Cycling around Delft checking out Dutch cycle infrastructure

In this video I'm cycling around Delft, The Netherlands and experiencing some of the awesome bicycle infrastructure the Dutch have implemented there. (Filmed May 2022)
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[@RealConstructor]

When you showed the crossing from above a cycle bridge, you saw sharks teeth (yield signs) on the road for cars and bikes. You mentioned they weren’t necessary because of the traffic lights. But they are necessary for when the traffic lights won’t work caused by an outage or at night when they turn to orange flashing lights. So you always see road signs and sharks teeth for these situations, it’s a backup.

[@QemeH]

Yup, same in germany. Every intersection controlled by lights also has a backup rule (either there are no signs, so it's right-before-left, or there are signs) for when the lights are off or in "standby mode", i.e. blinking yellow, which they are mostly at night or during other low traffic times. The german traffic laws actually have a hierarchy of which rule to follow, which is: 1. Signals of a police officer above all else (yes, even lights) 2. Lights of a signalled intersection (unless "flashing yellow", which just means "approach with caution") 3. Signs posted 4. Right before left 5. Driver cooperation (e.g. when cars approach from all direction simoultaneously at an intersection without markings)

[@ChristiaanHW]

@@QemeH it's the same in The Netherlands but we have another rule to determine which direction may go first. we have the traffic from the right go's first. and after that is the rule: rechtdoor op dezelfde weg gaat voor. which translate to: traffic going straight has priority on traffic turning. so if driver A and driver B get to an intersection from opposite directions and driver B wants to turn left (because the left turn means he has to cross the lane where driver A is coming from) and driver A want to go straight. driver A go's first and driver B has to wait. those 2 rules together cover almost every scenario you might encounter on roads.

[@lolololol7573]

Yeah I noticed this isn't globally common, but very normal in the Netherlands and several other countries. I love how just in case of a blackout, traffic will always be able to continue safely regardless thanks to the road markings. I've had several experiences in which this was necessary and I also had experiences it would have been useful in another country when traffic lights were not working.

[@Lukas-bg4yn]

​@@ChristiaanHW It's the same in Germany actually, the other guy probably implicitly included that in the "right before left" rule

[@frafraplanner9277]

In America, the priorities are 1. Signals of a police officers or other traffic directors (they supersede traffic signals here too) 2. Traffic signals (If something is wrong, they'll flash red in all directions, which means all way stop) 3. We don't use signs at signalized intersections: a) so if the traffic signals are completely dark, treat it as an all way stop. b) if the intersection is unsignalized, there will likely by signs 4. Uncontrolled intersections are rare in most states, but if they exist: a) 4-way intersections: left before right b) 3-way intersections: the road that continues has priority over the other road

[@Flying_Basil]

THANK YOU for making these videos!! I'm an urban designer in Seattle and have been looking for excellent explainer videos like these to show people how this excellent cycling infrastructure works in practice. Thank you so much!

[@spinningtrue]

Woah really?! Are you hiring? I just do this as a hobby because I've seen it in the US and in places like the Netherlands and it really frustrates me to see half-hearted attempts at cycle infrastructure when I know it could be so much better. My dream is to make a difference with videos like this so I'm glad it helped you, I really appreciate the comment.

[@1fadf23f]

I assume you found notjustbikes too?

[@spinningtrue]

@@1fadf23f Yes good recommendation. The best channel with this type of content for sure.

[@chipdale490]

@@spinningtrue Yup, NotJustBikes is fantastic. And funny too. Even us Dutchies can learn a lot from his videos. BicycleDutch is also very good.

[@dimrrider9133]

Bicycle Dutch is a good one to ;p

[@plopper326]

9:00 one more addition not a lot of people mention are the bricks. Driving on them make significantly more noise inside the car than asphalt so people instinctively drive slower

[@Roanmonster]

It has a practical use sometimes as well. for example, on the TU Delft campus (where he cycles around 16:30 in the video) they're still working on some below-ground infrastructure (internet cables maybe? not sure) and a brick road is more easy to take out than an asphalt road.

[@Dyonvdm]

@@Roanmonster They use bricks mostly in spots where stuff like the sewage system is below.

[@ranxxerox6407]

Can I just say from a cyclist in the UK, I am soooooo jealous of the infrastructure that all road users receive. Brilliant planning, and WOW, look at the green spaces it creates!

[@ericvosselmans5657]

I cycle a lot myself in Holland, being from Breda, Noord-Brabant and it's what most foreigners I encounter say about my country. I encounter a lot of folk from the UK, Germany, Belgium, Austria even. I always assumed they would be disappointed because nature and scenery is so much more beautiful in other countries, But people are always full of admiration of our cycling infrastructure.

[@paulthomas8262]

the reality is is the Netherlands has a third of the population. Amsterdam covers around 84 sq miles and London around 600 sq miles with 10 times the population and that population swell during the day. Making a continuous bike infrastructure is hard. In the countryside there is some success with greenways, but in a town it is next to lethal to be a bike user sharing with buses, HGV and cars.

[@daviddanser8011]

@@paulthomas8262t is very hard now, but in the Netherlands almos ost every road build has a bike line next to it. Ofcourse it is harder with a bigger population, but the principle of building every road with a bike line (very rural areas excluded) could work everywhere

[@paulthomas8262]

@@daviddanser8011 if the trials are anything to go by the bike superhighway hasn't worked well. New roads aren't being built in cities much mostly resurfacing of old routes. Around old private property. It is less a superhighway and more a series of death trap sections interrupted by nessisary commercial stops and junctions forcing them out in to road blind. It would be safer to just share the road. Now they have put some narrow bollards between the lanes making the road look like a slalom run except much slower than before.

[@Blackadder75]

@@ericvosselmans5657 hoe vaak per jaar ga jij naar de Wadden, of de Veluwe of de Biesbosch? Zo gaat het ook in die andere landen, ze hebben er wel meer van, maar ze wonen over het algemeen ook gewoon tussen het beton in een stad, die vaak lelijker is dan wat wij hebben. Wij zien al hun mooie plekjes omdat we daar speciaal naar op zoek gaan op vakantie.

[@Wielie0305]

What’s very important when cycling or driving a vehicle in the Netherlands is to make eye contact. They know you are there and vice versa and you can anticipate better. Equally important is that most car drivers are cyclists as well. It depends on the trip if I take my bike or the car.

[@NLvideomaster]

Some info on the weird double speedbump/dip (14:27). They're not intended to slow bikes down. They're intended to slow down mopeds/scooters. They often go rather fast (45kmh), and are sometimes illegally tuned to go even faster than they should. Hence the traffic calming. I've heard that staying upright on a moped/scooter at high speeds over those humps is quite hard and might damage the thing.

[@stijnhandgraaf3914]

I'm proud to announce that my bike is in this video!

[@collectioneur]

There is one golden rule in Dutch traffic and that is: you must get priority, not take...

[@burgienl]

At 9:14 the raised area is not just to slow cars down. It tells traffic that they have to yield to the traffic on the main road. So if a car would come from the left at that point, you as a cyclist have to yield to the car coming from the left.

[@m.moolhuysen5456]

Also, if the area is raised like this and the type of pavement of the sidewalk you cross continues, instead of the pavement type of the road you're on, in that case you have to yield to the pedestrians as well.

[@stijnlammers7005]

Although you're right at 4:28 about the laws. The reason cars let cyclers go first is usually because even the people in cars are cyclists themselves and they know it's kinda annoying to stop while cycling as opposed to breaking with a car. It's just them being nice basically.

[@saskia3854]

Regarding the cycling signage, the red-white signage indicate the quickest way to get to a nearby town/village. The signage with the numbers are from a cycling route network focused on leisurely cycling, they get your from a to b, but along more scenic routes and the paths aren't always easy to travel (I once got stuck on a sand path, no asphalt in sight).

[@26487913]

lol, you are the first biker that uses the official roadrules. Here in the netherlands, we just bike everywhere, if it were possible, we would bike on water, believe me, we tried, look at the bikes in all the canals...

[@dimrrider9133]

lol

[@lbergen001]

Super video about the bike infrastructure. 👍👍 About yielding on a crossing: Many young agile cyclists don't actually stop for you, but they maneuver around you, just to avoid stopping. You should continue your way in a straight line, because they know and respect your priority and just anticipate on that.😄

[@ericvosselmans5657]

Not shave everything over one comb. 🙂😀😀 Older agile cyclists like myself also like to maneuver around the traffic. Goes without problems as long as other cyclists and traffic users keep on doing their thing. 🙂 The occasional Karen can throw a spanner in the works though.

[@michielvanderark8971]

Nitpicking Dutch driving instructor here: At 5:38 strictly speaking the car has right of way, despite the white triangles … Please note that almost nobody (bikes and cars) sticks to the official rule. We teach our driver students that you better give way to the bike here, as cyclists will most likely take their right of way, and quite understandably so. But once in a while you will get that someone who endangers a cyclist by enforcing a technical rule. Or they’re just bad drivers. Anyway, here’s the official rule: The white triangles only apply to traffic that’s on the street or bike path that you cross; not to traffic that is on the same road as you. In this case the “traffic going straight takes priority over turning traffic” applies. So if the bike was coming from the left, they would have right of way, but you, driving the same road and direction as the car and turning left, don’t. I know, strange and dangerous. Some argue that the second you have turned you are in fact on the street that crosses, but that’s not how this traffic law works. The debate continues. Again, I just want to point out the official rule. Now forget that rule and please drivers, give bikes right of way in this situation; much safer!

[@spinningtrue]

Interesting!

[@Klaas_L]

This is indeed true yet quite ridiculous as it can create confusion making it less safe. I think it would be better if the traffic pecking order (1. emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens on > 2. traffic controllers > 3. traffic lights > 4. traffic signs and road markings > 5. traffic rules) would always apply /be leading in situations like this. The confusion gets even bigger with entering and exiting roundabouts with yield signs depending on which directions cars a bicycles come from, whether or not the bicycle is considered to be on the roundabout already or just entering it, whether the bicycle path is part of the roundabout or not etc.. Would be so much simpler and thusly, safer if the traffic sign / road markings would be leading. I applaud you @michielvanderark8971 for teaching people to drive safe rather than obeying the rules blindly and take the right of way simply because they technically have it.

[@dwj020]

The white triangels we name Shark Teeth's.. meaning you need to give priority to any passing director! :) love your vids!

[@erikvanleeuwen4436]

Also nice to metion a lot of bicycle paths around Delft are build on opd steam tram lines. If you cycle from Delft to Maasland you follow this route and even pass the canal to Vlaardingen on a old tram bridge.

[@ParisCycling]

@2:12 This whole roundabout is incredible. You're sheltered so well from traffic you don't even see them circling. That a bit scary but so peaceful.

[@donutglazuur]

I've lived in Delft for 23 years now and that roundabout was actually a bit infamous for being unsafe. They've recently changed the two-way traffic for cyclists to one-way because cars would get overwhelmed from having to look in two directions for bikes and pedestrians while also keeping an eye on the tram tracks. People got hit there quite frequently before the change. It still looks very nice, though!

[@Paulski25]

@@donutglazuur Indeed they did, however I am really wondering how many cyclists just ignore the mandatory direction and cycle against the desired direction.

[@austinpowersfasjer]

19:54 The lines at the side are typically not official bike paths (this would have implications). These lines are common on the side of rural roads with a max of 60 or 80 km/h. The lines on the side instead of in the middle makes the road feel smaller and lets cars slow down when they pass each other. They also make your place on the road, as a vehicle, more to the center which is safer. Ofcourse when there is no oncoming traffic. Notice the zone 60 sign and the lines continuing🤓

[@MrLoveToGame]

At 13:40 you say you’re entering a pedestrian priority zone. However the sign actually means it is a pedestrian only zone, that is why you see cyclist walking their bikes. For the rest great video! Hopefully it inspires other countries to follow our Dutchies example. Enjoy the rest of your trip

[@DanielleBeth]

Almost a good call. The upper sign indeed says that you're entering a pedestrian zone (or to be precise that this zone is a continuation of the earlier stated pedestrianzone). Although the, in the video barely visible, sign underneath states: "bicycles allowed, scooters/mopets not". That means you're allowed to ride your bike in these areas. Whether it's doable or preferred by the rider at this specific moment, is a completely different case. ;)

[@ari-mcbrown]

@@DanielleBeth yeah.... if he'd actually followed the road to the left. But het just went straight right INTO the market, which is pedestrians only. XD

[@DanielleBeth]

@@ari-mcbrown He does turn left at 13:40. Different market parts are before and after this specific segment.

[@ari-mcbrown]

@@DanielleBeth ah, you’re right, different segment. That’s pedestrians only. I was talking about a minute before that

[@gwnlars_8306]

@@ari-mcbrown Staat een onderbordje bij (fietsers toegestaan), dat klopt ook. Geheel Delft Centrum is "fiets-toegestaan", met uitzondering van De Vlouw/Papenstraat en de Grote Markt/Jacob Gerritstraat op marktdagen. (do en za van 10 tot 19)

[@ferryvantichelen6521]

I'm in Spain now, I really like that they tried to also create segregated bike paths in a lot of places now, it's just almost hilarious how badly it is implemented sometimes, it's clearly not done by someone who actually rides a bike. You have to stop and go a lot of times here, because you almost never get priority, which on a bike is just a lot more annoying than in a car or when walking for instance. Also, it happens often that the bike path just stops at some point, you are going nicely and then suddenly: end of path, you're on the side of the road now, with your wheels in the sand and rocks. And lastly, it happened quite a few times that there is just a curb in the middle of the bike path, so you have to drop down about 20cm to continue riding. What this means that after you tried taking 3 bike paths you decide to get on the road anyways, because it just doesn't work. But still, love that they tried at least! Biking is just so much nicer for yourself and everyone and everything around you...

[@delta12H21]

Last summer I drove like 50 km by bike in one day in Valencia. What I learned from there is that they are trying at least to give cyclists a place in traffic. But its no where near cities in the netherlands. But I recognize what you mean by those bumps after every roadcrossing or bike paths just abruply ending its as hilarously as its dangerous.. Also, I saw nobody on a bike outside outside of the city centre maybe a lost moped here and then. But at least city made an effort to create bike paths at all.

[@sbrandligt]

The traffic signal you pass a few times (e.g. 5:57) is a special one: it is standard green for bikes, cars have to 'beg' for a few seconds of green to pass.

[@Renzsu]

That's where I did my studies. Seeing this, I instantly had a flashback to the yeast smell that's everywhere in the city due to the factory nearby..

[@essayedgar]

16:35 I think the dip is moreso aimed towards slowing down mopeds than slowing down bicycles lol

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

We do have sunny days too ;) Just saying :)

[@roob0012]

Nice to see my hometown on KZbin! The large bicycle bridge you show was actually constructed as part of a large national bike infrastructure pilot project that took place in and around the city of Delft somewhere in the 1970’s or ‘80s. A lot has been learned since, and modern bike bridges are a lot leaner and more elegant. Please keep on doing the great work of promoting biking all over the world! ❤

[@picobyte]

Always fun to watch foreigners praise Dutch infra. It's what you get when you build your own country.

[@DavidJonSpem]

The raised intersections are also to help people in a wheelchair cross the road easier. Because the pavements will be even.

[@Lepo4256]

Fantastic, the algorithm showed me this and I have to say it did great. Superb content :)

[@spinningtrue]

Ha! Well I'm glad the algorithm introduced you to me :). Thanks a lot I really appreciate it!

[@yeyeTF2]

gorgeous

[@sonny_z900]

Nice to see the roads in the netherlans through the eyes of others. I live here my whole life and never thought about the way things are designed to increase safety. I like watching the channel 'not just bikes' also.

[@WimZwikker]

look always by crossings the opponent in the eyes, then you are sure they see you, advice from a73 old year dutchman , whom still bikes a lot

[@GabeWeymouth]

This is my neighborhood in Delft! Thanks for highlighting how easy and safe it is to get around by bike.

[@MarijnvdSterre]

11:46 I had to rewind here. They really need to clear that sign. The yield signs on the crossings with traffic lights are there in case the traffics lights don't work.

[@marielvanhees9531]

Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed the "ride along" i used to live and bike to school in the Netherlands. You gave me a very nostalgic memory and I haven't felt so relaxed in, what feels like, years.

[@rientsdijkstra4266]

Great video, but one remark: those "dips" in the cycle path are not (!) to slow down the bikes, but to slow down the mopeds / scooters! Because these mopeds and scooters tend to go way too fast (often these riders soup up the engines to make them go faster then the legal limit of 20 mph).

[@Henkvanpeer]

Pretty town Delft!

[@evolgrinz3202]

Awesome to see my city through the eyes of someone else. Usually videos like this are always in Amsterdam.

[@engelkep504]

nice to see this with different eyes, as I'm so used to dutch bicycle infrastructure.

[@dahemper]

Lovely video. A part that is often overlooked however is noise levels. In how many other 100.000+ inhabitant cities around the world can you record a video on your bike without raising your voice? Not many. So peacefull.

[@wm7195]

The raised parts are sometimes sidewalks that are ongoing, which means pedestrians have priority. Even bicycles have to give priority to pedestrians. Sometimes it are bumps to slow traffic down.

[@alexvandenbogaerdt2817]

Great video except an issue at around 5:39. Traffic on your road needs to yield to traffic on the crossing road. Both you and that car were on the same road, despite the separate lanes.When you make that left turn, you should yield to traffic going straight on the same road. That includes the car you were commenting on. If an accident would have happened, you were to blame but the car would be liable. Liability and blame are not the same.

[@Tacko14]

20:30 Schipluiden, where I grew up. The first decade at least. The kind of place where kids are never inside, we only came home when the streetlights lit up. Can you stop taking me down memory lane now, please? I’m getting all mushy

[@hypnoticsheep142]

The bumps you mention around 11:00 also make the intersection an equal intersection, meaning that you have to yield to traffic coming from the right!

[@wypkjevanrossum1472]

I used to live in Delft for 70 years , it is lovely to see all these familiair places , thank you

[@ReinierZwitserloot]

Some additional info from somebody whose house you biked past in this video :) - the 'Achterom' street, which you bike through at 15:15, has a bunch of cars parked next to the road. This road is currently being re-paved (maintenance for gas infra), and will return 'autoluw' - cars can no longer park and are allowed in only if you have stuff to deliver or pick up. The municipality plans for the city essentially expand the autoluw zone by a street or two every year. The buttons for bikes at the lights __do nothing__ - they are 'placebo buttons' just like elevator close buttons tend to be. Generally you can see in the video that the lights around the button are already on. That's because there are induction mats installed below the asphalt that detect bikes. Usually there are 2 - one right at the lights, one further away from the lights; that's why you sometimes just get green as you pedal towards an intersection. The button is generally hooked up, but it's there only in case you have a weird bike that didn't trigger the mat, you stopped and missed the green light, or the induction system is broken. Pressing the button does not make the light go green any faster, though repeatedly smashing it can alleviate stress just like hammering an elevator close button :)

[@sealsilly5050]

i'd slightly disagree. i know from personal experience that those mats are not everywhere, and there are places where if you do not press the button the light for the bike lanes does not go to green. but yes, outside of that a lot of them are placebo.

[@WhoStoleMyAlias]

@@sealsilly5050 Those are the older ones, with the black push-button. You really need to press those, otherwise the light will never turn green. It is however possible that at some time they reprogrammed the lights for that intersection and basically turned it into a placebo but if you are a one time visitor you can't know that. The modern one will show a red text telling you to wait if it detected you - if it stays black you should touch the device (there's no actual button to press), again because the program will skip your lane's green cycle.

[@jurjenbersee9093]

I love this video, it makes me happy to see that some things in the Netherlands are quite well organised. Two fun facts I wanted to add: 13:02 The blue/yellow bike is a cool story too: it's an extension of our public transportation. Called an OV-fiets (Public transport bike). You can rent them at train stations. 21:10 Yes, the green arrows help you on your way on your bike. But it's for recreational purposes mainly. To get from A to B you can use the white/red signs that you can see in the background. They are also for bikes only. Car signs from A to B are blue.

[@alexbernadina3082]

I use to live there in Delft (near in de Hoven, in the beginning of your video) in the 70s and 80s. Back than when Bikes were concidered "slow traffic" and Cars fast traffic, so bikes always had to yield for cars. I now live in Germany (almost no bike infrastructure here) and visit Delft (and family) by car . In and around Delft i go by feet now. Glad to see the very much updated infra structure, more towards bikes and also the ban on cars in the city center. Also the bike lanes where cars are "visitors".. I had to look twice when I was with my car on such a lane ;-)

[@vladimir.zlokazov]

Thank you for this video! Very interesting!

[@Hardbunker]

The speedbumps on bike roads normally are for mopeds! Bikes typically don’t go fast enough unless their racebiking

[@fanjan7527]

So interesting to note. Cities aren't loud and noisy, cars (and ICE mopeds) are loud and noisy.

[@spinningtrue]

Agreed!

[@dascandy]

@19:00 the idea of the priority signaling on the floor is that they do not count when the signals work. When the signals are off - at night, or during power failure - the floor signage takes over, and cars on the straight road still have priority over cyclists crossing it.

[@liuxoB]

9:09. This is the infrastructure that makes traffic so much safer in the netherlands than anywhere else. Not only does the end of the road slow driver down as it is a large bump, but also it raises the road to the pedestrian level, making it clear that pedestrians have priority as the car is seemingly entering pedestrian space. Furthermore you can see that the turns the car has to make to get on the main road are very tight, which also is a traffic calming measure. Compare to an intersection in suburban America, where pedestrians have to lower themselves to car level, iand the sidewalk often seemingly just ends, indicating that cars have priority (also inconvenient for wheelchair users, etc),. There is no bump for cars and the turns are so wide cars can make the turns almost full speed, which is very unsafe for pedestrians trying to walk across the neighborhood

[@Henkvanpeer]

Indeed! Way more nicer then car centric city! Well put!👍👍👍👍

[@OutdoorVeluwe]

We in The Netherlands call the triangle Shark Teeth

[@CanyonWanderer]

Loving these videos! I only discovered your channel today, but love the content and narrative.This video you came across several locations that are on my Voorburg/Rotterdam commute (not in winter) and also the faculty I studied at in Delft 🙂 Following multiple international cycling related channels on different media, I'm very much aware that we're blessed with our Dutch cycling infrastructure, feeling grateful

[@LarsvanderHeide]

The blue round sign with the bicycle actually indicates it's compulsory to ride on the path and not on the gray asphalt road. Something that I see foreigners are sometimes struggling with, asking myself why anyone would want to cycle in a more dangerous place. The blue round sign is also a way to tell if you can expect mopeds on the path or not as some signs will have the moped and the bike icon and others will only have the bike icon. Whether moped riders obey those rules is another topic 😉There also exists a rectangular sign with the word "fietspad" (bicycle path) on it which indicates a bicycle path that you can use, but is not obligatory.

[@Paulski25]

And mopeds are not allowed on that 'fietspad'

[@MMijdus]

I am so happy with your vids! I am Dutch, so for me this is normal. But you show me the sunny side of my country, and even make me enthousiastic to hop on my bike for a ride. Silly isn't it? Anyway, keep up your nice work! 👍

[@siriosstar4789]

Very informative .

[@missitheachievementhuntres560]

So nice to see my city through your eyes, I appriciate it much more while seeing you explaining it and riding the bike then riding om my back there myself, so weird.

[@Levi_de_zevende]

I love this video!

[@tjcowling]

Fascinating to see my city through your eyes! You cycled past my house around 4:20 😊

[@Oockeshoek]

You should go to Houten, bike city of NL a few years ago and multiple times. Awesome infrastructure and the surrounding area's are very pretty as well

[@essayedgar]

It's always cool to see how people that aren't from the Netherlands experience our country - and by extension, our infrastructure. And Delft is such a beautiful city, def my favourite city in NL :)

[@raymondo162]

in the newish bike garage in Tilburg, there's a ticketing system and a security bloke on the door to check you in and out.

[@MrMILZEY]

Excellent!

[@spinningtrue]

Thanks for watching!

[@arthurhagen3826]

7:53 the button is only for your peace of mind. The light knew you were there already (induction loops) :)

[@markdrost7734]

Greetings from a Delft local :) Well done!

[@P1nkR]

A lot of people make these kind of videos without knowing how it actually works. Thank you for doing the research and explaining it so clearly.

[@Tacko14]

2:30 on the right the flats of the Roland Holstlaan. I was born there, way up on the top floor. Weird feeling, coming across it on a yt

[@roykliffen9674]

19:20 The yield signs for bikes ARE useful. sometimes traffic lights malfunction (yes, even happens in the Netherlands) and in those cases the road signs will be leading.

[@erikbeumer4963]

Also a lot of traffic lights are turn off at night. So the normal traffic rules are applied and the yield sign have a function.

[@sudazima]

the dips and bumps in the cycle road _arent_ for slowing down cyclist but for slowing down scooters that also use the cycle paths. especially for scooters that go faster than theyre allowed!

[@joeglover1439]

The difference between cycling infrastructure in UK to Holland is night and day. In the UK there are some cities that are better than others but overall its pretty poor compared to Netherlands.

[@spinningtrue]

I know!

[@JackMellor498]

Watching from the UK. Love these sorts of videos, great way to remind myself of how awful it is I live in a country where we can’t ever have nice things like a fully connect and well built national cycling infrastructure, because NIMBYs are too diesel and petrol savvy, and our politicians have too many petrochemical shares. You try doing what you did from 12:45 onwards in a pedestrianised street in the UK, in just passing someone without alerting them, and you’d get shouted at, confronted, everyone would spot you and step uncomfortably absurd distances to get out of your way, the whole works. Our mindset of getting about is very much walking or big ass car or van with no middle-ground, cyclists are an afterthought. Hence why if anything tries to get built there’s always something to stop it. For instance, London is probably the best place to cycle in the UK, but it’s cross city “Cycle Super Highways” (which would make any Dutch person fall on the floor in hysterical laughter they’re hardly THAT super) get blocked from being perfectly cross city by one city borough (notably London’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, home to every modern suited rich man with a Range Rover) because they just hate bikes that much. I’m skint AF, but I hope to come to the Netherlands and visit hopefully sooner rather than later. Cannot wait until I’m cycling around, getting everywhere I need to go by bike, listening to Kraftwerk’s Tour de France in my headphones. The country really is a shining beacon of sustainable cities.

[@Wootoow]

About the big roundabout you showed in beginning of the video: It looks really nice, but is a nightmare for the drivers. Which in turn makes it kinda unsafe for the cyclists. When cyclist can basically enter the roundabout 4 different ways at once + bus and tram it is hard to keep track of everything for the driver. I used to live really close to it and accidents happened almost everyday. For that reason they actually did a small redesign. It is now a one-way roundabout for both cars and bikes. Which makes keeping track of everything easier for the drivers and hopefully stops them from not seeing a cyclist because they simply didn't have 4 sets of eyes at once. (And yes the solution for the cars is ofc to just drive slower and double check before crossing the cyclepath but we all know that is never going to happen)

[@Marble127]

Hi, i’m Dutch and love to spread the word about amazing cycling. I like your take here. One thing i’d like to add to your remarks about traffic calming in small streets by being narrow and having obsticles: another big part of reducing car speed is the cobbled surface. Have you noticed that in residential areas without bike paths, the cobbles appear? For cars, driving on cobbled stones produces way more road noise, encuriging the driver to slow down. It’s almost a subconcious process, but it works. Thans again.

[@xander8402]

As the example shows, the intersection, at minute 19, has road markings. They are there because if the traficlights malfuncion (blinking orange) or are disabled you can still safely cross.

[@pim1234]

There are very few bikers that indicate where they are going and even less that stop for a red trafic sign. Not to mention not having lights on their bike at night ...

[@MunchWillbeBlue]

I didnt time mark my first comment and it turned out to be quite a long list. Overall I would say great video and as your Dutch, your cycling skills are very good. Love to see more videos, awsome content. If you have the yield signs you yield to traffic from both left and right, but you can go if you dont intercept the other. So when he comes from your right and you turn right there is no issue and you dont have to wait. Should you go left then he goes first and when someone comes from the left and you turn right you also stop. When there are no yield signs you yield to traffic from you left or from straight ahead if they go straight ahead but you turn left. Or if you go to your left and he goes to your left. If you go right and he goes to your right then he yields to you. (The person who makes the shortest turn goes first). 7:52 These buttons are going to be replaced by detections loops in the bike path over time, we already have many. Basically they detect you as a cyclist and trigger the traffic signals. Also, some have timers indicating how long or short you have to wait for your signal to turn green. 9:30 That raised area is actually a pedestrian path and they have "priority" over cars. I put it in "" because this is only the practical reason, its not law (also applied for cyclist). Should a car hit a person the car is assumed to be at fault. Its as good as the only law where you are pressumed guilty untill you can show otherwise. In this case the pedestrian would be double protected because the car has to cross the pedestrian path. This is also why you dont see the white parkings like you see on speed bumps. 11:50 This red sign with with white line indeed means no entry, but it means more. It means that traffic is comming from the other way. On the other side of that street you will see a blue square sign with white arrow up. A white round sign with red border means no entry and this is no entry from both sides. So in this case a car coming from the other side leaves no room for cyclist and therfore this no exception for bikes there. 12:38 This signs means the same as the red round sign with white stripe. The definition by law is that no one controlling a vehicle is allowed, Vehicle is not really the right word it allso applies to people walking with horses, riding a bike but not walking with a bike. Yes, usually it will say except bikes and moter scooters. So no, pedestrians dont have priority over you. You're breaking the law and could be fined for it. In practice this never happen, unless your creating chaos. 13:50 This sign does not mean pedestrian zone bike allowed. This is a pedestrian zone and you have to walk. Here is a link to a tweet showing you an example of a pedestrian zone where bikes are allowed. twitter.com/fb_utrecht/status/1333909722039263233 You dont see the full sign, but at the bottem it says "fietsers te gast" You can see it looks the same as a cyclestreet where cars are guests. Here the pedestrian is white on the foreground and the cyclist is in red behind it. That said, if its not busy and you dont cause chaos then no one will care if you cycle there, its just not allowed by law. You can actually see it at 14:33 the bottom sign. If that was not there then officially you have to get off your bike and walk. (Interesting how you do know the sign for cyclepath and cars are guests but not pedestrian path and cyclist are guests ;-) ) 16:50 did you know that the white straight lines indicate there is a actual bump but there is also a sig sag pattern and this is placed to make you aware you need to be extra alert, there is no actual bump there. 17:00 While your on the subject of colour, design and shape .. This dark grey stone in between the cycle path and pedestrian path consists of raised waved lines. If you ride your bike over you will feel it for sure. However, its actual function is to alert blind people not to cross that. They should follow raised straight lines. Ah 17:22 .. as you elegantly put it, the rumble strip. 18:55 If you look at the bike path on the left just in front of where the traffic light is for cyclist you can see rectanglar dark line just before the stop line on the cycle path. that is a detection loop. if you stop your bike on it then it will detect you. You can also see there is no sapperate pole with a button on it to press. There will be a button on the pole of the traffic light for cyclist, but this button is for pedestrians. You can also see it in the bottom middle for cyclist to cross that priority road. Altough there you also see there is still a sapperate pole with button to use for cyclists. 19:55 Officially this regular road does not have a bike lane on it. This is actually a suggestion lane. This means that cyclists can cross the dotted line. For cars however this is different. Cars can drive on the suggestion lane where as if this was a cycle lane they are only allowed to go on it when they need to allow room for traffic from the oppesite direction to pass. After that they leave it. The visual difference is that a suggestion lane for cyclist is only a dotted line where if this was cycle lane there would be cycle symbol on it every 500 meters and right after every crossing. 22:44 thats not a bike repairshop this is the OV fiets or "Public transport bikes". You can for a small fee add public transport bike membership to your public transport account. What this does is allow you to rent bikes cheaply. So you can for example use your own bike, go to train station, park your bike there. Go on a train and visit another city, there for a very small fee you can rent such a bike and explore that city. Then return that bike, hop on the train back and pickup your own bike. Also very conveniant for people working in a city where paid parking prices rise or cars are more and more banned, making room for cyclists. That said, eevery train station will also have a bike repair shop, that was just not one of them.

[@frankhooper7871]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the whopping great big cycle parking building on the right at 1:40!

[@frankteunissen6118]

The New Church dates from 1270. It’s called the New Church to distinguish it from the Old Church. Underneath the New Church there’s a crypt where the members of the Royal Family are buried. Underneath the Old Church there’s a crypt where the admirals of the Dutch Navy are buried.

[@Hilltycoon]

11:48 The local authority has some pruning to do. I was wondering which sign you were talking about 😂 But now I see it hidden behind the plant

[@7_Cheshire_7]

Great to see formilliar places. You should visit our oldest city Nijmegen and de Veluwe for great cycle paths and the city ofcourse. Roman history here.. Greetz..

[@stephenvanwijk9669]

20:20 Fietsroute netwerk, means a network of bicycle routes connected by intersections that are numbered by these numbers in green circles, call, fietsknooppunten. Fietsknooppunten means bicycle nodes, but is better translated with bicycle route nodes. Usually they are indicated with these maps, and all the maps of the whole bicycle route network are offered at ANWB (national traffic society), both in their online store, and physical stores, in excellent quality. I met Germans who had German maps that also indicated the nodes. The German had critique, fietsknooppunten are not the best part of our infrastructure, it’s a bit of a puzzle, here and there. To me that makes it even nicer, but Germans and Dutch differ a lot. But it works, and they indicate the most beautiful bike routes, so not all bike routes.

[@nder4786]

Note that a raised part is not just to slow down. it indicates who had priority. So a road comming from the right has right of way, but if that road was raised it has to wait and give way

[@EMvanLoon]

Nice to see the city where I lived during my studies. A lot has changed during the years, so I had some difficulties recognizing certain areas 🙂Good to see how the cycle infrastructure has really improved. Also necessary with about 17% of Delft's inhabitants being a student and (probably) traveling by bike.

[@abel6846]

The white lines are usually put down to alert a cyclist of a bump or dip in the road (or to fake it). The dips are mainly used on longer stretches to slow down, where the bumps are used to warn about the possibility of crossing traffic (any kind of crossing traffic).

[@Spiethstar]

Great video. The intersection's markings at 19:20 are there to help when the traficlights fail.

[@marcelgeenen3162]

Lovely video. When talking about the signaled intersections though you mentioned the buttons to push twice but you didn't mention that those buttons were superfluous. I'm your video you can see the black lines of the detection loops in the road. Normally a bike is automatically detected. The buttons are only there in case the detection doesn't work, for example if you have a carbon bike.

[@DavidvdGulik]

The signaled intersections without buttons are a pain if you're on a carbon fibre bike though. I tend to avoid those intersections but sometimes you happen upon them and they really will not detect you, forcing you to either find a different route, wait till someone else triggers the loop in the road, or run a red light

[@Johnjohnthejohn]

Biking in between cities is even better. Just kilometers of bike paths

[@DataStorm1]

1. Triangles on the ground are called "shark teeth" for they bite towards the one in the wrong. 2. @2:37 the car didn't yield, for you indicated way too late for him to anticipate (by speeding up to not interfere or slowing down to let you pass). The speed difference still comes into play for being able to react. 3. The law is that even when the larger (moped, car/truck or w/e) vehicle was totally in the right, they still get 50% of the blame. Doesn't matter what the biker, walking person or w/e is doing, they have 50% of the dmg to cover by insurance etc. Which is a huge dent into their insurance of damage free years etc. 4. The dips to slow down in bike paths aren't against bikes, they are against motorized (mopeds, speed pedelecs, scooters etc) vehicles going too fast there. The idea is that difference in speed is the problem with accidents. If motorized 2 wheel vehicles can go twice the speed, that's a problem.

[@braindump1446]

Thank you for pointing out point 2. Car did not make a mistake, the cyclist did.

[@ronaldvanderhorst4936]

13:49 the nice thing about good infrastructure, you feel naturally what to do. Here cycling doesn’t work anymore so you walk. And that was the idea in this area. You feel uncomfortable on your bike and a nuisance to the pedestrians so you start walking alongside your bike. Great video

[@ronaldvanderhorst4936]

Or reroute if you want to keep cycling as he did, so this area stay’s a pedestrian zone at times with lots of people walking! Cyclists will find more convenient routes. (The general idea)These streets will accommodate cycling again when the volume of pedestrians shrink significantly.

[@donneg.9263]

So funny to see this explained while it feels very normal to me! Especially since I ride my bike through many of those areas daily. Very lucky to have such an infrastructure to cycle freely! And fun fact: the first roundabout you cycled on has now been changed into one-way for cyclists, since it was too dangerous as cars couldn't see cyclists that well going from two ways. Great video!

[@wipboy148]

Funny to see a deep analyse about my daily trip to school. Weird to think these roads are not normal for some people

[@TheJoaveck]

Around 13:45 you get off the bike because it's hard to cycle there. But, you also had to. In that area you are only allowed to walk with the bike. It's a pedestrian zone. Off course you will see people cycle there sometimes but you risk a fine.

[@ronaldvanderhorst4936]

13:51 i tried to zoom in on the sign. The note under the sign tells you cycling is actually allowed. But the paving of the street doesn’t provide a space for cyclist, so they already feel a bit out of place. Like a guest almost. And they start walking when its crowded. ( if they are civilized ‘-) )

[@guidobouman2819]

One of the main reasons the infrastructure is great for bicycles is to ensure the trip for the road user for short distances is easier and shorter in time than using a car.

[@obscuriosa]

Hey my hometown in the thumbnail!

[@LarsvanderHeide]

Did anyone notice the pedestrian at 1:58 reappearing at 7:12 ? 😄

[@jan_the_man]

2 small things interesting things to add: - At 16:24 you are driving on the campus of Delft University of Technology, and the road to the left is a bus only lane. Cars can only drive around the campus. - The bike parking garage at 22:35 is directly above Delft Central Station, which is underground, and you can enter the train station directly from the parking garage. There is also a major bus station above the parking garage.

[@robinvanveldhuizen7887]

They actually had to fix that roundabout at the beginning of the video because it was such a pain for drivers looking at cyclists coming from both directions, it's way better now

[@kekzoet7487]

You didn’t stop for the man who wants to cross the cycle path (at 1.55)!