Cycling for Everyone - how the Dutch do it

Sometimes I do wonder why I don't move back.. ;)

Cycling for Everyone

(I know, topography and climate play a large role in addition to the infrastructure...)

And BTW - anticipating some questions about lack of helmets, consider some of the stats from this study:

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Averaged over the years 2002 to 2005, the number of bicyclist fatalities per 100 million km cycled was 5.8 in the USA and 3.6 in the UK, compared to 1.7 in Germany, 1.5 in Denmark, and 1.1 in the Netherlands (see Figure 10). Thus, cycling is over five times as safe in the Netherlands as in the USA and more than three times as safe as in the UK. That might explain why the Dutch do not perceive cycling as a dangerous way to get around.

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and

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the non-fatal injury rate for the USA is about 8 times higher than for Germany and about 30 times higher than for the Netherlands and Denmark.

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When I cycle in the Netherlands, I don't wear a helmet. When cycling in the U.S., I do.

That was wonderful!! Thanks for sharing.

I'm curious though, how do they handle winter there? With so many people cycling, how do they get to work when it snows, can the mass transit system handle all the extra people??

The climate there is moderate, so generally the winters are not extreme. Most of the time, folks cycle year-round. When it does snow or sleet, it can put a strain on mass transit capacity as well as car traffic.

Thanks for sharing this. The Dutch and Danes are miles ahead of the rest of us. I just hope that our city planners and government start to follow their example.

By the way, this article appeared some weeks back in a UK paper and caused a certain amount of bemusement http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ing-congestion

I wonder why I don't move back to Paris...why, oh why?

I think David Hembrow hit the nail on the head here:
http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/02/...-one-post.html

The Dutch have not got some magic advantage over the rest of it - except perhaps with regard to political will and less tolerance for B*ll Sh*t? :rolleyes: ;)

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Originally Posted by Rebecca19804

I think David Hembrow hit the nail on the head here:
http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/02/...-one-post.html

The Dutch have not got some magic advantage over the rest of it - except perhaps with regard to political will and less tolerance for B*ll Sh*t? :rolleyes: ;)

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Indeed. There is no reason why we can't do the same thing here or anywhere else. Many campaigners have argued this for many years and continue to do so but progress has been slow and as you point out, there has been a lack of political will because the car lobby still rules. Perhaps our campaign strategy and tactics need to change. There has been progress in London since the mid 90s, especially after the introduction of congestion charging and more bus and bike lanes, but it's not a success by any stretch of the imagination. The growth in the numbers of people cycling in particular has done a lot to make other road users etc. more aware of cyclists and this has helped to create a safer cycling environment. Note that I say 'safer' and not safe.

Let's see - post WWII, Europe was rebuilding, where we came home and expanded (in more ways than one :p). I wonder what we'd do if we paid European prices for gas? I believe that's part of the reason for the high price is to subsidize public transit, done some in this country but not as heavily.
Just a thought. :rolleyes:

Thought #2 - TE Group vacation in Holland! :D:cool::)

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Originally Posted by bmccasland

Let's see - post WWII, Europe was rebuilding, where we came home and expanded (in more ways than one :p). I wonder what we'd do if we paid European prices for gas? I believe that's part of the reason for the high price is to subsidize public transit, done some in this country but not as heavily.
Just a thought. :rolleyes:

Thought #2 - TE Group vacation in Holland! :D:cool::)

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Agree 100% As long as we're paying artificially low fuel prices only minor inroads will be made into alternative transportation options. Big Oil is greedy, not stupid.