Amsterdam Closed This Bridge to Cars (but not bikes ofc)

[@NotJustBikes]

Get Brilliant.org free for 30 days, visit brilliant.org/notjustbikes You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. Also, if you have Nebula, why not watch it there ad-free and sponsor-free? nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-amsterdam-closed-this-bridge-to-cars-but-not-bikes

[@skrufff]

Your statement at the end, "when construction happens in Amsterdam, I get excited because I know it'll be better in the end", really struck me, because living in Canada, in my city, I see construction happening and always have to feel restraint with that sentiment. I see the city attempting to make improvements, and thankfully there are some, but I can also see the compromises and it's disheartening. They'd rather save money and half-ass the project now, that will now live on for the next 30 years until they have to rip it up again. Why can't we just build things right the first time?

[@Brent-jj6qi]

Building things right the first time reflects poorly on your budget. Having to repair it after you’ve retired reflects badly on the next guys budget

[@skrufff]

@@Brent-jj6qi It's emblematic of how people view society now. "I got mine, don't care". People don't care about the people 50 years from now using a beautifully designed, expensive, but safe project. They want it done as cheaply and quickly as possible because who cares about 50 years from now? They'll be dead or moved on in another city. Everyone is so concerned with the 'now', and that's what NA was built on.

[@CatgirlExplise6039]

Because when corporations decide infrastructural updates they do so to further their motives of profit and power

[@Brent-jj6qi]

@@CatgirlExplise6039 how are corporations even relevant here beyond certain bribes?

[@sovietbirdz]

​@@Brent-jj6qi Profit motive is another factor for corporations as well, it's not just budgetary motivations in the public sector. Contractors race to the bottom in quality and working conditions to offer the lowest possible bid, and then infrastructure projects end up going over budget to compensate for the inevitable failures of cost-cut labor.

[@funny_monke6]

Great demonstration that car infrastructure is way more expensive than bike/pedestrians! Can't imagine what a temporary car bridge would cost.

[@NotJustBikes]

True!

[@ZeMathyOne]

How did you reply before the video released

[@hodgepodge51]

@@ZeMathyOne Time travel!

[@weerwolfproductions]

@@ZeMathyOne membership probably 🙂

[@taxing4490]

I see this as a absolute win!

[@FailRaceFan]

Engineer 1: I think I forgot something Engineer 2: If you forgot it, then it wasn't important Engineer 1: Yeah, you're right The tram tracks: 😑

[@arnemalte]

In Bremen Germany they closed a Bridge for Cyclists and Pedestrians, but kept it open for cars.... Because in the eyes of the city administration, Cyclists and Pedestrians weight more then Cars, Trucks Busses and Trams

[@MetalMachine131]

Ohh that story. They also blocked the bike path with metal fences secured by concrete blocks. So the blocks did weigh more than the bikes would. Really the entire administration would strougle to achieve half an IQ between all of them.

[@fulconandroadcone9488]

@@MetalMachine131 This surely must be a joke. Right?

[@lizwilliams2097]

@@fulconandroadcone9488 Nope this happened. Eventually they figured out that it didn’t make sense (the required report costs like 100k) and the barriers were removed.

[@scifino1]

@@fulconandroadcone9488 No, sadly not. Been there, seen it. The bridge is reopened now, though.

[@corvusmonedula]

as if cycling through Bremen wasn't already difficult enough

[@EvaristeWK]

Meanwhile in Fake London a report recommended Blackfriars bridge be closed to vehicles, yet city council decided this wouldn't happen as "they didn't want to waste $8 million on taxpayer funds for a footbridge." Always a great day when NotJustBikes uploads!

[@Coffeepanda294]

Yikes.

[@Gustav-vn2ve]

Bro they aren't a fan of bikes in londonistan.

[@ChrispyNut]

Don't you mean "not fake London"? 😕 E2A: (replying to whyamihere keeps evaporating) .... The same name is used for a bridge in Canada, thus my confusion.

[@deeznoots6241]

Its well known that taxpayers never walk anywhere

[@whyamihere135]

@@ChrispyNut "fake london" refers to a city named "London" in Ontario, Canada, not to be confused with the well known city of London in the UK.

[@nyx1865]

How Amsterdam reacts to problems is just crazy. There is no connecton to the other side? Build a temporary Bridge. There is no Tram line curently? We will get that fixed soon. In the mean time we will have more buses driving there. In nearly every other city stuff like this would simply be ignored or worsened. I don't even live in a bad place but videos like this make me wanna live there.

[@paolagrando5079]

You call it crazy, I call it efficient.

[@rogerk6180]

That is what you pay your politicians for..

[@laurencefraser]

@@paolagrando5079 I believe the crazy part is that it is possible to actually achieve the efficient result.

[@VoxelLoop]

I do like that they somehow missed installing the tram lines. Like the rest of the project continued and actually completed without them installed, that's pretty funny. I suppose it did finish on time though! (Of course they'll fix the issue, I just love that weird construction issues like this happen worldwide)

[@cranemon]

The tram line being cut off is kinda embarrassing imo. I think running replacement buses is really the minimum that any city would do, at least in Canada (can't personally speak for USA).

[@str4ng3-b34ut1ful]

"It was going to take a long time-almost 4 months!" *cries in Providence RI USA*

[@RTomassi]

What happened? 😮

[@Descriptor413]

Meanwhile, here it takes 10 months to put in a traffic light (that nobody wants).

[@jayandreas1131]

🤣🤣🤣, while feeling compassion for you from my couch in Amsterdam.

[@kaasmeester5903]

@@Descriptor413 The smaller projects often take longer, even here in the Netherlands. They finally put a bollard in my street (to stop through traffic), but that took almost 10 years. And while Rotterdam and Amsterdam are generally pretty good with speedy public works, the Hague is a shit show.

[@fueyo2229]

In Oviedo, Spain it's been like 5 years just to add a couple of lanes to a highway and build 1 brigde and btw they demolished other two brigdes to build the bridge :)

[@oumarkaba3953]

I lived in Amsterdam for a few months last year and toured the city with a rented bike during one of my first days there. I was so mind-blown by the whole experience and by that bridge in particular that I bought my own bike immediately after, before even finding an apartment in the city. Great memories you brought back. Greetings from Montreal and keep up with amazing content!

[@treakzy_9594]

last week i had vacation so i decided to take to train to the netherlands. i'm from northern hesse so it took like 5 hours with the regionaltrains + my 50€ ticket. it was quite annoying because i had to buy a new bycicle ticket every other district in germany. i stopped roughly 30km's away from nijmegen when it was like 8pm and decided to bike the last km's. it was so mind blowing how just on village into the netherlands the biking infracstructe was soooo great. i'm daily driving my bycicle in german and don't own a car, but seeing what it's like in the netherlands, i'm seriously thinking about moving there. i can't imagine needing a car there whatsoever. anyway i stayed at an hostel in nijmegen but also walked a little through the city. really friendly people, i only made good experience with nice people. and even car drivers seem to take way more care for cyclists (maybe because a lot for folks are cycling aswell). the next day i cycled to uttrecht and goooooooooooooddddd damn. this is pure paradise. like wow, i've watched all your videos a few times, read books on strong towns and how cites should be treated as recourses and genereally love to get more information about the "verkehrswende" how we call it in germany. but visiting uttrecht (and the rest of the netherlands) really showed me how it's possible to have change. thank you for the videos :) ps for some reason patreon doesn't seem to notify me when you upload new videos.

[@NotJustBikes]

Yeah, I always knew the Netherlands was bike-friendly, but what really blew me away was how this is _everywhere_ and many times the small towns (and between small towns!!) is better than the big cities. I know that I can take the train anywhere, get an OV Fiets rental bike at the station, and it will be safe to cycle. Mind blowing.

[@0topon]

you can purchase a bike ticket for all of germany for 6,50 €, in is in most cases much cheaper when you travel through multiple states

[@ragnarok4554]

Hey, I lived in the Netherlands for 4 years, now in Dusseldorf since last year. It is true, I do really miss all of the amazing bike infrastructure and all the benefits that bring good city planning. It is incredible how they do it, and every time I go back, which is often, gets better and better. Just be sure to keep it in mind, since you're seriously thinking about moving there, IT IS EXPENSIVE. Like, nowhere near close to Germany. Here, I earn about the same (a bit more to be fair) but my living costs are easily half of what in Amsterdam. I'm finally saving. The point is, you don't live out of biking to work, so just make sure you go with a GOOOD salary and prepare to look for housing for months or years. Other than that, NL is fantastic to live in.

[@scifino1]

> i had to buy a new bycicle ticket every other district in germany. Doesn't Deutsche Bahn still offer a nationwide bicycle ticket? Last time I bought that to travel to NRW from Bremen, it was 6€.

[@Talon5516-tx3ih]

I only paid €49 for my ticket. You've been had.

[@christianbaas2548]

just for the good order: WE DO NOT REPAIR OUR BRIDGES ONCE EVERY 90 YEARS. it's really dependent on the materials, the usage and how well the small maintenance has bin done. but 90 years would be record-breaking for a bridge which is being used so much.

[@remcoasselbergs3298]

I remember small repair in the 90s, but not the fundemental bridging system.. maybe im wrong. Who does know here?

[@matt39581]

in america we absolutely repair our bridges every 90 years, or when they fall down, whichever comes first

[@pfffetc6149]

@@matt39581 😂

[@gerbrandlub]

I work on these kind of projects, they engineer bridges in general to have an average lifespan of 100 years (sewers as well by the way). So yeah Berlage bridge with it's heavy traffic use was overdue at 90 but not incredibly long overdue.

[@microwaveoven2]

@@matt39581 noooooooo

[@mdhazeldine]

I think one of the most underrated things about the Dutch is how when they do roadworks, they seem to coordinate all the various trades and services together and get all the work done at once to minimise disruption (with the unusual exception of that tram track fail). In the UK it's so common to see a water company dig up a road to lay a pipe, and then a few weeks later, a telecoms company digs up the SAME bit of road to lay a cable, and then someone else digs up something just around the corner to do something else. I'm like "guys, come ON. Work together and sort your shit out". This is the "benefit" of having everything privatised. Nobody talks to each other about anything.

[@XEinstein]

Nonsense. All utilities in the Netherlands are also privatised, just like in the UK

[@beyondEV]

Think this may have something to do with the fact, that your political system is so bad. oligarch party with a centric and a right wing, both pretending to be actual parties. while being absolutely only guided by the same lobbyist. and how could your businesses siphon of so much tax money, unless you rip open the road needlessly 4 times? But it does seems, anglo saxon countries have decided to hand power to people, which make sure the state doesn't work properly, to then claim the state doesn't work properly and therefore all should be handed over to private enterprise.

[@remko2]

iirc Amsterdam has a dedicated organisation that coordinates all these kind of public works as in the past it was not uncommon for a road to get new pavement only for it to be torn up again a few month later because telephone or electric lines had to be renovated ... and the the road was just quickly fixed and stayed like that till the next time it was up for renovation. The roads on he canals were kinda notorious for being closed repeatedly in a year.

[@laurencefraser]

@@beyondEV The extent to which that is true varies a lot from one place to another... but you're not wrong, it's definitely a thing that happens.

[@RealConstructor]

@@XEinsteinExcept water and sewage.

[@LactozeDiagnose]

I'm spatial planner in the Netherlands and I love watching these videos. Thank you for making them! Fun fact about the biking lanes: many people think the biking lanes are coloured red because it is the designated colour for them. That however, isn't true. Municipalities rarely prescribe it. It is in fact due to a historical technical limitation of bitumen. Bitumen is the sort of glue that holds the asphalt together. The oId technology for mixing asphalt made it so that red had enough contrast to become the dominant colour of the asphalt. Other colours like green would not be dominant enough and barely noticeable when mixed. Thus, red is sort of accepted as the biking lane colour. These days you can make asphalt any colour you'd like, which is now seen more frequently. A few years ago I worked on a project where we choose a yellow biking lane colour, as we decided it was a better fit in the natural landscape.

[@joachimwalewski2472]

Does the yellow biking lane lead to Oz?

[@LactozeDiagnose]

@@joachimwalewski2472It just might ;)

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

in my (English) city we only have about 3 proper cycle paths (they're long though and have surprisingly high usage considering they don't really constitute a network of any kind). Unfortunately they made the decision to colour them blue instead of red. In the first year they were bright blue, but now that they're about 6-7 years old the colour has completely faded to dark grey and they don't contrast with the roads at all. I really wish they'd used red.

[@Chrischi3TutorialLPs]

When a bridge needs repair in the Netherlands, they close it for all but cars. When a bridge needs repair in Germany, they close half the walkway/cycling lane by placing construction fences on it that weigh more than the pedestrians they are supposed to block.

[@SlayGorgeous]

You should see the crowds on the new bridge in Warsaw (for pedestrians and bikes only)! It opened 2 days ago.

[@timsoel566]

What is it called?

[@miszczfezorowski]

​@@timsoel566 Most na Pragę

[@KalashDaCat]

Bruh how the fuck are you supposed to use a bike if it's mixed with a width of only 6 meters ? All pictures show it extremly crowded. Why isn't it like 10 meters wide with 4 meters dedicated to two one-way bike lanes and 6 meters to pedestrians instead of building a shrinking bridge that goes from a width of 16 meters to just 6 meters?

[@Terrgaz]

Same during weekend when they close off krakow street. Is it the bridge near the Palm tree roundabout ?

[@jankoodziej877]

​@@KalashDaCatthis was very heavily criticised, because indeed it is ridiculous. Especially as the bridge is used by pedestrians as a space to spend time (there are benches etc.) not just go through.

[@barryrobbins7694]

One thing that I noticed in the video was the skill level of the Dutch cycling public. They are able to judge safe passing distances and the speed of intersecting bicycle traffic in order to find openings. They don’t need huge margins for error. I would say it is because they have a lot of experience, but American drivers are infamous for not knowing how to merge.

[@arnoldwardenaar127]

Probably, most of us start cycling in traffic at around 7-8 years old (our even younger) yes, we're quite used to it. And, because the speeds are relatively low, the safety margins can be smaller

[@barryrobbins7694]

@@arnoldwardenaar127 On the sporting side, Mathieu van der Poel certainly showed his skills on the slippery cobbles in his Ronde van Vlaanderen win.

[@arnoldwardenaar127]

@barryrobbins7694 well, it never rains here, of course 🤣😜

[@barryrobbins7694]

@@arnoldwardenaar127 I think he would win even if he grow up in the Sahara Desert.😀

[@rogerk6180]

It is a lot about body language of cyclists as well. Passes are negotiated quickly by just looking if someone wants to pass before you by them speeding up or yielding to you by stopping to peddle for a few seconds. Or steering in your direction to pass behind you encouraging you to speed up a bit. It becomes second nature eventually.

[@remcovisser7927]

I live outside a small Dutch village (1300 inhabitants). Over the past few years, 2 small bridges on my street have been replaced and a third will be replaced at the end of this year. In all 3 cases they have arranged a temporary bicycle bridge over the water. Last year they also arranged a kilometer-long temporary cycle route through a farmer's pasture. The main reason is that schoolchildren can continue cycling to school.

[@clmclachlan]

As someone who was born and raised in London Ontario and who spent many weeks and months with her mother in law who lived in the Victorieplein in the Berlagebuurt, your videos are always appreciated for their insight into daily life in both countries. I've bicycled over that bridge many many times in 20 years and will be visiting again in the fall this year - I look forward to experiencing the improvements here. It's always a pleasure to share your enthusiasm for Amsterdam and "nostalgia" for London's equally awful planning and infrastructure. Thanks for all your content. Maybe I'll see you around the Rivierenbuurt someday.

[@Fan652w]

Thank you Jason for an extremely interesting video centred on a bridge I have crossed on many occasions. Your point that trams have much greater capacity than buses is a fundamental one which many non-transit people (especially politicians) do not understand. The point about shortage of public transit drivers is applicable to most major cities I know. What we need is of course to considerably increase both the drivers' wages and the size of the vehicles they drive!

[@NotJustBikes]

I really don't think people appreciate the extra operating costs of buses over trams either. When Toronto converts a streetcar to buses during construction it cost them an extra MILLION DOLLARS A MONTH to operate them!!

[@Coffeepanda294]

Yes, a major argument against LRT in my hometown is that "but they can just build a bus road!". No, they can't, that'd be a significantly worse option in every single conceivable way. edit: agree with you on drivers' wages, too, of course.

[@Pfooh]

@@NotJustBikes That's a tough one, even in Amsterdam. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the history of busline 15? It used to be the combination of what's now line 15 and 65, and was the busiest busline in the 1990s. So busy that they decided that it should become a tram. They lobbied for money, and actually got so much money that they instead decided to build the ring metro from west to south, for which usage immediately exceeded expectations. However, line 15 still was (and is) a very busy busline. Its trajectory is 90% over streets with existing tram infrastructure, but they never found the money to build the last 10% and replace it with a tram.

[@weerwolfproductions]

@@NotJustBikes You might want to check the Tram-Fiasco in the city of Groningen. Als early as the 1990's the city knew that busses and cars were going to cause major congestion in and around the city centre, and in combination with the ring road having a stoplight intersection where two motorways meet (A7 east and A7 west and the terminus for the A28), they decided to develop a plan to bring the tram back. Groningen had a tram before busses and cars took over. As a young kid I remember the pieces of tramrails still embedded in the surface of the Grote Markt. Anyways, the realisation of tramlines was made as a must-have before re-structuring of the Ring Zuid motorway junction. But about 8 years ago the city council got cold feet and decided there wasn't enough 'community support' for the tramlines going through the city centre. So now there's endless traffic jams of bendy busses trying to reach the major employment centres from the main railroad station during business hours.

[@beyondEV]

@@Pfooh Here in Bern we have the infamous bus line 10. It runs from one independent metropolitan (Ostermundigen) area through the city centre to another independent metropolitan area (Köniz). While all other major Lines within the city have long been converted to tram's, this one is still on bus (Rush hour: every 2-3 per minute). In order to convert it, there needs to be a public vote in all three political entities. And both refuse (Ongoing for about 20 years). They line is currently served by Hybrid-biogas Buses, which are really fast. It's insanity from a financial standpoint, but it's basically the best you can get. (Faster and Forced extra Frequency due to capacity issues). And they don't have to pay for it themselves: Between Ticket Zoning and they way the state runs the public transport system, those costs are spread all over the network. Local autonomy has been a staple of Switzerland's stability, but it sometimes does allow some people to take advantage.

[@KESipples]

Bendy uppy bit. 😂

[@NotJustBikes]

I'm an engineer! 👍

[@jimbob3332]

Technical terminology

[@forceninewinds]

Thats your actual technical engineering term ;-)

[@crispoman]

@@NotJustBikes Hopefully the bridge doesn't find the term too ebasculating. I'll get my coat.

[@Evolixe]

@@NotJustBikesI trust you :)

[@ssswords]

Finally. Just Bikes.

[@Stagz540]

If you go on Google earth and go to a random place in the US it’ll mostly be the same, suburbs, wide grey roads and a McDonald’s every 5 minutes. However, in Europe everything is very different and inviting. Just something to noteworthy

[@jaykay1899]

I think the differences are still there, it’s just mixed in amongst the sameness that you speak of. There’s also the fact that there is more to life than just cities. Think about the landscape and biomes in America. Truly stunning and awe inspiring. Just something else that I felt was noteworthy

[@jankoodziej877]

Unfortunately it's not a fairytale land and not everywhere it is beautiful and welcoming...

[@XEinstein]

Not really though. Every Durch city centre has exactly the same shops as every other Dutch city centre which is quite boring. But unlike in the US restaurants and bars are mostly unique, next to some chain restaurants, but for shopping it's really boring that everywhere is the same

[@barryvandertas2234]

@@XEinstein Still though walkable cities are the norm. Not sprails en stroads.

[@mushroomsteve]

If you take a look at some of my walking videos, you'll see that in my American city, it is quite walkable and the neighborhoods are diverse, unique, and there is a clear sense of place. It's not uncommon to see people hanging out at sidewalk cafés, musicians playing spontaneously, etc. It's a very festive vibe, and definitely the exception compared to much of the US.

[@TomRathborne]

They just added a little pedestrian/cyclist bridge at the northwest end of Diemen Zuid station, so that if you're transferring from bus 44, you don't have to walk around the canal and use the stairs, or just walk to the other end of the station. It took about a week to install and is super handy, especially for folks on wheels. I can't get enough of this attention to small details and incremental improvements with tangible impact! The Berlagebrug renovation is great ... my favourite part is the corner where the space for cyclists is twice as big as the space for cars!

[@4dragons632]

Just goes to show that the country is not full of hypercompetent city design wizards over there. They just have better priorities than the rest of the world.

[@oasntet]

I know my city has bicycling advocacy groups, but it's hard to compare to "The Cyclist Union." It just has so much more gravitas, like crossing the cyclist union gets you a set of handlebars in your bed...

[@NotJustBikes]

Their history is even better: there's an automobile association (like AAA in the US or CAA in Canada) called the ANWB. The cycling advocates trolled them by calling themselves the ENWB. They were forced to change their name after a lawsuit from the ANWB. 😁 They changed the name to the ENFB (Real Dutch Cyclists' Union) but today they're they're just known as the Cyclists' Union. There's some great history in there. www.fietsersbond.nl/ons-werk/wat-hebben-we-bereikt/

[@captainchaos3667]

What makes it even better/worse is that ANWB means Algemene Nederlandse Wielrijdersbond, or General Dutch Cyclists' Union. They are _supposed_ to be a cyclists' union, but they forgot all about their original mission.

[@Jehty_]

​@@NotJustBikesdid they really call themselves ENWB to troll ANWB? Or is that just a not true at all story that people repeat because it's funnier that way? I'm asking because here in Germany we have the ADAC (General German Automobile Club) and the ADFC (General German Bicycle Club). And I don't think (at least I've never heard) that the ADFC called themselves that to troll the ADAC. I assume they just called themselves that because it makes sense. So is there actual proof that the ENWB called themselves that to troll, or did they just name themselves that because it makes sense?

[@MrAronymous]

​@@Jehty_A=algemene, E=echte. So yeah the acronym was a 'troll' play on words.

[@ab-jm5gn]

Wielrenner/wielrijder, the W in ENWB = (sport) cyclist. The W in ANWB is also Wielrijder, for obscure reasons because they only advocate car usage. ENWB was the Echte (real) cyclist union.

[@ob0273]

Two videos in one month? Man, thank you so much! Great job! Oh and btw, my city of Prague literally has one temporary bridge stored for later use. It was first used for cars, when a new bridge for cars was being built and then it was moved to serve trams. It was meant to be temporary, but it was there for 32 years! And it was nicknamed Rámusák, which means "thing that makes lots of noise". Now it is stored and will be used when we will need another "temporary" bridge :D

[@koko134526]

I’ve seen a couple of your videos here and there through the years, but i just finished a week long trip to Amsterdam (and surrounding towns) and these videos really clicked for me finally. As an American, I could understand what you were saying before, but I never realized the true scope of how well European and specifically Dutch cities are designed. It was cool to see kids and teens of all ages hanging around cafes after school and biking to different parts of a major city without needed supervision or parent chauffeurs. Makes me wish I grew up somewhere like this since it seems to really encourage community and true freedom to explore Also ended up binging like 15 of these videos just to see it all again. Can’t wait to revisit amsterdam

[@Shadowdark1994]

I wanna echo your statement, too. Here in the Hague, I'm always so excited when there is road construction, because since the last decade or so there have been such massive improvements to the quality of the infrastructure.

[@matiaslauriti]

I have been living in the Netherlands (Amstelveen) since I came here, on July 2023... And I can never stop getting amused of all this stuff compared to my country (Argentina)... I cannot really love it more, it is just fasinating the amount of thought that goes into each thing, I just love it infinitely

[@xZiT7329]

Enjoy

[@BicycleDutch]

What a great story! And thanks for the mention too!

[@pietvanvliet1987]

Not to worry: Canadians stationed in Nijmegen get a very respectful nod too. Those men fought really hard. In defence of Amsterdam: Churchilllaan and Rooseveldlaan are right across the former Stalinlaan. No prizes for guessing why these streets were named that way, even though I get that even (very, very red) Amsterdam renamed the third one.

[@steemlenn8797]

Yeah, why did that one guy had to act up so much? _sigh_

[@MOP-uc7ul]

So they ditched Stalin street, but kept Churchill. mmkay.

[@colinvos7304]

Company i work for/with helped during the construction/renovation of this bridge. It's always nice to see that people enjoy and use the stuff you've helped to create

[@theomiquet1649]

I'm now very interested in this bridge, please keep us informed about the tram situation in your next videos 😁 And it's always pleasant to see how innovations in street layout can improve the bike flow, yay to frite cones design !

[@NotJustBikes]

It probably doesn't deserve its own video, but I plan to make a KZbin Shorts video when the tram line is re-installed and when we find out what actually went wrong (there's an investigation underway now).

[@ThisisDevaan]

An exception to cars being good on a bridge is the Francis Scott Key bridge, with the bridge being essential for traffic to not congest Baltimore’s downtown. Sadly, it’s gone, and people are driving through downtown rather than taking the train.

[@mike8877665544332211]

Wow, i love how the Netherlands are just so far ahead for bike traffic, i can't wait to ride my bike there on my next inter-eu bike trip.

[@Yvolve]

The architecture of the neighbourhood designed by Berlage, Zuid, is called De Amsterdamse School. Literally The Amsterdam School, but it is collective name for specific design futures in architecture. A better translation would be the Amsterdam Method, as it is a complete idea of how to efficiently build a neighbourhood. The second floor apartments were accessible via an exterior staircase, leaving more space for the downstairs apartment, that could have a small garden. The third floor has access via an indoor staircase, as would the fourth floor. Sometimes. the third floor would get the fourth floor as well, accessible by an indoor staircase. The division could be different depending on the street. There are balconies at that rear of the building, overlooking an inner courtyard. The interior layout was well designed, which is why these homes are still popular these days, aside from being beautiful. It was a ground breaking way of city design and planning, and in a way informed much of the infrastructure for decades. Before this time, city design was not made into such a singular idea that covered all aspects of housing: interior layout and design, exterior design, street design and a street plan that divided sections into smaller neighbourhoods with larger roads. Definitely worth its own video, as it revolutionised city design in the Netherlands.

[@weerwolfproductions]

The Amsterdamse School was also very popular in the province of Groningen. Mainly in the city of Groningen itself, but also in many smaller villages around the province there were schools, houses, and government buildings build in the style of the Amsterdamse School.

[@frankhooper7871]

"Amsterdam can by bike-friendly because it was built 'before the car'" - well, virtually every European town centre predates the car, but that doesn't make most non-Dutch towns and citied bike-friendly!

[@fmobus]

and it's a weird argument anyway... American cities - specially the suburbs - are in a much better position to build bike lanes or public transit lanes, since the existing alignments are already _very_ wide, and they have much less historical buildings to deal with.

[@lexburen5932]

A lot of amsterdam was destroyed to make space room for the car. So this argument is invalid.

[@tomslastname5560]

many European cities were destroyed during the war and had to be rebuilt afterwards. So ironically, there are many European cities that on average are younger than American cities. Especially the further east you go in Europe. There are cities that have existed for centuries but virtually everything that still stands was built since the 1950s.

[@syrvitor696]

@@tomslastname5560And yet the majority of those cities were just restored, not 'restructured'.

[@beyondEV]

@@fmobus I actually think the opposite. Because amsterdam had this car centric period, where they widened the roads, it made it much easier to find room for public transit and bikes. If they never did the bulldozing, mostly only had 1 lane each direction, it's much harder. (assuming as in most european places, that you by now can't simply bulldoze buildings so easily anymore.)

[@LSR303]

That Wikipeadia page is probably going to be translated fairly soon. On another note, I know a guy at Antea Group that is part of a team that did the engineering work for this project, the research and calculations for the structural safety in different stages of construction. And as you mentioned, the historical aspect of it does need some creactivity, even during renovation.

[@paolagrando5079]

This sounds interesting. I would love a video on this. And I'm not an engineer. 😬

[@PrograError]

I wonder if he would want to do an interview here... it'd be interesting to see how they did it...

[@LSR303]

Okay. Let me just say this from the start, it is not that interesting and/or understandable if you're not a civil engineer. Antea Group is a private company, they don't have to release information to the public nor is there any incentive for them to allow my colleague to do that. If you're thinking about pretty 3D animations, this is not it. It has to do with meetings, data gathering, maps, plots, calculations, specialised programs and writing that into a document which no one other than the team that wrote it, but vetted by that team, fully understands. It honestly wouldn't make for an interesting video for the vast majority of people. Besides the fact he wouldn't really be allowed to do that in such a way. He'd be representing Antea Group. There no win and no loss by not doing an interview.

[@yetischwein]

4 hours later: the wiki-article has grown a considerable amount

[@AtheistDD]

Is he the one that forgot the tramtracks?

[@Squizie3]

This is extremely interesting and unexpected, but this story could as well be about a similar bridge in Antwerp, the similarities are striking. When the "Londenbrug" needed to be replaced, it was closed off 9 months for cars, and a similar temporary bridge was installed for walking and cycling. But that one was even more impressive, as it was movable. On the tram side, it is even more similar than I could possibly imagine. The bridge actually needed to be replaced to allow a new tram line to run there... only to discover afterwards that our transportation company has an irrational fear of movable bridges, so in the end they chose not to run a tram on it even to this day. Despite it only opening less than once an hour on predefined times. The fittingly named tram stop "Amsterdam" sitting empty and trams turning away right before the bridge. On the positive side, a lot of frietzakken and banana's (didn't know the name yet) are installed here too last few years!

[@KristiaanVanErmengem]

They did something similar in Antwerp when they built the new Londenbrug (at the... Amsterdamstraat). It's also a bascule bridge to which they added new tram lines and bike paths.

[@LeafHuntress]

And, did _they_ manage to measure the tram tracks correctly in that case? (if yes, you've got a good nen dommen 'Ollander joke in there! ;-)

[@KristiaanVanErmengem]

@@LeafHuntress Yes, of course! But I shouldn't laugh since there was a long delay because of a 40-cm-wide gap in the bridge, so they had to fix it first. What's worse, incorrectly measuring the bridge or tram gauge?

[@LeafHuntress]

@@KristiaanVanErmengem Ah, 'n Belgenmop! ;-)

[@krob9145]

In London the 137 year old Hammersmith bridge needs repairs. They did temporary repairs that led to only pedestrians and cyclists being able to use the bridge today. Permanent repairs to allow motor vehicles on it will be very expensive and no one can say when or if that will happen in the future.

[@GiddyGarlos]

Any other Americans in the audience suddenly realize that you're supposed to be excited when construction is done because things are supposed to be *better* afterwards, not just the same as when they started...? 😅

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

9:20 watching large amounts of cyclists seamlessly maneuver without the need of traffic lights, and well designed paths is just super cool. it's so incredibly simple and seems so obvious, I can only hope such changes can be implemented where I live

[@abushams3336]

There actually was a ring- railroad and a new big station planned in the South of Amsterdam to be build in the early 40's , never happened thanks to ww2 , but the dike the metro and train run over in Amsterdam west was build in the 30's and only used in the 80's for both the extended metro and the new Central station -Sloterdijk -schiphol connection .. ( In one of my workplaces there was a big architect's drawing of "Amsterdam Zuid Station ' looking rather similar to Central station )

[@StephanieHughesDesign]

Way to go Amsterdam. Wish they would do that in Los Angeles. That would be asking too much and there would be outrage by all of the car zealots who live there. Thanks, NJB!

[@tmcprod]

They did the same for a small local bridge here in the betuwe area. The Zettensebrug (or lingebrug) on the N836 is currently being replaced, yet bikes can still cross due to a temporary bike bridge. Which is pretty cool considering the relatively small amount of people living here.

[@divineinpurple9058]

In Calgary, they closed a 4 lane street going into downtown that included a major bike lane. There was no alternate temporary bike lane opened up anywhere so I had the pleasure of either risking my life by dodging morning rush hour traffic on even busier-than-normal roads or getting angry looks from pedestrians (can't say I blame them). Watching your videos gives me bike infrastructure envy!

[@Unsubscribbled]

Don't let the glares of the peds affect your safety. :)

[@rogerwilco2]

Complain to your politicians. Try to get different ones elected. I believe a large part of the difference between the Netherlands and former British colonies is because of the first-past-the-post election systems. In the long run you need a better election system to get better outcomes.

[@HansHammertime]

I love that there's a small amount of Dutch accent sneaking into your speech

[@lukecovill]

I have lived in Canada for 7 months now. Can't wait until I go back to the Netherlands. I cannot stand discussing these topics with people who have literally no clue. You would expect students to be academic, but the argument that CANADA is too big is consistent.

[@seculi7757]

Berlage may be the best architect of all time, not because he was the biggest most extravagant but because he was the most practical while maintaining the neighbourhoods to be beautiful. He is literally in essence a Gaudi for the masses. He is one of the few that know how to design/build a neighbourhood.

[@serafinacosta7118]

Intersti b

[@demi3115]

no, that's just typical expressionism of the time. NOT specifically berlage.

[@innocento.1552]

"it was going to take a long time" Me: 😱 "Almost 4 months" Me: 👁️👄👁️

[@Josukegaming]

This was really well documented, thank you Jason! It's fascinating seeing videos about places ive actually been to several times now that I live in the Netherlands. I feel the same way about construction, even in the small town I live in, they took a ton of space away from cars near a hustorical windmill to make walking and cycling more pleasant, and are planning to build a super dense and greenery filled new development soon on land that is rotting industrial warehouses. Thank you so much for spreading the good word of the Netherlands, I'm so much happier here now

[@NotJustBikes]

Thanks! It's so funny when I find construction projects now; I rush home and get my camera to start filming it, because I expect something great to be there that's worth talking about. 😁

[@LeafHuntress]

@@NotJustBikes Dus Mark Wagenbuur heeft zich eigenlijk min of meer in jou gekloond? 🙂

[@rogerwilco2]

@@NotJustBikes Yeah. This video took over half a year to make. I appreciate the effort you put into these.

[@trentr9762]

Similar thing has been happenen in London for a few years now, closed an important bridge in Hammersmith for maintance but kept it open as a cycle and pedestrian bridge while they work on it

[@roelkomduur8073]

But they didn't put in this amount of new bike infra on the new bridge i recon...

[@trentr9762]

@@roelkomduur8073 they didnt need to as they closed it fully to cars and gave the road itself to cycles, nothing more then some barriers to prevent cars are needed for that

[@basvanderwerff2725]

Now that a typical dutch cylist at 12:36 casual transporting a flat screen tv on the front of his bike

[@lueling]

well-spotted, funny :-D

[@cappallCogadh]

I love your videos, they verbally express how my heart feels. I live in a college town in America and work on the campus. I am surprised by how little anyone walks or cycles to work. Here it is almost a sign of poverty if you do, it is assumed you are too poor to afford a car or maybe you lost your license due to a DUI. Car parking is so bad, they were actually were considering building a parking garage, but they wanted to have a user fee and nobody wanted to pay.

[@Roanmonster]

As a person from Rotterdam and being contractually obliged to hate Amsterdam, you make this very hard on me

[@hjvdd]

This is so true

[@pfffetc6149]

😂

[@robi176]

I actually live right next to the area the video is about and I wholeheartedly agree, it’s difficult to think of a better neighborhood design. The only issue i have with the bridge redo is the tram 12 shortening as i used it frequently. Also the part of rivirenburt over the Amstelkanaal would be a great video subject. As always, great work!

[@skywz]

2:55 The English Wikipedia page has been almost entirely replaced with a translation from the Dutch Wikipedia page.

[@NotJustBikes]

lol that was fast.

[@jackmehauf8664]

4:41 I have family that live on Churchill-lann! I visited last fall and I just spent the whole trip walking around wishing Toronto's suburbs would redevelop its massive parking lots and stroads into neighborhoods and streets just like that!

[@davidwright7193]

When you tell me that there is a Churchill Boulevard and a Roosevelt Boulevard I can immediately see why there was a Stalin Boulevard which puzzled me at first.

[@alexppape]

@notjustbikes, here’s something I wanna hear you rant about-I live in Chicago and was on the Nextdoor app (aka, the Karen app), and some nitwit proposed that that city not tax his SUV, but for cyclists to ride in the city. Dead serious

[@bararobberbaron859]

Tell them that cyclists already subsidize his gas guzzler with their taxes going towards road repairs while they never damaged a road with their vehicles themselves. All the giant parking lots and the endless roads that need to be maintained for the suburbs? Yeah, also subsidized by cyclists. I have no opinion on if his vehicle needs to be taxed (more) but cyclists have forfeited enough for his SUVs benefit.

[@SilverDragonJay]

I want to cry. Why can't we get even a tenth of this?!

[@rogerwilco2]

Politics. Get in contact with your politicians and demand this kind of stuff. Your (probably British derived) democracy might not function as well as the Dutch system, but you can still have influence.

[@sachi8483]

It was gonna take a while... almost 4 months Me looking out of my window at the simple road construction thats about to have its 1 year anniversary...

[@sachadee.6104]

or the 4th year the bridge over the Saint John river in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada.

[@DPTrains]

Love how a project like this takes them 4 months yet in edinburgh it's been 5 years for the north bridge refurbishment and it won't be finished till 2025 ;-;

[@rikdammer1035]

Dutchie living in Amsterdam here. Your channel is one of my favourites. So much history and knowledge. Thank you for another fascinating video!

[@Jeroen_van_den_Berg667]

Not just bikes is talking for bridges just for bikes (Thx for the likes)

[@NotJustBikes]

Not just bikes, pedestrians too! 😁

[@LeafHuntress]

Did you miss the part about trams, TRAMS, trams & trams too? And busses, which are inferior to trams. Better than cars of course, but not trams. And the renovation of an old monumental bridge. I liked him fanboying about Berlage, because that was a great architect.(wait till he finds out about Wibaut; Wie bouwt? Wibaut![who builds? Wibaut]) But Berlage is really great too, he designed whole parts of the city & bridges with trams, because trams are amazing. Especially TRAMS ON GRASS!

[@Jeroen_van_den_Berg667]

@@LeafHuntress no I just wanted to leave a comment

[@InventorZahran]

@@LeafHuntressYou know it's a healthy city when even the trams touch grass every day!

[@emipw8869]

@@NotJustBikesPedestrians are just bikes without wheels 👀

[@pavlomakarchuk]

11:13 The Netherlands are basically saying "one more bike lane will solve the traffic"

[@Evolixe]

Well the truth is that with that extra little widening of the bike path you can get more people through than with 2 entire car lanes. Maybe (significantly) more..

[@j4ck3t]

Ok here is a fun fact about public transport in The Hague, Which Amsterdam clearly does not entirely have yet. Both busses and trams have something called a Co-pilot, this singles the traffic lights ahead that a tram or bus is approaching. The traffic lights that is ON ROUTE for the bus or tram will turn green. So if a bus is stuck behind a few cars, all the cars in front are allowed to pass through until the bus crossed the intersection. There is so much more to this system, it is a feat of (computer) engineering! There are a few exceptions but intersections work very smart in The Hague, most are fully computerized.

[@Zoranurai13]

Can you please check out how around the randstad, they are building more and more suburbs that were originally pitched as low-car but are filled to the brim with 2-car households and lack of good public transport. Even in the netherlands city planning goes wrong

[@ashkaunadib7638]

As an American all of this makes me want to cry. I can’t imagine our cities’ projects making it easier to walk/cycle WHILE the construction is happening.

[@allanwhite1533]

I'm an American who doesn't drive due to dyspraxia, and gets around largely by cycling and using my recumbent cycles. I watch content like this and find myself thinking I was born in the wrong country.

[@mfbfreak]

10:14 - have you ever seen the trams run on tracks that were lifted onto some kind of piers? All ground under the tracks was excavated, the tram was about half a meter up in the air! It does make the tracks buckle a bit because there's no ballast bed - it's an uncomfortable ride when you pass such a construction site.

[@carnab]

15:22 - Slight correction (an acquaintance of mine had some knowledge on the renovation): As far as I understood it, this was actually an issue with the company in charge of renovating the bridge, as they didn't properly make the surface to spec. The result being that the rails, if inserted properly, -would cause a hazard for car-traffic. So you can blame the cars for that one too ;)- I was corrected here, it would cause a hazard for all road traffic, so unfortunately no car-blaming for this one. I'll ask the involved person later to fact-check just to be sure, but I'm pretty sure that's the story. Edit: I have asked, and edited the info slightly to be more accurate

[@Scriven42]

"... measure tram rails correctly..." Gotta love the shade!

[@ismirdochegal4804]

Fun Fact: You can just switch the name of the bridge to "Augustusbrücke" and the city to "Dresden" and take the same intro. The bridge was damaged by flooding in 2013. It is now only open to trams, emergency vehicles and bicycles. And traffic flows more smooths along the other bridges.

[@ArturNagy]

Great video, would love a video on Berlage's Plan Zuid, I love urban planning!

[@morosis82]

We have had one of our important bridges clised to cars here in Brisbane Australia too. Victoria brisge was closed for renovations and only opened back up to buses, bikes and pedestrians a few years ago.

[@MathieuTechMoto]

Thank you for the video, i dream that Canada would implement trams in most cities and use half of the space for bicycles, were i live there are some residential street that you could literally land a plane as it's soo wide for nothing

[@NotJustBikes]

Yeah man, I know. I grew up in London, Ontario. We were supposed to get a tram but cancelled it. 😢 Thanks for the SuperThanks! 👍

[@ChrisGamingNL333]

Amsterdam Amstel Station is such a nice station. It's used as a stop for multiple intercity trains an hour, is also a metro station for the lines 51, 53 and 54, and some international trains like the German ICE drives through it, and all that with 2 train tracks and 2 metro tracks

[@luismedeirospereira9453]

Bike rider casually carrying a big flat tv screen on his bike at 12:38 instead of using a Dodge RAM

[@sachadee.6104]

hahahaha. I noticed him, didn't see what he was transporting. Dutchies transport all kind of things on their bikes (Xmas tree, ladder, 2 by 4's ... been there, done that).

[@abdullahrizwan592]

The comment on getting excited about construction is really fascinating as a Canadian because whenever we have construction here all that happens is that the asphalt/utliites are replaced. Any changes that happen to bicycle or pedestrian infrastructure are really minor.

[@genericyoutubechanneluwu]

i live in a small town in the us and the only construction i've seen since moving here is them adding another lane to the main strode of the city with of course the painted bicyclical gutters but its pretty dangerous, ah freedom

[@AndrewGriffinSD]

Your comment about car drivers driving over train tracks reminded me of a situation Saturday in San Diego. I was driving down to the trolley (I know, I know), and one of the parking lot areas was caution taped off, due to its propensity during heavy rain (which was expected). Of course, someone broke through the tape in one part, and a host of idiots followed over the (now broken) tape line.

[@serbansaredwood]

They're currently doing the same thing in Ottawa/Gatineau with the Alexandra Bridge; open to cyclists and pedestrians but not car traffic

[@sachadee.6104]

I'm impressed.But then.... maybe the carbon tax is doing a little bit of good and helps to think outside of the car-box. (not much helpful in New Brunswick though, carbon tax up. Public transportation still ZERO)

[@Kjillmatic]

I cycle over this bridge regularly enough to half expect myself to be in this clip. Its such a dope upgrade to getting around. The sharktooth thing you mentioned though - I really wish more people actually knew that rule.

[@gothnate]

It took 2 years for the North Carolina DOT to dismantle and rebuild an old two lane river bridge in my town. During that same time, Atlanta rebuilt a bridge that collapsed from a wreck, that was 3 or 4 times larger and suspended over a major interstate highway, in just 43 days. It really depends on the state's priorities as to what gets done. Granted, the I-85 bridge is part of one of the largest highway networks in the South US with 340,000 vehicles traveling it per day, but even with only 10,000 vehicles traveling the bridge in our small town of 4,000 (38,000 county) makes a huge impact. Especially for TWO FRIGGIN' YEARS! Beyond that catastrophe, we still don't even have a decent walkable town, let alone a bikeway network that's worth anything beyond exercise with greenway bike paths. The best we get to actual travel are "bike paths", which are just regular roads/stroads/highways that don't even have painted lanes for bikes, just signs signifying a route. It sucks for everyone, too. We have mountains in Western North Carolina, and there are no protected lanes, barely even a shoulder for bikes to move over to allow cars to pass on mountainous roads, traffic backs up, drivers and riders are both getting frustrated, and the whole thing is dangerous for everyone. Even in town, sidewalks just end for no reason. Narrow roads don't allow much in terms of safety for cars and the huge trucks that use the road, let alone pedestrians and cyclists. We don't even have a real public transit. The county operates a "transit" that consists of what amounts to the equivalent of short church busses, but even those you have to schedule 24 hours in advance, they only operate from 7 am to 5 pm, and you have to run the entire route for all the scheduled stops until you're taken home. We need a massive overhaul of our transportation network here. I can barely get on the highway from the road I live on because people are literally going 100 mph down that road. I know motorcycles are hitting 120 mph if not more. It all just gives me anxiety and makes me not want to go anywhere, even in my car, and I live in one of the most beautiful places, in my opinion, in the world (Smoky Mountains). I wish we had more forward thinking people here. Not the bigoted MAGAs that currently run everything.

[@craftymath01]

As a recent transport planning graduate from the UK - I love your videos!! When I next see a new cycle junction, that cone idea is going straight in!!

[@WhiteTiger333]

These videos always make me wish I lived in the Netherlands instead of the USA, especially the ubiquitous bicycle culture and public transport! 🙂 I loved the so true statement that cities are not noisy, cars are noisy. Yeppers!

[@tommercer1406]

in Oxford, UK, a major road into the city is closed at the moment for construction. it goes under the bridge near the station, and the route is still open for bikes and people walking, and the entire area has become so much more pleasant to walk around without all of the cars. especially now with the super quiet electric buses! I am absolutely dreading that road reopening

[@Miepasie]

Here in Middelburg, near the train station there's a bridge going over a Canal that was converted probably 5-10 years ago from a car and bike mixed bridge to bike only (with access for taxis and busses). That bridge was notorious for being a safety hazard for any cyclist on it, and honestly it's so much better now and traffic flows better too! Turn out that if cars don't have to drive super slowly to make sure you don't have some old lady on your windshield, the traffic will flow better.

[@joyl7842]

It would be awesome if you could make a video where you talk to one of the senior engineers who worked on these projects.

[@Ben-xq2im]

I live in this area and bike the bridge everyday. I wish you would have mentioned how during the months of roadworks, bikers going across the bridge (towards your office) would have to share a single bike lane with those going the opposite direction. It was remarkably calm, a reminder how little space bikes take up!

[@Limosethe]

Got to love NJB. I’m getting more-and-more orange pilled by the upload.

[@handlaidtracksand3dprinted922]

I live near this bridge and take it every time I bike west! Was a major refit and very quickly done! So lovely when the cars are blocked. They tested a few streets without cars - so peaceful and quiet!! Hope they make it permanent!

[@gerritvalkering1068]

Welcome to the new channel, Not Just Bridges

[@johnmyers8633]

This like most videos on this channel are almost painful to see, even from Berlin. I recently took the train to The Netherlands, and I could immediately mark, where the border was. Even from the train, I could see all of the transport infrastructure become immediately, so much better. I love my city, but we still have such a long way to go, against so much resistance as well.

[@LuukPlasmeyer]

Somebody low-key transporting a 32" flatscreen TV on his city bike as if it nothing at 12:35.

[@jiecut]

Very cool seeing designs getting upgraded to be able to accommodate more bike traffic.

[@extrapolate]

Wish all cities learned from Amsterdam

[@frankwilson2607]

Your brief clip of Amsterdam in the 1970's brought back strong memories of my cycle trip through Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany to Copenhagen. Cars were everywhere and I'm lucky to have done it (survived!) even if 50 years too soon. What strides have been made since! I would be happy to live in a sane country. But alas, I don't. In the U.S., it is all "making life easy... by making it worse" - so well expressed by Kevin Ayres.