Cycling in and around Amsterdam - wow!

[Deleted member 35268]

Hello

I've just returned once again from Amsterdam. The last time I was their was about 20 years ago, at a time when I wasn't too into cycling.

Now, as a daily commuter and weekend high miler, I now fully appreciate all the planning, laws and infrastructure that the Dutch have put in place to make Cycling the number 1 choice of transport.

The back roads around Amsterdam all have either segragated bike lanes or prioritised lanes on the road.
In town, bikes have a high degree of priority at roundabouts and junctions
And the pedestrians and car drivers all look out for the bikes and make room, give way and act safely.
Even the bus hubs out of town have secure bike parking, enabling commuters to make part of their journey by bike at least.

Cargo bikes, town bikes, racers, hybrids, e-bikes - everything seemlessly moving from place to place.

I wish I could live there, I really do.

Here in the UK however, we have to put up with inadequate infrastructure and investment, crappy bike paths, and a terrible anti-cycling attitude from vehicle owners.

Something needs to change.

 

[scragend]

I wish I could live there, I really do.

Ja, ik ook!

Here in the UK however, we have to put up with inadequate infrastructure and investment, crappy bike paths, and a terrible anti-cycling attitude from vehicle owners.

Something needs to change.

What I always find really interesting about the cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands is that it wasn't always like that. There's a temptation to think it always has been, because of the reputation that NL now has for being a cycling-friendly country. But up until the 1960s it was just like here, new roads being built, more cars etc.

Then the Stop de Kindermoord protests took place and it all stemmed from there.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Then the Stop de Kindermoord protests took place and it all stemmed from there.

I'd never heard of these protests, So I read about them here: http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/01/stop-child-murder.html Worth a read!

Perhaps this may be a clue to its success: A degree of popular support.

Rather than, as @Rooster1 points out in the UK:

a terrible anti-cycling attitude from vehicle owners.

The British attitude to child mortality on the road would be to ban all children from taking part in such a "dangerous sport" rather than addressing the road safety problems. And probably give the kids a lift in the car to the local velopark.

 

[mjr]

The British attitude to child mortality on the road would be to ban all children from taking part in such a "dangerous sport" rather than addressing the road safety problems. And probably give the kids a lift in the car to the local velopark.

Haven't we effectively done that by making road designs so hostile that you never see children playing in the street any more? It's basically discouraged noisily with horns in through streets, while almost every cul de sac is littered with parked cars, mostly half on footways, whose owners will shout if a ball so much as brushes them.

It's amazing but encouraging that any young rebels cycle at all, but then they get a steady stream of propaganda telling them it'll be their fault if a motorist hurts them, for not "being seen" or wearing the wrong clothing. I applaud any child who persists in cycling today.

 

[bitsandbobs]

But up until the 1960s it was just like here, new roads being built, more cars etc.

There are huge amounts of road construction in NL and car ownership rates are higher than the UK.

 

[Jenkins]

In most places in the UK that thin gravel(?) strip in the picture would be considered the cycle path.

Very occasionally you do come across a nice, useable segregated path such as this which I found alongside the B1102 coming out of Stow cum Quy to Swaffham Bulbeck near Cambridge

The memory of which was soon ruined by the one alongside Mount Road leaving Bury St. Edmunds which was heavily overgrown, involved a crossing of the national speed limit B road and then just petered out halfway to Thurston.

 

[Dogtrousers]

In most places in the UK that thin gravel(?) strip in the picture would be considered the cycle path.

Very occasionally you do come across a nice, useable segregated path such as this which I found alongside the B1102 coming out of Stow cum Quy to Swaffham Bulbeck near Cambridge
View attachment 656692
The memory of which was soon ruined by the one alongside Mount Road leaving Bury St. Edmunds which was heavily overgrown, involved a crossing of the national speed limit B road and then just petered out halfway to Thurston.

There's a fantastic cycle path like that on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. The only problem with it is that ... It's on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent

And I rode from one side of Burgess Hill in Sussex to the other recently on some new-ish pretty good (but not tarmac) paths.

So it's not all bad. Just nearly all bad.

 

[sheddy]

Chris and Melissa moved from Canada and promote best practice. FB users can see regular examples.
http://www.modacitylife.com/about

 

[matticus]

So it's not all bad. Just nearly all bad.

yup.

 

[matticus]

This is an under-quoted image:

In the UK that road would get a white line down the middle (and of course no bike lanes).
The very thought of TWO bike lanes but only ONE for drivers! I don't pay road-tax to be a 2nd class citizen!!! etc etc ...

 

[markemark]

This is an under-quoted image:
View attachment 658610

In the UK that road would get a white line down the middle (and of course no bike lanes).
The very thought of TWO bike lanes but only ONE for drivers! I don't pay road-tax to be a 2nd class citizen!!! etc etc ...

Is it 2 way? What happens if two cars approach?

 

[Alex321]

There's a fantastic cycle path like that on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. The only problem with it is that ... It's on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent

And I rode from one side of Burgess Hill in Sussex to the other recently on some new-ish pretty good (but not tarmac) paths.

So it's not all bad. Just nearly all bad.

Agreed. I have to say that there is some good cycle path provision in Rhondda-Cynon-Taff, good enough that when cycling that way, I will choose to use the cycle paths rather than the road.

There are some reasonable ones in the Vale of Glamorgan too, but not as many.

But those are noticeable because they are unusual, they really should be the norm.

 

[Julia9054]

Is it 2 way? What happens if two cars approach?

They would be allowed to temporarily encroach on the cycle lane providing they give way to any bikes and allow them priority. This will be a relatively minor road. A more major road would have a 2 way cycle lane with a dotted line down the middle, completely separate from the road. I love cycling in the Netherlands. When I cycle off the ferry in Rotterdam, it is about 10km before I share a road with cars and even then it is like the one in the picture

 

[Oldhippy]

Hello

I've just returned once again from Amsterdam. The last time I was their was about 20 years ago, at a time when I wasn't too into cycling.

Now, as a daily commuter and weekend high miler, I now fully appreciate all the planning, laws and infrastructure that the Dutch have put in place to make Cycling the number 1 choice of transport.

The back roads around Amsterdam all have either segragated bike lanes or prioritised lanes on the road.
In town, bikes have a high degree of priority at roundabouts and junctions
And the pedestrians and car drivers all look out for the bikes and make room, give way and act safely.
Even the bus hubs out of town have secure bike parking, enabling commuters to make part of their journey by bike at least.

Cargo bikes, town bikes, racers, hybrids, e-bikes - everything seemlessly moving from place to place.

I wish I could live there, I really do.

View attachment 656603

Here in the UK however, we have to put up with inadequate infrastructure and investment, crappy bike paths, and a terrible anti-cycling attitude from vehicle owners.

Something needs to change.

A fabulous model for how it should be in this day and age but until the political will is there and the incessant car is good everything else is bad is consigned to the bin the UK system will stay tokenism only sadly.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

A long but interesting read:

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2019/08/the-car-free-myth-netherlands-is-great.html?m=1