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Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

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81–90 of 380 posts

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#81
post #47

> If anything, having a tatty, battered old > bike affords more status as it attests to > a long and lasting love. As an Amsterdam resident: What a romantic characterization of our high crime rates! Yes, the reason I still ride a shitty old beater of a bike is definitely my long lasting love for that piece of shit, it's not because I know that if I buy anything fancy I'm going to have to never take my eyes off of it,…

I don't get it - that competition is of bike thefts for unguarded and _unlocked_ bikes. Surely it means nothing. Do people not buy bike locks in those regions?

Is it typical for a 13mm+ Ulock in Amsterdam to get broken?

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#82
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bougth a second hand bike for 40eur 5 years ago, and I only had to fix the wheel once (5 eur). Never had to buy clothes, special locks or anything fancy... I use it daily...

I think for most cities, locks and lights are unavoidable costs, if you want to stay safe and still have your bike be where you left it... Some would argue a helmet should be too, but experienced cyclists know better than to open that debate up! Unless you live somewhere with a great climate, foul weather clothing inevitably ends up needing bought if you intend to commute all year round by bike.

No one uses helmets. Most people don't use panniers either; small loads are attached to the back of the bike by the default "snelbinders" (elastic straps). Or what's really popular lately are plastic crates above the front-wheel. Locks and lights (and reflective strips on the wheels) are standard on all bikes. In cities you'd get a second lock, but that's really about it.

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#83
post #42
post #8

One thing the article doesn't mention is how long the bicycle trips are. Surely the relative compactness of their cities are a major contributing factor! I live in America and commute on my bicycle almost every day. For me the biggest obstacle isn't the hills (which there are plenty of) or even sharing the road with cars (which is admittedly extremely unpleasant) but the fact that in the quasi-suburban area in which…

Dunno, I used to ride the bycicle to the school in the city which is 25km away from where I lived. So 50km (31 miles) a day at least. In the village where I grew up that was pretty common.

The difference then is probably widespread access to cars. With suburbs being so spread out, most people would rather drive rather than bike more than 5 miles per trip, despite the big environmental and personal health consequences.

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#84
Just came back from a week in Netherlands and stayed in Amsterdam. What a cool place to hang out and take in the sights. Cycling there is huge indeed. The big difference I noticed from Canada was the dedicated infrastructure they have in place. Dedicated cycling lanes everywhere, it's a proper form of transportation. As a tourist, this was weird, I nearly got mowed down a few times but because I was in the wrong and not paying attention. You quickly adapt and realize bike lanes are just as important to watch out for as vehicle lanes. The people are very friendly and nearly all speak English without issue.

I don't agree with cycling on the roads and highways here in Canada, it's chaos and frankly, dangerous. I don't really see if implementing what they have because it's already built in.

The thing that really jumped out at me was when I was waiting for a bus around zaanse schans, about an hour outside of Amsterdam in the country, there was an elementary school that just finished up for the day and every single student came out on bicycles. Myself and a group of Canadian's couldn't believe it. They all happily were socializing on their bikes tightly packed together while riding on the bike path in the country to their homes. Here in Canada nearly everyone takes a giant yellow school bus.

Very nice place, highly recommend checking it out if you have chance. Aside, saw the outside of the Atlassian Amsterdam office too ;)

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#85
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many factors, but IMO it has a lot to do with urban sprawl. I'd never consider living somewhere where I'd have to own a car to be able to do my groceries and to go work. In the same idea, I'd never take a job that requires me to do more than a 30 minutes commute by public transportation/biking distance. That makes me a perfect candidate for biking, unfortunately I'm more of an outlier. Most people, includin…

> Just look at any suburbs: the inhabitants clearly disagree with me. Some of us just have kids and have noticed that all the city housing is either incredibly expensive or in slums, and the schools in the city proper are dangerous and terrible so we'd also have to pay for private school[0]. And we're not made of money. I'd much rather live in the city—I hate the car-centric lifestyle—but living there if I have enoug…

It's definitely a choice and I wasn't implying it's a bad one. Everyone has different priorities, like you said it could be kids or something else. All I'm saying is that it's those choices that make urban sprawl a thing and reduces the effectiveness of living car-free. I'd buy a car in an instant if I had to, and I consider myself lucky not to have to right now.

Not all suburban cities are equal either, some makes it possible not to have to commute by car (at least near where I live).

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#86
I think the superiority of the Netherlands when it comes to cycling is pretty clear, and has been for a long time. What bothers me about this superiority is the perceived need to point it out on a fairly regular basis.

It's very easy to look at one's fortunate circumstances and wonder why others can't replicate them, so why the constant incredulousness around how the Netherlands stands as an example that should be followed?

Perhaps shrinking every nation to the size and geographical structure of the Netherlands would help. Other nations could also raze their suburbs and reconstruct into quaint little villages with great respect for cyclists.

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#87
i cant seem to find any references to the 'no need for a parking place, no need for gas, brings two people at least, police not that much of a hassle when you cycle drunk (and if you really drank too much, you cant cycle...), usually in a city 10x faster due to one-way traffic etc'

And plenty of (serious) accidents happen here too involving cyclist. Though indeed, car drivers are generally in fear of hitting one for legal and insurance reasons.

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#88

I think the superiority of the Netherlands when it comes to cycling is pretty clear, and has been for a long time. What bothers me about this superiority is the perceived need to point it out on a fairly regular basis. It's very easy to look at one's fortunate circumstances and wonder why others can't replicate them, so why the constant incredulousness around how the Netherlands stands as an example that should be fo…

It wasn't always that way... https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bic...

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bike infrastructure in most countries is generally very bad compared to car infrastructure, or even walking infrastructure. This leads to not many people cycling, which gives you a chicken and egg problem: few cyclists mean little political support for biking. For cars in the US it's the opposite: even when major cities get big enough to where cars clearly aren't scaling well anymore, cities are often reluctant to re…

No. The chicken and egg problem existed when cars where the new thing and roads where designed for people on feet, bikes, cable cars, trams and horses. Then car companies did a lot of lobbying.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bic...

Re: Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

#90
post #81
post #47

> If anything, having a tatty, battered old > bike affords more status as it attests to > a long and lasting love. As an Amsterdam resident: What a romantic characterization of our high crime rates! Yes, the reason I still ride a shitty old beater of a bike is definitely my long lasting love for that piece of shit, it's not because I know that if I buy anything fancy I'm going to have to never take my eyes off of it,…

I don't get it - that competition is of bike thefts for unguarded and _unlocked_ bikes. Surely it means nothing. Do people not buy bike locks in those regions? Is it typical for a 13mm+ Ulock in Amsterdam to get broken?

> Surely it means nothing

Well I guess it means that you can't leave your bike unlocked in parts of Amsterdam, which is a shame.

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