An upgrade to the World's largest bicycle parking garage

[Ep. 954] Utrecht's and the world's largest bicycle parking garage was opened in 2019. After three years of use some repairs were needed and there were some minor updates. More information in the blog post: bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p...

[@tylernewcomb6465]

As an American, it’s hard to imagine the government taking feedback, revisiting a project, and improving it in a timely manner.

[@yasseral-saadi6557]

Had this project taken place in Germany the public consultation alone would have taken 8 years before deciding not to do anything because Herr Müller thinks that it will inconvenience him.

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

all the bureaucrats use cars so they probably missed this and forgot to complain

[@alainterieur4837]

The situation is exactly the same. In my city a new tram line was delayed for five years because of opposition, and even worse the cycling infrastructure on this route will be non-existent. And another transit project was delayed for almost a year because a new narrow bike lane removed a few parking spots (even though there's a huge indoor parking garage less than a 1min walk away, for the same price)...

[@oktupol]

In Germany a bicycle parking garage would be labeled as „Fahrradparkhaus (KfZ frei)“

[@occam5052]

Yes but it would’ve lasted a thousand years 😳

[@joshkyle5070]

I can’t believe how fast they change things after they decide something is suboptimal! In Australia after it’s built it’s like that basically forever unless it’s demonstrably dangerous. We would never change something for a minor inconvenience like that. So impressive from the Dutch

[@GuusJanssen]

I'm Dutch, and you shouldn't be impressed, you should be angry that it isn't like this in your own country.

[@joshkyle5070]

@@GuusJanssen I am very much both!

[@unsafevelocities5687]

Fellow Aussie here, and I completely agree. It's amazing how little the bicycle infrastructure has changed near where I live in the almost 15 years since it was put in -- I remember riding on trails as a kid that I'm now commuting on and it's like being in a timewarp. Mostly what has changed has been for the worse when something had to be dug up for maintenance as it was never put back properly. Usually, improvements only come when stuff has to be bulldozed for something major.

[@Kevin15047]

@@GuusJanssen I'm an American and I'm pissed. I was taking a train home from Boston once and the engine caught fire. I repeat, the engine CAUGHT FIRE! The Orange line metro is falling apart. The only bus in my city has service every hour and makes its last run at about 6:00 p.m. I don't think people even notice all the roadside memorials to cyclists and pedestrians who had the audacity to try to get somewhere without using an automobile. The Netherlands had the Stop de Kindermoord movement. The USA seems to have had a "shift blame to the pedestrian" movement.

[@JayceeR]

That's pretty much every country in the world with a few exceptions for some countries

[@MichaelTavares]

It was already far far better than anything else in the rest of the world, but I love the Dutch spirit of observing how things are used and being prepared to change and improve them

[@racecardriverrr4201]

The Netherlands moves yet another step ahead of the world in cycling infrastructure. Wish we had this in the UK!

[@milliedragon4418]

I wish I could have that where l live too. I don't think too many people wouldn't want this.

[@HonestMan112]

No one in the UK likes bikes cos theyre a pain to keep safe

[@racecardriverrr4201]

@@HonestMan112 Thats just so untrue. While there is definately an issue with bike theft, looaads of people here have bikes, especially in urban areas

[@racecardriverrr4201]

@@HonestMan112 It's estimated there are 20 million bikes in the UK; one for every third person

[@geroutathat]

Love for hundreds of years in enclaves, so that everything is close enough to cycle to, and then everyone will cycle everywhere. Right now in the Netherlands the Dutch are building enclaves, white only, so they don't have to go far from their homes. It's part of their culture to stay close to home

[@liamtahaney713]

If you think about a lot of roll outs this makes perfect sense. It's almost like a beta test followed by some bug fixes.

[@mcc.o.4835]

Well done. I can only dream of such a masterpiece of bike infrastructure in my country.

[@SoftAsFur]

in America, if ever a project like this were possible, it would be left to rot, without any changes made.

[@alex2143]

What you don't see in this video is the extensive bike infrastructure all throughout Utrecht. Most of the city is very bikeable, either over traffic calmed streets or protected bike paths. That is the enabler that makes this bike parking garage necessary - if that infrastructure weren't there, not only wouldn't people take the bike to the station as much, they probably also wouldn't take public transport out of the city as much. The most important start in my opinion for the US is to start with safe traffic calmed neighborhoods with a maximum speed of 20mph, that is designed in such a way that speeding is impossible. That is already some infrastructure that enables biking, that also benefits pedestrians, children playing, and everyone actually living there. Once you have that, you only need a comparatively small number of bike paths to connect between places where people actually go in order to make cycling a lot more convenient and comfortable.

[@paolagrando5079]

@Soft you might be surprised. In some places in tbe States things are changing 😺

[@KleineJoop]

Perhaps if you'd be able to elect an equivalent to Roosevelt and his historic state infrastructure and other social projects and progressive policies.

[@jonusaguilar8156]

People would then ask: “where do I park my car?”

[@Koen030NL]

It’s all tax payers money that goes in programs like these. They cost a lot of time effort and money but they are for everyone to enjoy.

[@halleradam]

I’m just saddened. In the rest of the world, such investments are only made for cars if at all. If you want your country to succeed, follow the Dutch way.

[@geroutathat]

Follow the Dutch way? Set up white only villages in Africa? They are doing this in 2022? They like to live in enclaves and that means shops are set up closer to them, most other countries find that style of living, horrible.

[@indetermite]

But that would be "cOMmuNiSM", according to the WORST country in the West, A****ca.

[@rpach3023]

I live in the u.s. and ride a bicycle daily for work, commuting and fun. I wish more people in this world would do so. it truly is better for your body and the environment. sadly we don't have wonderful parking garages like these. all we have are bike racks in the darkest and most inhospitable areas where thieves would be thrilled to do their work. luckily, I have agreements with owners of local businesses that let me bring my bikes into their establishments. lately the state has been adding bike lanes to our well travelled roads but we have a long way to go until the u.s. is bicycle friendly.

[@jefflastofka9289]

Really fun seeing this after just spending a month in Utrecht as a visitor from America. I used that parking and those entrances a bunch:-) I can hardly wait to go back in the spring. Not sure where yet, but I'll surely visit Utrecht again while in country. Riding my bike now in the San Diego area is SO disappointing after so much nice riding in the Netherlands:-(

[@SebFlorida]

Try Rotterdam!

[@evo3s75]

@@SebFlorida ah, yes.. The more US like city of the Netherlands

[@MH-oc4de]

Yes and no. Riding a bike through Torrey Pines and along route 1 is pretty stunning on a sunny day. Utrecht and much of Netherlands is extremely flat and has well laid out bike paths. But riding along those canals with a steady headwind can also suck, not to mention the horizontal rain.

[@jefflastofka9289]

@@MH-oc4de Headwind? That’s so last century:-) I got an e-bike and reprogrammed the lowest assist setting to a very low value so I use normal effort for exercise. Just enough assist to cancel the weight, wide tires, and upright wind drag. Then, if a headwind pops up I can select the next boost level and erase the headwind effort. Same for hills. I use a standard effort level for the whole ride, regardless of wind and hills. In the NL I didn’t miss my e-bike much but it would have been nice a couple times.

[@Sinnegeiets]

Den Bosch, Breda, Maastricht, Arnhem, Nijmegen

[@adriaandoelman2577]

I wonder, is this upgrade part of a protocol? They probably don’t really have a book full of blueprint for bicycles parkings yet. And it seems like there are an awful lot of things coming together in such a complex design, even lots of psychology. Love this channel, great work! 👍

[@Synthetica9]

At least the curbs and the zebra crossing sound like they had an accident and this reccomendation came from the study

[@DavidTheScientist]

I believe CROW already has a bike parking design document now, although I think it's relatively basic compared to other guidance. At least, I don't think I'm imagining it. I'll try to find it later...

[@markvanderknoop131]

That's the beauty of guidelines book. You can @ regulations and print again.

[@jaaput]

Rule #1 in the guidelines: don't add a zebra-crossing. It will only incur a false feeling of safety and thus a high risk of collision, whilst cyclist will seldomly honour the right of way for pedestrians. Especially during rush hours.

[@Paul_C]

Funny, normally they would wait more than 7 years to update. Guess this was really necessary and yeah, it is an improvement. Glad they didn't wait for the 'experts'.

[@Soonjai]

I mean, it´s Utrecht. That city is wild when it comes to biking, I read an article a few weeks ago, they got over 21.000 bicycle parking spaces in the station district alone, and pretty much half of the population thinks that it isn´t enough. Of course they are improving this stuff as soon as possible when they feel the need to make it more efficient, safer and overall better.

[@GuusJanssen]

Didn't wait for the experts? That's exactly what they did, they listened to the experts. And the experts said _”fix this"_ so they did.

[@disposabull]

If people are getting injured, the local town or city is liable. It's not that rare for a town to spend millions doing an upgrade, realise that the rate of people breaking ankles etc has suddenly tripled and then spend millions ripping it all out again.

[@rickb3078]

Paul C, go home. You’re drunk! 😂

[@xXxHDSniperzGodzxXx]

@@Soonjai According to the city there are over 33.000 parking spaces around the station. Yet the one you want is of course always occupied ;(

[@schancer]

It amazes me to see that it's always a work in process and that it's closely monitored and improved. So much to learn from the way it's done! I want this kind of thinking for Quebec city!

[@KoenDeJaeger]

That concrete was deadly

[@maxnewts]

Just when you thought they couldn’t make it any better…

[@gwho]

it's nice to get a real look at the imperfections and re-works, not just the basic overall superiority of overall dutch cycling infra.

[@__malte]

Ziet er goed uit! Hopelijk krijgt de fietsenstalling van Station Delft binnenkort ook een update.

[@Timmernator9]

Wat zou er beter kunnen?

[@mernisch8307]

Delft is top. Alleen die draaideuren bij de ingang naar het station zijn ontzettend idioot. En de 2 achterste losse stallingen zijn wat moeilijk bereikbaar

[@milliedragon4418]

Every time I ever hear the Dutch say we need our bicycle lanes widened it just makes me giggle. Only the Dutch love it!

[@disklamer5063]

We make things based on watercolor impressions and circular geometry. Because as an architect, reality is gauche and not to be considered. When designing a curve, make sure it is at the bottom of an incline, that it does not flow the way a bicycle rolls, so people fly out of their lane, and then veer into a concrete wall. Do not consider rush hours, when everybody is either trying to get in, or to get out.

[@etbadaboum]

I love the bicycle markings on the ground, in case someone was not aware where he was! :) More seriously, constant investment in infrastructure is key, learning from mistake and correcting is the way.

[@DutchieMcDutchface]

fyi, the painted on bicycle symbols are a legal requirement to indicate that it's an official cycle lane. I do agree it's overkill, but the law is the law

[@etbadaboum]

@@DutchieMcDutchface Thanks. It's probably for a good reason, overall there's a lot of good thinking in Dutch planning in general.

[@paolagrando5079]

I like the video and the blog that gives more details on the subject. Thanks to those informations it will make things better in other countries too. We can learn from your knowledge and mistakes. Your work is always much appreciated. Thank you and a little boop on your cat nose. 😊

[@ronnedejong7641]

Even though the construction work was quite inconvenient, I quite happy with the changes.

[@CyberlightFG]

Imagine all these people in cars.

[@RFGfotografie]

Awesome video yet again!

[@steemlenn8797]

From the blog post: Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have to drive half a kilometer back and forth to get out of one fo the floors needs to be made to do the distance on hand. No wonder that people use shortcuts.

[@TronMcr]

I can't wait to visit now

[@gravel1brevet2campinghocke27]

도심안에 자전거도로하며 자전거주차장하며 참 멋지네요^^

[@sukhvinderubhi9202]

I can only watch in awe of this cycling infrastructure... The UK is so far behind in its thinking and so dominated with a car culture that it'll never happen here

[@Tockz]

Thanks ❤

[@coolnewpants]

Looks like they ought to buy more check in screens

[@betula2137]

By chance also saw a Dutch tunnel made in a weekend !!!

[@sacroyalty]

Wish we had batter bike infrastructure in America! I can't even ride my bike in San Francisco, CA without feeling like I'm definitely dying today.

[@HansKeesom]

Amsterdam, take notice! Now that we have e-bike's there is even less need to use a car....... but bike-paths between cities should be make better. Amsterdam-Utrecht is bumpy, so is Amsterdam-Almere

[@xXxHDSniperzGodzxXx]

I wonder if they will ever get the parking guidance system to work properly. The numbers it shows are almost never accurate. If a row shows 40 free spaces there might be 2

[@topphatt1312]

Damn the thing was bad so they made it good. That is genuinely a rare occurrence in North America

[@christine7772]

Shared 🧡

[@vladimir.zlokazov]

In my city they would tell that the project has passed the state expertise thus it can't have any faults )

[@mikedeltagolf]

ha ha😅

[@Roman500]

Great changes, now make sure there are viable toilets nearby so that this garage isnt being used as one. Always smells like piss!!

[@BicycleDutch]

I left out that annoying bit, but they placed triangular steel panels in the corners which means the pee will end on your shoes if you still pee in those corners. And they gave the staircases a good deep cleaning. It helped, let's see for how long.

[@dahemac]

😦 OMGGs! Public washrooms are way easier to organize than this amazing cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, aren’t they?

[@crytocc]

@@dahemac Unfortunately "public bathrooms" as a concept are not really recognized as core infrastructure in NL in general, and are often seen as a luxury for which special funding needs to be found. It's a problem in many places throughout the country, not just this garage, and it's one of the bad parts of infrastructure here...

[@dammitdan106]

That's an interesting observation. Just where do cyclists relieve themselves properly if there are no gas stations or public accommodations?

[@Roman500]

@@dammitdan106 there are many but they are only open until 11 at the station and several bars but they arent close enough. I think the issues lies with the nightlife in the city and the people that have had a few drinks and dont have place to pee nearby after dark.

[@mdhazeldine]

Not good that it wasn't designed well in the first place, but at least they weren't too lazy or proud to make the chances necessary. Design is in the details. Glad they got it right now! Now they just need to add toilets 🙂

[@paularsenal8014]

The Netherlands is very behind on public toilets in general

[@hendman4083]

It has been a while since I saw a bicycle using a toilet...

[@Will-mp2ij]

Got to love the Dutch!! Holland is a great place to be

[@thomaszannier1638]

Does the NL has an infinite budget for bike infrastructure ? 😅 Brand new bike park already upgraded ? Blows my mind !

[@spoonman2605]

Imagine what the costs would have been if every bike had been a car.

[@markvanderknoop131]

Bike infra structure pays for it self. The city's make money out of bicycle infrastructure.

[@gacherumburu9958]

👍👍

[@bearmerica6668]

Why do they have to check in? And why we some that don't?

[@smarkasmc]

😉👍🌻

[@tiose1276]

Check-in ? Is the parking not free ?

[@HubieB]

But what about the cracks? I thought that was the main problem?

[@BicycleDutch]

Yes, it was the reason to start all this, but it seems like a minor detail now. As mentioned at 2:19 they replaced existing expansion joints and added new ones.

[@lizellevanwijk]

No issues with assembly for me kzbin.infoUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L but I could see where some might benefit from using an experienced bike assembler/mechanic. I'm an older rider starting back after a 10 year break. This bike exceeds my capabilities and has been easy to get comfortable riding. I'm mostly on easy trails with almost no street riding and have not been disappointed with the performance of the bike. My fitness level is far below what I previously rode with and because of that the mileage is going on the bike slowly. While I'm losing weight slowly, the bike seems to tolerate my 220 pounds just fine. The bike has been used by several family members ranging from 5'5" - 5'9".

[@disposabull]

Does this garage have bike hire or a bicycle repair shop?

[@coolsoenie]

U can rent NS bikes for a day

[@Cl0ckcl0ck]

Foreigners without a Dutch bank account can't rent bikes. There is a repair shop.

[@Elementalism.]

because being best is not good enough there ^^

[@trescalme]

Can't tell if that's a human voice or an AI talking

[@geroutathat]

How can pedestrian not have right of way, that's madness.

[@driewiel]

Misschien een Roetveegzebra?

[@martijn_sch]

Overall I like the changes, but: Why is there a line through the shark teeth? Why can't you (legally) cycle halfway through the garage to the other side? Why are the arrows and other markings on the path so big? Elsewhere in the city, there are often smaller markings on the bike paths. Come on municipality of Utrecht, you can do better!

[@TheDutchMitchell]

sadly it still smells like piss everywhere

[@phil_the_explorer3068]

If they had to redo it after only 3 years, with disruptions and noise, then it was badly designed in the first place and the city shouldn't pay for it

[@etbadaboum]

These are minor updates compared to the whole infrastructure

[@RealConstructor]

In the video they mentioned that the interior plans and functions were changed by the municipality at the end of construction. You can’t let a contractor pay for that.

[@NeuralNexusHub]

Do keep in mind that there is no blueprint for this kind of infrastructure anywhere in the world, so trial and error is naturally part of the development of building the largest bicycle parking garage in the world.