How The Dutch Eliminated Traffic

[@crytocc]

In your comment about density, you're missing one important factor: trains! People don't generally bike from city to city in the Netherlands either, but rather they use trains for long distance and then use bikes for the "last mile". It's really common, for example, to have a separate 'commuting bike' parked permanently at the train station near one's school or workplace, or even to take one's bicycle on the train or rent an "OV-fiets" for travel to infrequent destinations. This could work just as well in a low-density country like the US - trains for the long-distance leg of the journey, and bicycles (or buses) for the last mile on either end. Population centers are still generally high-density regardless of the average density of a country as a whole, so this would work fine! Of course, that does require actually fixing the public transit in the US...

[@DukingAroundDIY]

I have a 30 min commute, 2km by bike 30 by train 2km by bike .... and i say i bike to work :)), that is so true.

[@mavadelo]

Very true, especially for commute to work or school. That said, I think we are (one of) the only country where entire families will hop on the bike to go cycling "for fun" and then drive 40 or 50 km without even realising they drove 40 or 50 km.

[@renzo2able]

heck and even if we don't cycle the last mile walking is also a very good choice sure it takes a little longer but it is yust as easy

[@bertoverweel6588]

And , drivers in the Netherlands are also cyclists , so they know where to look driving a car .

[@ON-YT]

True

[@janwensveen1406]

Drivers in The Netherlands are also Bicycle riders. Only a few are also cyclist. A Cyclist is someone who uses a Bicycle for sports, and can often be recognized by using a certain sports bike, wearing the appropriate sporting gear/clothes and when going above 25 km/h: often a Helmet.

[@noahlbecker]

@@janwensveen1406 smartass

[@mourlyvold7655]

@@janwensveen1406 Kom op, Jan. Alsof je niet begrijpt wat ie bedoeld...

[@carsreallysuck]

Barely anyone in the Netherlands considers themselves a cyclist.

[@09conrado]

We rarely cycle all over the country. Most trips made, be it by car or bike, worldwide, are under 2 kilometres. So that's an easily cycled distance. So it doesn't hold up when people say 'but yours is a tiny country. Ours is waaaaay bigger!' Whereas this statement is factually correct, most people don't drive the whole distance across the country everyday. Plus, with a proper public transport system, long combinations of bike-train-bike can be a very good alternative to taking the car. Hence all the bike parking facilities at train stations

[@johanwittens7712]

Nice to see another alternative transport channel! The more the better! Important other benefit of cycling: the drastically reduced build costs AND maintenance costs. Cycling infrastructure, especially simple separated bike lanes cost a fraction to build of what a street for motorised traffic costs to build. A cyclepath that can handle thousands of bikes per day costs a fraction of what a road that handels thousands of cars a day costs to build. And the same is true for maintenance. If you want to maintain a road for cars well, it needs to be repaired and maintained pretty much every year, and it needs to be repaved every 10-15-20 years depending on how heavily it is used. But cycle paths on the other hand can last for decades and decades without any major maintenance or repaving. Well built cycling paths literally are as pristine as they were built even after 20-30 years. The only problem areas are invariably the areas where the cycling paths intersect with motorised traffic. Besides that only minor maintenance is usually needed. When you look at the Netherlands, most of the time when cycle paths are renewed, it's not because they were busted up or at the end of their life span, but it's to change and update the layout to the most recent safety standards. If not most paths could have lasted decades more. And lastly, this financial benefit also comes from the benefits mentioned in the video. - Healthier, more active people means less healthcare costs in general for society. - Less concrete/asphalt means more room for greenery, which decreases the heat island effect of cities. This means more pleasant environments, reducing stress, again leading to health benefits and less health care costs. But also not so unimportant, it leads to less hot cities, meaning less need for air conditioning, meaning less energy usage (another environmental benefit in itself), meaning less energy costs. And on top of that or helps to break the vicious cycle of more ac means more heat dumped increasing the heat island effect, means more ac needed, means more heat dumped, and so on. - more dense, walkable and bikeable cities with less open space devoted to cars also means more people can be serviced with the same public infrastructure (Roads, but also utilities like sewage, electric cables, tv and internet cables, and so on) than when building a low density car centric environment, again saving money on construction and maintenance of that public infrastructure, since less is needed to provide services to the same amount of people. It's insane how beneficial on so many levels looking for alternative modes of transport to the car can be for cities and societies in general.

[@sit-insforsithis1568]

What I also like about the Netherlands, it’s not just the cities, you can bike even better on the countryside

[@acomputerbug]

This is the most underrated channel on KZbin, but when it picks up at least we can all say we’ve been here since before 2.52k subs.

[@JasperJanssen]

Well, 2.76k anyway.

[@MarijnvdSterre]

Very nice video, thanks. If I can add a little (hopefully constructive) criticism: to me it sounds like one continues flow of sentences, it would probably sound a bit more natural if you "pause" a little longer between paragraphs. I think that would make it easier to follow (but it also could be because I am not a native English person) Anyone, keep up the good work and have a great day!

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for the tips! I will try that out for the next video I am working on.

[@isaacmerwin4286]

This channel is bloody amazing mate I love this, how did I find this, you are going to be one of the greats like wendover someday

[@ON-YT]

Thanks

[@mds3697]

shiiiit, the animations explaining everything are more than on point, good job my dude edit: I didn't see the end of the video yet but this is the first video I've seen from you. No feedback on the video, pretty much perfect to me. One thing, from a visual marketer's perspective: Your channel logo is cool, but I wouldn't use the grey background in it - it makes it look kinda like a default youtube avatar and doesn't attract attention very well at all. That could lead to less people clicking your videos :]

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for telling me that and coming to the channel.

[@mavadelo]

Always good to see videos from "outsiders" so I am reminded how lucky we are with something we basically take for granted and see as "normal". I am from "before", All of this was just starting when I was a little kid. I still know how bad it was, remember being in the "child seat" (a padded baggage rack on the back with a foldable backrest and two footsteps mounted on the sides of the bike) and my father weaving trough traffic trying not to get hit by a DAF. My parents took part in the "Stop de kindermoord" protests that helped trigger the chance from car centric to cycle centric thinking. Or on my childrens bike having to drive on the inside with mom or dad on the outside to shield me from traffic. I remember visiting Amsterdam for the first time and almost choking on the "fresh air" because it was so polluted. The oil crisis did help, but it was the protests that triggered the change.

[@VN-je7rf]

A few comments from my side, its called "autoluw" instead of "autolew". Luw means to be out of the wind/sheltered from the wind. So autoluw means sheltered from the cars. Secondly, a few pictures in your video are from English or American streets, i think it would be better to use Dutch examples. Just steal them of google streetview! And lastly, roundabouts are not per se really that friendly for cyclists. Especially when turning right (and not paying attention before coming to the roundabout) its easy to miss a cyclist in your blindspot. Especially on some of the smaller roundabouts that we have in villages. But because of the segrageted bikelanes, it is ofcourse more safe then just cycling on the main road. Also, there are now area's where cars can come, but they are guests, meaning pedastrians and cyclists have priority, regardless of what the situation is. You see this most often in city centeres

[@wp12mv]

important to note: in the Netherlands, if a car hits a bike, it is always assumed it's the fault of the car. People in cars are themselves safe and have a responsibility to keep an eye out for other people in traffic which they can harm. So if a car takes a roundabout too quickly and hits a bike, the driver is at fault

[@noahlbecker]

Short answer: it’s practical

[@maxnawas8405]

Practical and cheap

[@j.vanderson6239]

Almost every driver is also a biker in the Netherlands. Also me. That’s why I am sympathetic to bikers when I am in my car. I give them right of way when possible because I know how nice that is riding my bicycle

[@KD7ETH]

An excellent video! And thank you for mentioning my favorite KZbin channel "Not Just Bikes". It really is a great channel.

[@Kurrzone]

I live in Sweden. Cycling is quite normal here among city dwellers, and cycling infrastructure is decent. What we sorely lack though is inter city cycling infrastructure. Biking on country roads without shoulders and cars going 80 km/h is not fun...

[@ON-YT]

Yeh hopefully there will be more cycling infrastructure in the future.

[@Gugner]

Thank you!

[@ON-YT]

You're welcome!

[@blackdeathghostye6654]

The only thing I have to say about this channel is that its under rated

[@noahlbecker]

How is it underrated

[@letheas6175]

More lanes = more traffic. Induced traffic is a thing, people. Well, people from outside Europe who don't really know a lot (or care) about safe roads, better alternatives, and in general city building in regards to mobility.

[@vincewhite5087]

NL has a land mass of 41,543 km2, my province has land mass of 661,848 km2. & only 4.5 M people. NL has 17.2M . These details help, but they still needed to be dedicated at all levels to the cause.

[@ThatCanadianGirlPassport]

Hi, I love your content and I too love the Netherlands. Please show us more content of the Netherlands...New subscriber :)

[@ON-YT]

Yes defiantly. Thanks for the subscription.

[@vincewhite5087]

I had to spend almost 2 months in NL in 93, Nov & Dec 1/2 in Amsterdam & 1/2 in Venlo. There was very little cycling going on. When I asked at factory, they mocked me of my out of date view of Dutch people. They have made amazing progress there. It is very flat, which helps & very dense population, which helps too. But I think they took a whole government approach & was not just cycling but road safety overall. Plus the industries are different there too. When I take Euros on a long distance drive in Western Canada, they can not believe the distance I have to cover at high speed to get to a populated area. And the fact I can fit their entire country in my province & had land left over.

[@lordsleepyhead]

I'm somewhat surprised and a bit apologetic that you happened to meet the very few people who considered cycling "not Dutch". I can assure you, as a resident of this country since 1986, that cycling was a very important part of Dutch culture in 1993. Whatever they thought "Dutch culture" was with regards to cycling in 1993, they were wrong.

[@zivkovicable]

Venlo? You picked the one area of the Netherlands with Hills. Even there, cycling rates have increased since 93, as they have across the whole of the Netherlands. Your view is out of date.

[@twowheelsgoodbrum1077]

Vince, what a surprising statement. As someone who visits NL annually, and has been doing so since the 1990s, Nederland is the cycling role model for us all. Cycling is the most used form of transport in Amsterdam and has been for the last 30 years. I’m recently back from a stay in Amsterdam-Oost, and travelled everywhere by bike, walking or brilliant transit.

[@afgor1088]

the density argument often used by opponents of anything not car falls apart when you take account of the fact that while the landmass the US is on is pretty low density the actual people that live there live pretty densely (31% urban core, 25% large suburban), sort of like how Egypt's huge but the people only actually live in some areas. btw i love this channel ♥ it's definitely gonna explode

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for your comment. I was talking about rural bike paths that go from city to city. That is where I brought in the density argument. Although it can work if we incorporate train a bike. But yeh I agree that density does not matter too much when it comes to bike infrastructure utilization.

[@Gribbo9999]

And don't forget biking is even cheaper if you take into account the health bonus. In civilised countries with socialised medicine this saves everybody's tax dollars and less civilised places (you know where!) people's own pockets. Either way it's a big incentive to build good biking infrastructure.

[@rounik1gs461]

Ayyy, nice video!

[@ON-YT]

Thanks

[@EKsUrbanTracks]

Very nice essay! I see some cities in North America are doing a lot to make them cycleable, like New York! Paris is also getting there!

[@TheSuperappelflap]

The population density in the Netherlands is comparable to the coastal areas of the US. Just cut out the 90% in the middle thats endless corn fields. It would be possible, and profitable, for coastal US states with large urban areas to follow the same model. The argument it cant work in the US because the country is too big is nonsense. Just do it in the areas that are densely populated. Having safe biking infrastructure and functional public transport reduces commute times for everyone, which in turn means people have a better quality of life and are more productive at work. Investing money in this type of infrastructure is good for the economy and generates huge returns. Thats why the Netherlands keeps investing hundreds of millions a year into making this infrastructure better. We would lose money not doing it.

[@mavadelo]

Since multiple edits tend to nuke the comment I make another one :) For those wanting to experience a beautiful route that is also challenging, I recommend trying the LF1 Coastal route from Bad Nieuweschans (north east tip in the province of Groningen) to Cadzand in the province of Zeeland on the Belgian border. It follows the entire coastline of the Netherlands and will have you go over the Afsluitdijk and past the Delta Works.

[@frits1954X2]

Yes I am New, and live in the Netherlands Amsterdam I am very interested in cycling Best regards Frits

[@ON-YT]

Great to have you here

[@mariadebake5483]

It's "autoluw" not "autolew"

[@edharmsen4437]

Increase car speed by building bike paths!

[@ON-YT]

sure I guess that's one way to think of it

[@jadonbertholf547]

Claiming OG status before this guy got big!

[@Jila_Tana]

On all the confusion below, in Dutch we have 2 words to describe and divide between a commuter on a bike or someone using a bike for sport. Bike : Fiets Fietser : person that uses a bike for commute Wielrenner : person that uses a bike for sport Both Dutch words are translated to English : Cyclist, it causes confusion. I just went to another town, 7 KM's from home on a bike, 20kmh. bit less then half an hour. That is commuting, not racing. In the past I used a mountain-bike to commute to work, but I treated it as sport, 32kmh on a distance of 15KM (That may sound as slow, I can assure you that an untrained biker can't keep up) True athletes on lightweight bikes do speeds of 50kmh and up = 'Wielrenners'

[@chad6849]

I drive one block to work. I am American. Hear me roar.

[@ON-YT]

lol

[@mourlyvold7655]

Good boy.

[@wp12mv]

take a walk

[@Duck-wc9de]

in my city, the diference between my home and the university, the difference in altitude is greater than the difference in altitude across the netherlands. when I look at an image of athens or cities in central europe I get dizzy... it's so flat, you can see the whole city in 360 degrees if you launch a drone, in my city that's impossible, there are hills with more than 100 or 200 meters of altitude and the difference between the neighborhoods is so big that we have 3 specialized public elevators. even though my city is building more bike lanes, they are completely underused, because you can use your bike perfectly in the downtown area, but then go up the hills? do you take the bike into public buses and elevators? therefore, most people ride bicycles, not as a means of transportation, but as weekend entertainment. and they do not walk in the city, but along the coast. a few years ago, I lived in a city where you never saw a bicycle on the street, but everyone rode a bicycle. how, do you ask: beside the city there was a disused train line. the local government ordered the rails removed and paved the space, creating the largest bike path in the country, with 40 km, people, at the weekend, go for a ride on this bike path that passes through a forest and some small villages and the views are very beautiful. in this country cycling is not a means of transport, it is a sport. at the weekend you could see several families strolling there or riding their bikes, and it's very pleasant. in my town, the mayor tried to create a car-free zone, but the locals objected. as it was a very congested area they were afraid it would get even more congested around. and because they are no longer able to drive to their homes, especially the elderly, who cannot climb the steep streets on foot. the point is, although this strategy of reducing trafficking is positive, people don't even want it. and that's what upsets me. I think this must be the most bicycle-friendly city in Europe. first because it is sloping, second because people don't want to know about the bike path and ride it as if it were a sidewalk, second, the bike paths that exist do not connect anything to anything because they are interrupted by the hills, third, popular opposition, which sees the country that he doesn't have money to pay for the renovation of hospitals to carry out works throughout the city

[@deldarel]

It sounds like your town could use a boom in electric bicycles. You usually still provide most of the power through cycling, but the motor gives some extra power to assist your cycling while facing a strong wind or incline.

[@Duck-wc9de]

@@deldarel yes! i see lots of eletric ones!

[@hendman4083]

It sounds like the people in your town want to use bicycles, but they only do so during the weekend because there is no bicycle infrastructure in place that will allow them to use bikes during the rest of week. The rest of the week they have to go to places: to work, to shops, to doctor appointments, etc, etc. If there is no decent bicycle infrastructure in place to take the people to these destinations, they will never use their bikes to get there, unless they have a deathwish.

[@xShadowZ]

I have a feeling that this video is gonna blow up soon

[@ON-YT]

I sure hope so

[@carmenl163]

Dutch children aren't "some of the happiest in the world" 7:05, but THE happiest in the world for years in a row now. They have a lot of freedom and start the day with chocolate sprinkles 😄

[@MLWitteman]

Great video! I’m new here just like many of my fellow commentators.

[@ON-YT]

Welcome

[@esthervaneijk4586]

Dutch philosophy: biking is cheap and the country is flat. Greetings from a Dutchie.

[@Gugner]

@@esthervaneijk4586 The Netherlands is not Totally flat. Its highhat Hill is aprox. 322 meters In Limburg. Denmarks highest hill is Møllehøj with 170,86 m. NÆ’s transportation succes os due to Several factors. One og them is a pro bile culture since the 1970’s. Totally contrary to Denmark which keeps following the USA through its Vejdirektoratet (Road Directorate), which lives exactly of creating new roads and highways for…cars. Bicycles in Denmark are being extinguished with now only 13% of all trips, down from 20% in 2014. NL has a share of 27% with a record of 42% in some cities.

[@osanixian1499]

I am new, i came from the container video and i honestly thought that was a wendover video.

[@ON-YT]

Glad to have you here

[@niklasd3668]

haha, it’s exactly the same in my case...😅 love to have found another informational channel 👍🏼

[@vincentvermeulen6703]

Never mind. It's a better global Dutch word than apartheid.

[@kaipookie2008]

I live in New Zealand where I am there are no cyclist lanes. It can get quite scary. :/

[@jaydengames9296]

Hi I am a new subscriber on your channel.

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for the social support

[@joostprins3381]

We are biking because: - it’s cheap - it’s many times the fastest way to get somewhere - no parking fees And not because: - it’s good for the environment - it’s good for your health - it’s sustainable We are lazy people and just looking what takes the least effort (cost, time, etc.), Im not cynical, it’s just practical.

[@ON-YT]

When I am going through reason on the environment, health and sustainability I am referring to the Dutch government invests in cycling infrastructure because of those reasons. I should have made that more clear, sorry.

[@joostprins3381]

@@ON-YT I was only joking, you made a good piece, but we, the Dutch, are a bit cynical when we talk about our government.

[@josverschuur779]

Even in compare of many country's, the dutch system is very good. But we also have problems with bike travic. Now we have different forms of bikes ( slow bikes (human powered), fast bikes ( e bikes ) and super fast bikes (pedalecs), and all forms of other transportations ( electric powered 2 wheels movers) . they dont mix to gether on bike paths or lanes . So we have to reconcider how to handle this. the more bikes and "bike like travic " there is we have to look how to manage that.

[@FryskeBierDrinker]

Now we OG boysss! Good vid btw, I live in the Netherlands and it is pretty accurate

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for watching and the feedback!

[@FryskeBierDrinker]

@@ON-YT no problem man!

[@upeletix5543]

got this in my recommended and im not disappointed! Subbed at 2.75K subs!

[@ON-YT]

Thanks!

[@frits1954X2]

We don't like cycling BUT it is the fastest and cheapest way to travel in a city Best regards Frits

[@tardvandecluntproductions1278]

The newest trend here in infrastructure is to mix bike lanes and car roads again, BUT the bike has priority above the car. A cyclestreet. The road is normally completely dark red and anyone in a car has to wait for space on the other side to pass them. Giving them almost no chance to go much faster then the bikes themselves.

[@ON-YT]

I have seen videos of them made by Bicycle Dutch. It is a interesting idea although I am concerned if a terrorist were to ram a truck or van through that street or car. Happened in Toronto and Nice.

[@hendman4083]

@@ON-YT I am pretty sure that terrorist attacks where the last thing considered, when coming up with the idea of shared space. If that ever was a concern, then the completely separated bikelanes would be even worse: only bikes on them, and small enough to cover the entire width with a car. 😣 Maybe to safeguard against such attacks, we should develop small personal tanks and get rid of bicycle infrastructure altogether.? Oh wait, North America already did that with their car dependancy and 3 ton SUV's. So, how does that work out for the public safety?

[@ThomiX0.0]

The Dutch.., do not love bikes! Some of them do, yes like in your country some really like bicycling, which make the preference to use them more then usually. But generally spoken, we don't love bicycles. The difference which you aim to, is that in the Netherlands, approximately 90% of the people have one! Before the regular school-adge, you know how to use a bicycle, and from then on the bicycle becomes a 'normal'.. Because of this 'normal' kind of transportation, the structure of the city and village follows the need for this 'normal' behaviour.. Traffic in general should be safe for every participant, walking, bicycling or driving a car, which isn't different for the Dutch particularly.. Next step, to make mistakes from the participants bearable and not deathly, is to plan with a maximum difference between the groups. When the difference in speed, let say for walking and bicycling becomes to big, the city-planner should separate those groups. The same with cars. It is all just normal! No need to love bicycles, just use them.:-) (And be safe anyway)

[@VN-je7rf]

I kinda disagree. I dont love my townbike (as i have a few road racing bikes and gravelbike). But if i would live somewhere without our infrastructure, i would defo miss the ability to go to shops/short trips on my town bike. So i dont love the bike, i love the freedom of transport.

[@corbeau-_-]

Saying we love to bike is somewhat similar to saying people in Hong Kong love to live small...

[@ThomiX0.0]

@@VN-je7rf so..you agree.:-)

[@joostprins3381]

Totally right, it’s normal, loads of my age used to bike to school for up to 20 k one way. I don’t like bikes, but hate walking even more. :-)

[@ThomiX0.0]

@@joostprins3381 , you should try the EUC once.., and leave all other short-distance transports aside! :-)

[@Apipoulai]

I came here through binging on NotJustBikes and CityBeautiful

[@ON-YT]

Yeh they are great channels.

[@1.4142]

Palo alto is also bike friendly, which is an exception in the US.

[@tardvandecluntproductions1278]

I live in a town and I can reach 1 city center and like 8 other towns in 40 minutes on a bike.

[@sundalongpatpat]

Good work.

[@Joostuh]

Great video! A factor that also should not be underestimated is that our country is VERY flat, which makes cycling easier.

[@ON-YT]

Thanks. Yes that is true but I have found some research when making this video going into how it is a minor factor and the major factor is protected bike lanes.

[@burgerpommes2001]

They have a lot of wind instead if you are not strong engough to ride agains wind or up little hills e bikes are an option

[@dimrrider9133]

its not the flat crap its the infrastructure, our wind is way stronger and always in front. I hope Jason (NJB) not read this Niek Joosten because you will make him very mad lol

[@KootFloris]

Excellent summary of why the whole world would win, when more cultures embraced the bike as much as possible! Send it to your politicians (unless they love big oil) Indeed Not Just Bikes helps with many in depth videos of all mentioned aspects. Not mentioned were helmets. Here's why we don't wear them: 1. Cyclists rule. Hit one, you're to blame unless they really made a big mistake. 2. No helmets means less fuzz, which means you'd much sooner take a bike. The more cycling the healthier the people. Check obesity in the UK as a reference. 3. On an individual level, yes helmet is safer. On a collective level not. Scientists discovered when we all don't have helmets, we are care more for each other. We can also read each other's faces better because chaotic Dutch cycling means many little interactions with others to make it work. Makes me proud and happy to be Dutch.

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for bringing the point on helmets I should have mentioned if had that time. Although I did end up somehow bringing that up in another one of my videos on calculator spelling

[@KootFloris]

@@ON-YT You're welcome!

[@renzo2able]

and the speed limit also helps with that and the higher that is the more divided bike lanes and sidewalks are from the road

[@keesvandermeer8156]

I live in the netherlands . I bike everyday Its easy and cheap . And i cant also walk every ware. I dont need a car . I like your channel bro 😀

[@ON-YT]

Thank you!

[@XaveCheats]

Really interested video

[@ON-YT]

Thanks

[@derekjolly3680]

Something I noticed from the earlier parts had to do with the graph and the numbers and miles for cycling being way up even before the war and way down later after the war. It was mentioned about the strength in numbers aspect, but clearly even in the 1930s or 1920s there had to be some better method for traffic and city planning in Holland supporting that massive difference in cycling practice. It couldn't of just been more people on bikes unqualified. Also during the German Occupation I have no idea what their take on it was. Did the Germans take steps to promote utility cycling or ignore it for other obvious concerns?

[@ON-YT]

While yes a large part of it is because there was better planning in the past it also helped the fact that there ware just fewer cars because people could not afford them. I think the Germans did not care in the US I do know they were trying to ration rubber and other essentials so I don't think they would be planning on pushing cars on people during a time where resources are scarce like during a large war.

[@janneslenkens5355]

yeah Amsterdam is still a pretty young city compared to other Dutch cities

[@oliviervanhooff8619]

truueeee, there are cities from before the romans.

[@TheSuperhoden]

@@oliviervanhooff8619 Meh, Maastricht is officially the oldest city according to them. Amsterdam was officially created about 200 years after. So it makes it one of the older cities

[@oliviervanhooff8619]

@@TheSuperhoden Maastricht's first settlement is from about 500 BCE, whilst the first settlement of Utrecht is from somewhere between 1800-800 BCE. And that's according to historical official documents.

[@janneslenkens5355]

@@oliviervanhooff8619 well the debate on which city is the oldest can go on forever but the thing is. amsterdam is young and Utrecht, Maastricht and Nijmegen are OLD.

[@psn_Crazy1gaming]

When a American sees the cycle storage on schools in the Netherlands: 👁👄👁

[@williamvan909]

outstanding video love to see more love to see bike trails in Alaska but we have to many bears up here and you can't outrun a 3000lb bear on a bike trail or a moose ... lol if we had less bears it would be great .

[@scruf153]

i have been a bicycle commuter since last summer i am the only one who does it in my small town of 15.000 in Alabama it takes me 8 minutes by bicycle to get to work and 15 minutes by car 15/25 minutes any where else by bicycle the bicycle is faster and better than a car and i am 46 years old

[@mandje2002]

5:22 This is not a picture of a road in the Netherlands

[@luispedroponce8404]

really nice !

[@michielvdvlies3315]

why only mention amsterdam? there are far older cities in the Netherlands

[@ON-YT]

The main reason is that I am comparing against American cities which are quite young. Second reason is that Amsterdam is quite well known. At the end it still gets the point across that European cities are older than American cities.

[@palantir135]

First the US has to make it possible to go shopping within a walk or bicycle distance from the homes so you need a car anymore.

[@ON-YT]

True

[@bramvanduijn8086]

Yeah, a large part of the problem in the USA is the zoning laws that prevent small shops in suburbs.

[@irrelevance3859]

Doesn’t look like the US will ever improve but other countries in Europe could and should take some advice from the Netherlands

[@palantir135]

@@irrelevance3859 or Denmark

[@thijsdeboer6573]

I am from the Netherlands, and I honestly did not know our cycling infrastucture had something to do with OPEC.

[@ON-YT]

The crisis was definitely was a catalyst for change.

[@hunchbackaudio]

This is more an Amsterdam issue, the countryside in the Netherlands was always bike friendly. The bigger city's had to catch up and still are doing that.

[@mariadebake5483]

@@hunchbackaudio Yes I agree. I am 65 years old, grew up in a village, everyone and everyone cycled there during all the years I remember

[@vincentvermeulen6703]

I don't agree that villages were safer places for bicycles. When all major thru traffic had to go via these villages, it was also clogged with cars and causes of major accidents. And while clever car drivers were looking for alternative routes minor roads became also more dangerous.

[@corbeau-_-]

@@mariadebake5483 cycling has been popular since forever, mainly because our country isn't that big and very flat. Even the Germans used all them cycles to make some more guns, that's how popular they already were in WWII and before. The thingie that mostly inspired our government to create dedicated cycling paths, was to reduce deadly accidents. Speedbumps and a lot less roads that are straight (unless they are highways), lower speeds, more road signs, etc.: An increased focus on safety and less death in traffic. You can't really speed up in most residential areas. These last 2-3 decades we've seen traditional crossroads being removed and they made way for roundabouts: no more traffic lights, safe spots for cyclists, less speed, less accidents. I'm 35, when I was young the focus was on teaching children to look out for trucks and to be aware a truck driver has many blind spots. Better avoid those areas. The oil crisis only had a marginal impact on the cycling mentality and it certainly didn't inspire the government. It did show people like to use asphalt to cycle and walk, because on Sunday there was no traffic (due to the oil crisis). People recreated by taking a walk, or cycle a bit on those highways. But since the 1900's creating cycling paths has been very popular, not just in the Netherlands. But other countries then started to prioritize asphalt for cars again - removing those cycling paths... The Netherlands too, to a certain extent (in 'big' cities). I suppose it was more like it said right here in the video: before there were specific bike friendly areas, people would just claim the road in droves. That's something you'd might want to reduce - as government. The density of our country also had a lot more to do with it; it was to prevent everybody from using a car, which would congest the cities - as explained in the video, because our cities are very old and space is very limited: Traffic jams everyhwere. That still is a big reason for many people to just use their cycle: it's faster. Many other nations are only now facing this problem, to some degree. For similar reasons, Japan has the small cars (and the sardines in a train mentality)... Due to the density in population in their cities, since longtime. Those changes have very little to do with (wanting change in) our dependance on oil. It also has to do with our no-nonsense culture. In many other cultures, a bike would be something for poor people. Remember how amazed all kinds of international media were about our prime minister riding a bike to work? We're practical in nature, as a culture. Most of the times ;)

[@ykthatman9763]

I just found out about your channel :)

[@ON-YT]

That’s great nice to have you here

[@robertrijkers4923]

4:05 35 us inhabitants per square kilometre is a bit skewed ... with huge unpopulated areas like deserts and nature reserves... you don't need bikelanes there...

[@ON-YT]

Yeh I get your point

[@rieksstevens]

But if you want to connect every city ,.. at some point you have to cross those fast unpopulated areas . that was the point in the video

[@robconstant797]

But nobody is going to cycle from one state to another. Besides if there is nobody there ypu can just cycle on the road, that's also what dutch people do in rural areas.

[@rieksstevens]

@@robconstant797 its to connect city's not states ,.. even in most rural areas we have cycle paths ,.. not allowed to bike on 80 km roads .

[@burgerpommes2001]

it is about infrastructure in urban and suburban areas and the east and west coast not the empty countryside

[@JustClaude13]

People keep repeating the same fallacy over and over, comparing the density of the country as a whole to Europe. The truth is that people aren't evenly spaced across the landscape in any country; not even the USA. People tend to live in cities, or in the suburbs around cities. And the concentrations of people lead to traffic congestion, making valid alternatives necessary. So bike ways are just a useful in America as they are in the Netherlands, even if there's less demand for bike highways from coast to coast. Protected bike ways across the more populous states are still valuable assets, whether the Katy trail through Missouri or the canal towpath leading across Maryland to Washington, D.C.

[@m8852]

Can't hear you, man. Check your audio settings.

[@ON-YT]

Yup will defiantly boost the audio levels higher in the next video.

[@MrMarinus18]

4:00 Actually total density is pretty irrelevant. Nobody is going to cycle from one part of the country to the other. What makes cycling viable is the city design and the high density of the suburbs. This is not because of the small size either. China has suburbs that are just as dense and consequently cycling is very common there as well.

[@mandje2002]

4:45 it's autoluw (almost car-free) not autolew

[@steefvandijk9587]

7:44 it says that Amsterdam's population is bigger than 2 million can i know where this data is from since the province it resides in has a population of around 1,7 milion.

[@ON-YT]

The Amsterdam Metro (the population area that I am using) goes between more than one province www.metropoolregioamsterdam.nl/about-mra/

[@ON-YT]

I did get lazy on that one as I used the Wikipedia population on the Metro Area but it is close the population is somewhere between 2.4 and 2.5m

[@krasje28]

Agreed as a Dutch citizen. However, there is a downside also to the many bikes. A car has a line plate so the owner is traceble. A bike has not, in g city's there is now a bike parking problem, folks leave their bikes behind and the local government has to invent rules to remove them.

[@ON-YT]

In Vancouver B.C they have a licence plate system for bikes. It helped the police find missing bikes and curb bike thefts.

[@hendman4083]

A long time ago bikes in The Netherlands had registration plates too, because people had to pay a bike tax. 😁 To counter bike theft people can have their bikes engraved with their zip code and house number. In the dutch zip code system that makes bikes traceable to a single house or apartment. I wonder if there are affordable GPS tracking systems yet, but that could certainly be an option too these days.

[@FirstLast-ve6jg]

The Dutch are great thinkers.

[@ON-YT]

I got no doubt

[@costofphones2578]

Please use white background or other good colors.

[@chattenmetchad]

Welke straat is dit? 10:07

[@ON-YT]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@kauemoura]

It's mostly flat and densely populated. :)

[@mourlyvold7655]

As are many, many cities on the globe...

[@burgerpommes2001]

densly populated by choice a choice americans don't have becaus you are only allowed to build single family homes in 90 of the city

[@CasGroenigen]

Waiting for a Not Just Bikes comment

[@ON-YT]

99% sure that will not happen

[@CasGroenigen]

@@ON-YT just wait

[@burgerpommes2001]

@@ON-YT he commented on a lot of urban planning videos and i posted this video on a few discords he is on

[@ON-YT]

@@burgerpommes2001 Wow your awesome!

[@ukilectric]

I wonder how Croatia recieved Marshall plan funds when it didn't exist at the time...

[@ON-YT]

Ha yes got the pack of flags from my old video on the EU the Croatian flag may have gotten in. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@ukilectric]

@@ON-YT I see. I thought you mixed the Yugoslav flag with Croatian one since they have the same tricolour- Yugoslvia received the aid to rebuild from USA, just not as part of Marshall plan.

[@swissboy362]

algorithm comment

[@MatthieuvanderMeer]

8:16 "biking is not quieter than any vehicle" - on what planet does the author live?

[@ON-YT]

Said biking is a lot quieter you misheard it. Bad microphone lol.

[@dirkenwendyvantartwijk1711]

I live in the netherlands i come from the netherlands and im gonna say something in the langauge three two one ik ben nederlands

[@hansolo2121]

The oil crisis in the seventies hit ALL European countries. Why is The Netherlands the ONLY country to have changed into a cycling culture?

[@ON-YT]

That is a good question, my best guess is that may have to do with lack of a large auto sector ie less powerful auto lobby. The Dutch do make cars but nothing like what we see in Germany, France and the UK and many others. Also a being a democracy with representatives that listened to the folks in anti-car protests helps a lot.

[@williamgeardener2509]

Because the Dutch are pragmatic. It happened once, there's no reason why it won't happen again. I have to get to my work oil-crisis or not, so I'll opt for a more reliable means of transportation. Most Dutch people work or study within a few kilometers from their home. The Dutch government was planning ahead by improving bicycle paths. Another thing to factor in is that car ownership in the Netherlands is very expensive. Road tax, insurance, maintenance and annual car inspection, fuel and parking fees will cost you more than €1500 per year, depending on the weight of your car.

[@svdb2981]

Don't forget we rode on bikes becouse evrything is pridy mutch flat, and evrything is close together. And somme people use Ebikes becouse in a sity is is faster than a car , and is allot cheaper IT is olso that the combination with trainds and busses and bikes is great. I use a bike to go from my House to abstation than into a train to the other station and than I take the bus to my school

[@svdb2981]

And there is always a place to park a bike

[@svdb2981]

Funny fact I Rided more than 10000 KM on a bike 🇱🇺

[@svdb2981]

And dutch outo corection is realy handfully if you try to type sommething in inglish

[@bazookaboss332]

>Marshall plan beneficiaries >flag of Croatia

[@madsiepatsie]

I just subscribed

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for your support and correcting me on my mistake.

[@burgerpommes2001]

you could have mentiond that the US and Canada flatternd a lot of their cities especially poor nabourhoods to make way for freeways i dont like the argument that north american cities are younger because they are still older than the car

[@ON-YT]

Yeh maybe I can talk about that in a future video. On the second point that is right but most of the growth that N.A cities experienced happened during when the car was becoming more prominent. But yeh you have a point. Thanks for your comment

[@hendman4083]

@@ON-YT growth itself does not explain the way the towns in the US and Canada spread out into the surrounding areas. Euclidian zoning and 1-family house suburbs (and the focus on cars) are much more to blame. For example, if Amsterdam would have followed the same pattern of expansion, it would now cover an area of 50 km in a circle around its current size. If the rest of The Netherlands would have followed the same pattern, the whole country would be covered with suburbs and highways.

[@niklasd3668]

stabiles Video, bruder!

[@TheViperMan]

Wait a minute... one car takes up 140 square meters?

[@ON-YT]

Yeh it does when going 50kmh the source is in the description below number 9 for that

[@wp12mv]

the space inbetween cars on te road is also used by the cars. So a lane is 3 meters wide, and the car itself is 4 meters long, but the safe distance inbetween cars counts for a lot of used space

[@Keyboardje]

Even on 100% I can not hear what you are saying. With head phones it's a bit better but not much... :(

[@ON-YT]

Thanks fo telling me that will work on that

[@sjaakdewinter6258]

Why the Americans love cars.,,, For your information> for the most Dutch people a bike is only a way of transport.

[@titusstadhouders5336]

i must say i don't know how i got here, but i'm glad i did. Great vid man, tho you could set the audio a bit louder because when there is a commercial, i get ringing ears. I live in the Netherlands and I have to say you're pretty accurate, but our infrastructure was just design to have benefits to cycle. Like being faster with bike rather than cars in city's. We're all about efficiency. Keep it up, I expect great things from you after this vid!

[@ON-YT]

Thanks I will work on making the volume louder but the problem is that when I speak loudly it causes audio issues so I just need a better mic. When I get that I am sure that I will be able to speak more normally and increase my volume. Thanks for your comment and your support for this channel it helps a lot.

[@robertocalibancove8245]

The audio is really terrible.

[@ON-YT]

Will try to work on getting a better mic in the future

[@uhuburu4515]

@@ON-YT A less robotic voice would help too ;-) Nice channel though.

[@ON-YT]

@@uhuburu4515 Thanks for your feedback will try to work on that

[@jsb7975]

Riding your bike from one side to the other ? REALLY ? Ofcourse not, Even by highway it would take you hours. Don't lie.

[@DukingAroundDIY]

Hi, I am conflicted about this video, because on the one hand you are mostly wrong and on the other hand i understand where you are coming from. The Dutch don`t really have bike lanes, in the way we understand them, because they are not designed for bikes. It`s absolute true and hard to make people understand, on most bike lanes you will see Vespas (scooters) and 7 year old children alone. I see you filmed in Eindhoven, and just explaining the rode next to the football stadium would make most of your audience heads explode, the red things are not bike lanes, they are advisory lanes. Biking infrastructure in the Nederland's and bike lanes have as much in common as Casino poker at the Bellagio and Microsoft solitaire, they are both card games but there is a lot of rules and context that is different.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Amsterdam is not really the Netherlands, it is crowded , polluted and dirty, people are all in a hurry there, you have to lock up your bike. etc...Better go to the east of the country.

[@ON-YT]

From a North American perspective it is way better than anything we have here.

[@Maya9396]

Wim, you may not like it but Amsterdam is the Netherlands and yes it is crowded but stil a beautiful city.

[@RichardDuinmayer]

We don't love bikes

[@argai1978]

So many things you are saying are just not true.

[@ON-YT]

Sorry to hear that could give me examples on what I was wrong on?

[@fam.sciortino5977]

first vid i watch

[@ON-YT]

Thanks for watching and commenting