January 2, 2016
More women in the Netherlands bike than men–a testament to the safety of the bike infrastructure there. Women are often accompanied by small children.
Today there are more reasons than ever to be jealous of the Netherlands.
There are new bridges connecting cyclists to their destinations, more sophisticated roundabouts in big cities and small towns, children being carried to and fro at all hours of the day, in every season, and massive bike parking facilities, all of this in comfort and safety on a bicycle.
This according to highlights of the changes in 2015 in Netherlands cycling infrastructure, a video compilation by Mark Wagenbuur who publishes the Bicycle Dutch blog and posts regularly on Youtube.
For the Dutch, Wagenbuur’s summary of 2015 is a celebration of how the country continues to improve its already terrific bicycle infrastructure.
For Americans, it’s a pointed reminder of just how little infrastructure we have here, and how much we have to be jealous about.
Cyclists are on the streets every day, going about their business.
That old adage promulgated by Prof. John Pucher, urban planning and policy development expert at Rutger’s University, that women are an “indicator species” of danger on the road is proven true in the Netherlands where today more women bike than men.
In the U.S., women only make up a small proportion of regular recreational and sport cycling, a testimony to the perceived high danger of cycling on our roads.
We see not only Dutch women of all ages riding regularly through Wagenbuur’s compilation, but also young women in their teens, and mothers with multiple children in tow, either in attached bikes, or on the handlebars or both.
In one sequence a young girl rides standing up on the back of her mother’s bicycle, like a rodeo performer out west might do on the back of a horse. Children are rarely if ever seen riding bicycles in the United States–it’s considered too dangerous by the parents who regularly drive cars, and know that they do not drive carefully around cyclists themselves.
In 2015, infrastructure improvements led to complex yet architecturally
magnificent overpasses in traffic regions that are normally overrun by bike-inaccessible highways: a segment shows cyclists riding high above the highway connections with not a care in a world. Some are beautiful, sweeping architectural marvels, while others are simply utilitarian.
In one section Wagenbuur shows progress in bike lane conversions, where entire streets were converted to cycle ways “where cars are guests,” roads that previously had no cycle paths now with complete cycling facilities, and unprotected bike areas converted to protected bike lanes.
And everyone uses them, young and old.
Wagenbuur makes a point of showing us how the Dutch actually plow the snow from their bikeways in the winter and cyclists take to two wheels at any temperature, sometimes wearing down jackets. People don’t dress for cycling, he says in the voiceover as a man in a bright orange business dress jacket rides by–they dress for the occasion they are riding to.
Bike parking is in full supply, outdoors and indoors, and especially at major commutation routes, something we not only lack, but don’t even have an inkling of.
New bicyclist-only bridges were built, some with beautiful architecture.
The bicycle is also used to transport things, and there is a regular use of cargo bikes and cargo bicycle events that showcase the importance of the vehicle for business use. Bike infrastructure has improved in both cities and towns, and he says all small towns have bicycle lanes. Traffic roundabouts always give priority to cyclists.
But, he says, even the Dutch constantly need prodding by cycling advocates to make more improvements, as he shows a group of advocates setting up a map and talking to a crowd: the good work is never done.
