Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

vox.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 391 posts

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#101

Post by vaccarium »

bogomipz wrote: post #67
Rainymood wrote: post #2

As a Dutch person I am pleasantly surprised by this article, it gets basically everything right. One thing though is that our geography works well with biking. I visited the US recently and you can drive for 30 minutes in a car and you are still in LA, if you drive for 30 minutes in the Netherlands you're in a completely different city. Everything is just closer and hence more bike-able. As a dutch person I would abs…

>"One thing though is that our geography works well with biking." And the topography doesn't hurt - its flat as a pancake. Also isn't it possible to basically ride between every city in the Netherlands? I once biked from Rotterdam to Den Hague using only bike paths and protected bike lanes. I got the impression that I could continue riding to Amsterdam in the same fashion if wanted to.

> I got the impression that I could continue riding to Amsterdam in the same fashion if wanted to.

You definitely could. A couple of years ago I've actually done a trip like that, Rotterdam to The Hague to Amsterdam (then onwards to Amersfoort) — it was about 150 km long, and all of that was on designated bike paths and lanes.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#102

Post by maxerickson »

Rainymood wrote: post #2

As a Dutch person I am pleasantly surprised by this article, it gets basically everything right. One thing though is that our geography works well with biking. I visited the US recently and you can drive for 30 minutes in a car and you are still in LA, if you drive for 30 minutes in the Netherlands you're in a completely different city. Everything is just closer and hence more bike-able. As a dutch person I would abs…

Another factor is the population density. I live in a region that is geographically just a bit larger than the Netherlands and has a population of about 300,000 (The Upper Peninsula of Michigan).

Of course that doesn't apply in US areas that do have higher population density, but there's a lot of country over here.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#103

Post by yiyus »

bunderbunder wrote: post #5
Rainymood wrote: post #2

As a Dutch person I am pleasantly surprised by this article, it gets basically everything right. One thing though is that our geography works well with biking. I visited the US recently and you can drive for 30 minutes in a car and you are still in LA, if you drive for 30 minutes in the Netherlands you're in a completely different city. Everything is just closer and hence more bike-able. As a dutch person I would abs…

As an American, whenever I see articles about Dutch cycling culture, the thing that stands out to me is that nobody is wearing helmets. In the US, I wouldn't dream of doing that - it's just too dangerous, because there's too much risk of being involved in a high speed collision. But, after having spent some time in the Netherlands, it's come to feel like a minor injustice every time I put my helmet on. It's a little…

Something I frequently see in the Netherlands and surprises me is how some driver parks his car, takes the child from the special seat with two belts, put him into a wood box in the front of his bike, and gets into traffic while checking his phone.

I have a friend who takes her three children in a bike because she does not have a big enough car for three children seats.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#104

Post by s0rce »

novaRom wrote: post #36

Visiting San Francisco and San Jose every year, I don't see many improvements. US is for cars right now how it looks like. Uber, Light Train, renting a car, but no options to just take a bike from hotel to a conference site.

Bike shares (docked and dockless) are growing in the bay area. I know many non-cyclists use them daily for their last mile commute from the train. You could probably use these in SF to go from a hotel to a conference venue. Also, numerous large SV companies have their own campus bikes as well.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#105

Post by neivin »

bluejekyll wrote: post #19
Rainymood wrote: post #2

As a Dutch person I am pleasantly surprised by this article, it gets basically everything right. One thing though is that our geography works well with biking. I visited the US recently and you can drive for 30 minutes in a car and you are still in LA, if you drive for 30 minutes in the Netherlands you're in a completely different city. Everything is just closer and hence more bike-able. As a dutch person I would abs…

> As a dutch person I would absolutely NOT want to ride a bike in the US, it's simply too dangerous. I understand this perspective, but as a counter to this, if no one bikes in the US then this won't change. I ride all over San Francisco. In the last 18 years of me living here things have gotten better and better for the cyclist, but there are still many areas that can be improved. I encourage you to support local or…

You would also fail your driver's test in SF if you don't check for bikers when making a right turn. However, this isn't the case if you do your test elsewhere. SF has pretty good bike infrastructure and awareness.

I just did my driving test in the city, and this was drilled into my head by my instructor.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#107

Post by dmurray »

Angostura wrote: post #25
TulliusCicero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One thing though is that our geography works well with biking. I visited the US recently and you can drive for 30 minutes in a car and you are still in LA, if you drive for 30 minutes in the Netherlands you're in a completely different city. That's not geography, that's urban planning, or a lack of it. America's geographic size meant that we could sprawl, not that we had to. And indeed, especially in the post-WW2 e…

I seem to recall from a geography A-level course about 35 years ago in the UK that historically Los Angeles' spread was something to do with the city fathers offering incentives to adjoining communities to become part of Los Angeles - something like 'call yourself Los Angeles and we'll give you access to our water or electrical grid'. Is that right? A bit hazy after all this time.

That doesn't sound right at all, it's almost the opposite of the current situation. Only a small part of the Los Angeles sprawl is officially in the city of Los Angeles. Another hundred communities aren't officially called Los Angeles, but might as well be.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#108

Post by the-dude »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #70

the bike alone doesn’t replace the private automobile, and neither does public transit, but when you combine the two, that’s when the magic happens. Then the car becomes redundant in cities. I love the picture of a guy moving a bed on an oversized and strange (to my eyes) three wheeler.

'Bakfiets'. Bike with a 'bak', which would be a container?

They are mostly rentals. I think IKEA rents out bakfietsen too.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#109

Post by neivin »

antisthenes wrote: post #96
Afton wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-bikes are flattening terrain. Source: I live in Seattle, am an avid biker, and those Lime e-bikes are everywhere . People who wouldn't dream of biking because of the hills are now out on casual errands with those things.

Unfortunately I don't get the economics of lime ebikes. You pay $6/hr to ride one, which, assuming a very generous average speed of 14.5mph (the maximum of the bike), is an end user cost of $0.41 per mile minimum. It costs me ~$0.35 per mile to drive a car. I also don't have to bother with any apps or worry about the battery being charged, both of which are inconveniences. Also, just to set the record straight, I own…

You completely ignored all the other costs of owning a car: insurance, parking, maintenance.

You're paying much, much more than $0.35/mile my friend.

Re: How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

#110

Post by pnathan »

neals wrote: post #26

It isn't all fun and games. I had to ride the bike to school for 5 years. Over in the neighbouring city. A 45 minute ride. Alone. Through wind, rain, wind and wind. And rain. That's also part of the culture, because it's safe and ok to send kids, 12 years old, on their own, in the dark over unlit forest roads. Through the wind. Also wind. Saves on bus fare. Which is also typically Dutch. I don't own a bike any more.

That all seems perfectly fine to me, to be completely honest.
Post reply on HN