs in Leiden and they have friends and relatives there.
So far it could be a reason for a move anywhere else in the world as well. But the couple goes on: “In the Hague it was too far to cycle back home in the children's school lunch break, that is why we needed two cars. When I can take the children to school by bicycle we will be able to get rid of one car.”
The wish to be able to cycle to school as one of the reasons for moving to another home. That is a sign of a healthy cycling climate in a country. Even if the underlying reason here is also to save money, cycling is considered a sensible solution to achieve that goal. And cycling is an important factor in choosing where you live for many people in the Netherlands. They try to live at cycling distance of their every day destinations and a railway station to combine the bicycle with the train to cover longer distances.
Home builders know about this too. When they advertise new homes it is clear they show what potential buyers want to know: ‘where can I keep my bicycle?’ The artists’ impressions show exactly that.
Artist impression of a two bedroom home in the Netherlands. In the red circle bicycle parking with a separate entrance to the street. Parking your bike becomes very convenient like this.
When considering cycling as good alternative transport it is not only necessary to be able to reach your destination safe and conveniently by bicycle and to be able to park your bicycle at that destination, it is also necessary that you are able to keep your bicycle stored well where you live.
Detail of an in-home room for parking your -every day- bicycles. Also with a direct exit to the street right next to the front door.
When a society facilitates all this it changes the mindset of people and they can choose for the bicycle with confidence.
