January Q&A

[@remcoasselbergs3298]

Streetart is coming up in Amsterdam, but not on the streets. But On blind walls of multi story buildings 😅

[@kkr0ne]

In general I would say the US seems better at implementation of quick, temporary solutions to transform streets. Of course it's easier for advocacy groups to make an impact when there is a lot of streets that require change, but what happened in for example Amsterdams Weesperstraat I think could be happening also in other places in the NL.

[@mdhazeldine]

Another question comes to mind: I've been studying UK roads vs Dutch roads, and one big difference I see is that in the UK, where road width is limited, we seem to prioritise buses over bike, whereas in the Netherlands it appears to be the other way around. For example, in the UK, a bike lane will abruptly end to make way for a bus stop with a layby, and then restart again after the bus stop. In the Netherlands, the bike lane will go around the bus stop, and the bus will be forced to stop in the road, causing cars to have to wait behind the bus while it's stopped. Can you comment on this and which method you think is better and why?

[@mdhazeldine]

Interesting questions and answers. If you do another one of these, my question would be: You said that America doesn't really have traffic engineers. What do you think would need to happen to change the status quo and transform "the system" so that traffic engineering works like it does in the Netherlands? Is it a political, policy, government organisational or an educational issue? Or perhaps it's all of the above? Could you ever see the U.S/Canada getting to a place where they could approach traffic planning like the Dutch?

[@Aveplav123]

Thanks for answering my question. Do you think the stores have some influence on getting more loading zones?

[@buildthelanes]

It depends on the city, but usually if one is desired and its possible its taken into account.

[@mish28282]

Would love to comment on this as a Dutch person living in the centre of Utrecht for 5+ years. It has been custom for loading zones along streets to only be allowed until the hour of around 10pm, meaning clear streets during the more busy hours of the day. In addition, buildings like the mall in the centre have been integrating docks within the building which trucks can access via the street. There is a whole transformation going on in the city.

[@mish28282]

​@@buildthelanesIf you would like some more insight of how the cities have changed, would love to share it with you. Cheers, love the vids!

[@SvetielkoVTme]

The question from edspace is so wrong I have to comment. Studies (including from the USA) have shown that access to public transport is one of the strongest predictors to social mobility - ie if people have access to quality public transport they have access to better jobs, and have less joblessness and poverty. Exactly the opposite of what was insinuated! If you have only car access and your car breaks, you are screwed. If you don't have money to fix your car or get a new car? Well good luck. Get a shark loan I guess. If you have access by cheap public transport, bike, walking (which is free!) you have SO MANY options to still have income.

[@just9828]

Thanks for this Q&A! The explanations help a lot

[@colinberr7837]

Love the Chantee picture 😺

[@flyguy1237]

Thanks for being so active with lectures/seminars that you share. It's really interesting to see professional/expert opinions on these subjects. I recall in your interview on The Urbanist Agenda that you believe the United States is missing education in transportation engineering. Do you have any thoughts on encouraging universities in the United States to build an education curriculum on Transportation Engineering (perhaps a whole degree program)? What about professional education programs? It seemed from the podcast that the primary issue was educational/institutional, so perhaps both approaches are needed?

[@buildthelanes]

We need seperate programs for transportation engineering and the more universities that offer them the better

[@flyguy1237]

@@buildthelanes Do you have any thoughts on how to get universities to develop and offer a transportation engineering program?

[@buildthelanes]

i dont. They could hire me as a start haha

[@therealdutchidiot]

Yes, the 2nd question is a bit of a nitpick, but even that one has a very good reason, and it has nothing to do with traffic, but everything with what we call waterberging. It's not about the common argument of speed, but it's primarily about ensuring water can seep into the ground. Again though, it's very nitpicky, but there are still good reasons. In my hometown they don't typically use darker colours except for blue to break up the "dull" looking grey.

[@jamesghansen]

@buildthelanes Hi Stefan your last video was brilliant. It did raise a question for me. What are the different road authorities in the Netherlands? How does their jurisdiction differ? And are there cultural differences between these organisations? Or within these organisations? Does a through-road engineer also work on ETW road design?

[@buildthelanes]

One of my first videos is one this topic. The quality isnt the best and there are a few mistakes but its called categorizing dutch travel surfaces

[@mikhaildavidenko3841]

Great video as usual! Any chance you can do screen capture in 1080p next time? It's really hard to read text and graphs at 720p

[@jandejong2430]

Good planning/engineering and "progressive" have no causal relationship.