Why do so many Dutch people cycle?

[Loki]

Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?



There are more bicycles than residents in The Netherlands and in cities like Amsterdam and The Hague up to 70% of all journeys are made by bike. The BBC's Hague correspondent, Anna Holligan, who rides an omafiets - or "granny style" - bike complete with wicker basket and pedal-back brakes, examines what made everyone get back in the saddle.

The 70s velo-rution

Before World War II, journeys in the Netherlands were predominantly made by bike, but in the 1950s and 1960s, as car ownership rocketed, this changed. As in many countries in Europe, roads became increasingly congested and cyclists were squeezed to the kerb.

The jump in car numbers caused a huge rise in the number of deaths on the roads. In 1971 more than 3,000 people were killed by motor vehicles, 450 of them children.

In response a social movement demanding safer cycling conditions for children was formed. Called Stop de Kindermoord (Stop the Child Murder), it took its name from the headline of an article written by journalist Vic Langenhoff whose own child had been killed in a road accident.

The Dutch faith in the reliability and sustainability of the motor vehicle was also shaken by the Middle East oil crisis of 1973, when oil-producing countries stopped exports to the US and Western Europe.

These twin pressures helped to persuade the Dutch government to invest in improved cycling infrastructure and Dutch urban planners started to diverge from the car-centric road-building policies being pursued throughout the urbanising West.

Path to glory

To make cycling safer and more inviting the Dutch have built a vast network of cycle paths.

These are clearly marked, have smooth surfaces, separate signs and lights for those on two wheels, and wide enough to allow side-by-side cycling and overtaking.


The sign reads 'Bike street: Cars are guests'

In many cities the paths are completely segregated from motorised traffic. Sometimes, where space is scant and both must share, you can see signs showing an image of a cyclist with a car behind accompanied by the words 'Bike Street: Cars are guests'.

At roundabouts, too, it is those using pedal power who have priority.

You can cycle around a roundabout while cars (almost always) wait patiently for you to pass. The idea that "the bike is right" is such an alien concept for tourists on bikes that many often find it difficult to navigate roads and junctions at first.



Most bike-friendly countries in Europe

1=. Denmark

1=. Netherlands

3. Sweden

4. Finland

5. Germany

6. Belgium

7. Austria

8. Hungary

9. Slovakia

10. UK

[Ultra]

Cycling owns. Environmental friendly and reduces risk of obesity + leg and ass exercise. There are many places that I can go downtown to faster on a bike than car. Heck, even the gym which is 10 min on a bicycle away takes roughly the same time to go there by car.

[gregorius]

- Small cities,
- overpopulated areas so a car wont work as good as a small bike
- Short distances

[Azalea]

Everything is flat here. There are no hills or mountains. And besides that, we maybe have on or two weeks of snow in winter, so the environment - except for the shitty rain all year long - is excellent for cycling.

I go everywhere by bicycle and so does my family. We have 6 bicycles at our home even though we are with four. Oh and I also have a 'granny bicycle'.

[Albion]

Cycling in cities is a good idea, but around here we have people cycling great distances between towns and clogging up the roads. They don't get over to the left to let cars pass and hold races on public roads at busy times (how is that even allowed?). It's good in cities, but a menace in rural areas.

[Fortis in Arduis]

I lived in Cambridge for seven years, and it was nice and flat. I was never without my bicycle. Some UK cities and towns are highly-suited to bicycling, others with lots of hills and little provision in terms of lanes and space, are certainly not.

The flatness helps.

[Graham]

They don't get over to the left to let cars pass and hold races on public roads at busy times (how is that even allowed?). It's good in cities, but a menace in rural areas.

It's because road tires, for bikes are very thin & you take the risk of hitting a drain or pothole & flying over the handle bars.

[Fortis in Arduis]

It's because road tires, for bikes are very thin & you take the risk of hitting a drain or pothole & flying over the handle bars.

He means bicyclists riding side by side, and blocking the road, which as vehicles, they should not do.

Riding on the pavement is another fault of many bicyclists. They belong on the left of the road and they also need to drive into the centre of any roundabout and indicate when they intend to turn, unless it is the next turning along!

If bicyclists want to be pedestrians they need to get off the bicycle and push it.

[Graham]

He means bicyclists riding side by side, and blocking the road.

Oh ok, cyclist ignorance then.

Have you tried cycling here Fortis? Flat roads & paths are so rare. lol Lots's of weeeeeee! & fuck this hill!!!

[sevruk]

not really in Russia