"Professor" Nout shows the rarely seen side of Utrecht

'The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly bike Tour of Utrecht: In this ride-along video, Lennart Nout, Manager of International Strategy at Mobycon, takes Jordan Clark and me on what he describes as a tour of 'The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly of Utrecht. So grab your virtual bike and get ready to roll, because, as you probably already know, it's always wonderful to have you along for the ride. Enjoy!
Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
- Mobycon: mobycon.com/
- My earlier episode w/ Lennart: • Why Dutch bike facilit...
- Fort Collins, CO intersection mentioned is highlighted in their annual report here: mobycon.com/updates/mobycon-2...
Video timeline/Chapters:
0:00:00 Cold Open
0:00:59 Lennart's Introduction
0:02:40 The Ride Begins
0:08:02 Road Redesign
0:14:02 Four to Two Lanes
0:30:22 Rural Transition
0:35:46 Reflection Point
0:41:14 Rolling Past a Castle
0:43:44 Community Gardens
0:55:02 A Roundabout Chat
1:09:26 Vibrancy Transition
1:15:59 Lowering Tensions
1:20:00 Woonerf
1:21:21 Closing
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Credits: Video and audio production by John Simmerman
Music via Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/3rFLErD
Resources used during the production of this video:
- My recording platform is Ecamm Live: bit.ly/3rwsUup
- Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: bit.ly/35DBDDU
For more information about the Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit our links below:
Website: www.activetowns.org/
Twitter: / activetowns
Newsletter: bit.ly/SubscribeActiveTownsNe...
Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2023

[@Snowshowslow]

Lennart is really good at explaining the pros and cons of the design :) This was really nice to watch!

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! So glad you like it. Cheers! 😀

[@NOWitsOKto]

Of course, I found this channel from viewing “Not Just Bikes”, “Strong Towns”, etc. I had watched you cycling with “Not Just Bikes” which I believe was actually a day or two after this video. I was the video was nearly 1.5 hrs and thought I can't watch that long thing. Glad I did, though, as Lennart's “break down” of the route was extremely informative. Of course, a 👍 and subbing to see what else you may have. The Thought I had immediately after watching was, “I wish I was 40-45 yrs younger, so I could be involved better”.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for sticking with it, and I hope you can find a way to get involved in whatever way makes sense for your reality. Cheers! John

[@maxnewts]

There’s just such a coziness about good company and well designed streets that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I think lots of this stuff helps to make that happen! Great video, John, Lennart, and Jordan!

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John

[@dimrrider9133]

I think its the trees who are basically everywhere in our country ;p

[@NL2500]

For viewers outside the Netherlands, Utrecht is a city with 370K inhabitants. And if you go to watch or read this after watching, ask yourself how many traffic lights you've seen and how many (few) traffic signs

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes! Great point. 😀 Thanks so much for watching and for this contribution to the discussion. Cheers! John

[@mikeyjoe]

And for most of the lights that remain, they adopt a day/night routine where all lights at a junction flash orange (10:00pm to 07:00am) meaning no stopping for red lights while nothing else is using the intersection.

[@BramLastname]

Anyone who has been in bicycle train on a "recreational" path, Knows that the word recreational is absolutely underselling how essential some of these routes are. We literally had a tripple digit amount of cyclists all in one continuous conga line Using the road twice a day, 5 days a week, Yet this was considered a non-essential recreational path.

[@ActiveTowns]

Precisely! It is a disservice to the multi-functionality of facilities, such as these pathways to even be referred to as "recreational," hopefully every path built can serve a multitude of purposes. Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Cheers! John

[@XxXx-Evo]

Thanks for the trop down memory lane. I lived in the "bad" area with wide roads (near the industrial area) about 20 years ago. I then was overjoyed with the many cyclepaths and green areas. We almost never used a car because there are (or used to be?) small shopping areas in walking distance (but you have to know where to look). The area had a very bad name (especially by people that did not live there), and there is obviously room for improvement, but I really enjoyed living there. Where else do you find cheap housing in a green environment with a decent bus and bike connection to the city? I think lot of people in the world would be very jealous! But I am very happy people put effort in it to make it even better, even though it is an area with a lot of people without a lot of money.

[@ActiveTowns]

You are quite welcome! Thank you so much for watching and for providing this very interesting contribution to the discussion. Yes, the ability to get to meaningful destinations by walking or biking helps a great deal with overall household affordability (housing plus transport), especially for those who may have very limited income levels. I really appreciate you tuning in, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@StephanSpelde]

First of all, Lennart is probably really good at playing the videogame Sim city! I haven't played that game for decades but watching these kind of videos really makes me want to play it again! Second. John, if you ever come to The Netherlands again, you should really visit my hometown of Almere. It is, just as Justin from NJB already mentioned, a city build in the 70's on reclaimed land. You can then see for yourself what Dutch engineering was like when cars were already a thing. Now I know your angle is more on how to improve current infrastructure to a better one, but nevertheless I think it would be eyeopening for you to see what you can build when the rules are already known. There was no 'how can we make this (st)road more bike friendly.' Like in Amsterdam or Utrecht. It was more like: 'Where are the roads going to be and where are the bikelanes going to be'. Tackling this problem made it so that about 90% (I guess) of the bike infrastructure is seperate from the car infrastructure here in Almere. Cars and bikes here just don't come together very often and if they do, it will be most likely in a woonerf where everybody drives slowly as you have seen in Utrecht in this video. Let me know if you're ever coming this way. I will be more than happy to show you around! Not only for the amazing bike infrastructure, but also to show you how we reclaimed the land from the sea!

[@ActiveTowns]

Thank you so very much! Will do. That would be a good compliment to my videos on Houten and my suite of videos on the Austin community of Mueller. Yeah, it's so much easier to build multi-modal mobility in from the very beginning. Cheers! John

[@garyharty1902]

Did I hear correctly that there will be a dutch style roundabout coming to Colorado? Would love to see it. My favorite line is that instead have just making a rule and expecting drivers to follow the rule, you design the environment to make it easy for drivers to follow the rule. Great ride and accompanying discussion. Thanks, John, Jordan, and Lennart.

[@miles5600]

Would be awesome, could you tell me more when you find more?

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Gary! Yes, Fort Collins. It's highlighted in their annual report here: mobycon.com/updates/mobycon-2022-annual-report/

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Miles. See the reply below. Cheers!

[@iamjoestafford]

Wow - this video was an absolute privilege to watch! I learnt so much, despite being a total safer streets/urban design geek who already knew a lot about the subject. I feel far more knowledgeable now - thanks so much for creating it John!

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! That's great to hear. Please don't be shy and share it with others you think might benefit from the content. I'll be creating some shorter subject matter-focused versions of it in the days and weeks. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are finding the Channel entertaining and informative. Cheers! John

[@iamjoestafford]

@@ActiveTowns I will definitely sharing it - honestly, it was one of the best videos on the subject I have ever seen. I love your channel, but this video is particularly exceptional!

[@ActiveTowns]

@@iamjoestafford Thanks so much. I'll make sure the "professor" sees this thread. 😀

[@lennartnout8584]

@@iamjoestafford Ooh this is nice to read. Definitely refutes my "never read the comments" policy. Thanks a lot!

[@iamjoestafford]

@@lennartnout8584 Haha, no worries at all Lennart - you're really good at explaining quite technical things in a simple and engaging way, and you make a great double act with John too :) I'll definitely be showing it to my fellow activists here in the UK!

[@TheSuperappelflap]

About the able thing, you notice even in this video a lot of mobility scooters and wheelchairs on the bike lanes. The bike lanes arent just a great way for able-bodied cyclists to get around, but also for the less able, or disabled, to safely go shopping and make short distance journeys. For longer distances anyone can rely on our great public transport. I dont even have a car as a very able adult man and I rarely feel the need to. Maybe once every 2-3 months I think, it would be nice to have a car now, but its cheaper to just pay for delivery, get a taxi, or give a friend a case of beer for a helping hand.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes! Great points. 😀

[@bikeericaustin1541]

Thanks or a different peek at Utrecht! Saw a bunch that I have not seen Bicycle Dutch ride.

[@ActiveTowns]

You are quite welcome! Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John

[@e-BikeLife]

Really a great ride, John. It's so difficult from a US perspective to call any of that anything less than fabulous. We'd give our eye teeth for even the worst example in this video.

[@ActiveTowns]

Hehe 🤣 Yep, pretty much. Glad you enjoyed it. 😀

[@ronaldvanderhorst4936]

1:19:02 here the truc driver waits to overtake. He obviously is used to share a road with cyclists. In the Netherlands this road isn’t really too bad. But if you start making cycle paths like this in a more car oriented nation, with drivers not being used to work together with cyclists on the road, such a situation could be really dangerous and you need a better safer and more separated layout.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

You can have this too. All the things shown actually improve traffic flow even for cars. Less cars on the road because people walk or bike more equals faster movement for cars, and less cars to boot. The key is awareness, education, and getting car drivers to accept they sometimes have to wait on cyclists at a roundabout. Talk to your city council, organize, and be persistent. Like said in the video, start by making the most busy interections safe for cycling and walking.

[@jasper265]

This was my part of Utrecht before I moved to a different town, so I knew most of these places and it was really interesting to see them all in this video. Also, the street Lennart didn't like from the business park to the shopping center (Carnegiedreef) was originally designed as an American style road with lots of lanes. It was redesigned a long time ago, but at least one black and white photo exists showing the original layout. I only know this because of an NJB video.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh Cool! Thanks so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@robertpounds4842]

It’s amazing how much noise comes from cars

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, you really notice the difference as we transition to relatively car-free or car-lite environments. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John

[@mourlyvold64]

Just a 40 cm high raised berm close to and along the full stretch of the road with a low, dense little hedge on top will do wonders in such places. It is mainly the higher frequencies that irritate the human ear and such provisions would filter out quite a lot of those.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

The brick roads are actually not a downside. They dont bother you while cycling unless youre going over 25km/h and they cause a lot of noise and vibration for cars going faster, which helps them slow down naturally without signs or speed cameras being necessary. They also look nice. When I see low speed roads converted to asphalt it always makes me a bit sad because its unnecessary.

[@ActiveTowns]

Agreed! You’ll probably enjoy this recent convo… we talk a bit about how Haarlem is deploying bricks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5OnoHl5ab-ModE Thanks for watching. 😀

[@TheSuperappelflap]

@@ActiveTowns I'll watch it for sure, thanks!

[@ActiveTowns]

@@TheSuperappelflap Cool! You are quite welcome. 🙂

[@TheSuperappelflap]

To think of it, you could do an entire video about how trees are used as seperation between car lanes and other traffic ( or between car lanes) over here. You'd think thrice about speeding if the consequence of slipping out of your lane was a collision with a tree trunk thats been there since before your grandparents were born.

[@BoulderHikerBoy]

For those of us in the U.S., it's great to hear from someone like Lennart who can compare and contrast based on experience in both countries. I also liked your point, John, that we should design for the traffic environment we want, not the one we have. This is ever-so-true when it comes to roundabouts. Also, what was that thing you had your camera mounted to on your hand? Is that what allows you to rotate the camera while riding? Anyway, yes, this was longish on the clock but didn't seem that way when watching because it allowed time for a deeper dive into the details of the infrastructure and land use decisions.

[@ActiveTowns]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah. That is my GoPro Hand/Wrist strap. It allows me to still control my bike brake and steer as needed. amzn.to/3EJNOxE Cheers! 😀

[@TheSuperappelflap]

If youre comfortable riding a bike you can do that with a hand held camera to be honest.

[@jessegee179]

Loved visiting Utrect, beautiful parks, gardens, canals and cafe culture. It was a huge pleasure to experience first class cycling infrastructure. I rode a 1995 gazelle dutch bike with 3 gears, perfect.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! That's fabulous. I hope this video helped bring back some good memories. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John

[@colleenharrison2942]

Very good and informative video. It shows what is possible by making the roads inviting for everyone. What a difference from our city streets and bike lanes.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John 😀

[@jandejong2430]

It helps that everybody on the roads has been a bicycle rider from birth (almost) and still owns a bicycle.

[@ActiveTowns]

Indeed! Thanks for watching 😀

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Something you couldve mentioned as well are the willow trees like shown at 43:00 onward. They provide excellent windshade, are fast growing, and can also provide solid seperation between car and bike lanes. Theyre also a very important part of Dutch culture providing easy to bend fibre for basket weaving and a ton of other uses like making fences between property lines with near 0 carbon footprint. We also make wicker chairs out of them which are really nice to sit on. So its basically the definition of multi purpose.

[@ActiveTowns]

Love it! Glad you mentioned it. 🙌

[@clovermark39]

Nice to see the trees are being grown. They seem to be cutting them down in the UK and not enough bike lanes. 🇬🇧

[@Rose-nb6su]

Enjoyed the visit with Lennart Nout. He always has a smile.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! This makes me smile. 😀 Thank you so very much for watching the video, and I hope you are also enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

It's great to see more rural routes getting a high quality and safe streets.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. It was super surprising and fun to ride on them as well. Thanks for watching. Cheers!

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns Yes, I enjoyed them in the Netherlands around Utrecht and Gelderland province. You're welcome! It was my pleasure!

[@An-Ma]

Really nice video, very informative too! 👍🌷👋

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks! So glad you liked it. Cheers! John 😀

[@JustClaude13]

21:35 The drivers are yielding to two bikes sitting by the road. They aren't sure what you're doing, so they're being extra cautious. For higher volume streets, a turbo roundabout looks promising.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, the whole newness of this design has them super cautious in general; glad we could assist. Hehe 😂

[@WILL_E_1]

Great stuff!

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@normalro]

Great lesson! Dank u wel!

[@ActiveTowns]

You are quite welcome! Glad you liked it and hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@alvaroromera2349]

Fascinating! Thanks a lot.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! You are quite welcome. So delighted that you enjoyed it. Cheers! John

[@alcidesforever]

Lovely episode.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks for watching, Paul! So glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John

[@KlirrenDieFahnen]

Thank you, i thoroughly enjoyed this

[@ActiveTowns]

You're very welcome. So glad you liked it. Thanks so much for watching. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@garykennedymegargy]

Nice video. Well done!

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Gary! Glad you enjoyed it, my friend. Cheers! 😀

[@lkruijsw]

The rural route along the river continues for 20km in the direction of Amsterdam. Then there are a few nice options to enter Amsterdam.

[@lkruijsw]

Also the route is very busy on the first hot Saturday in spring. You can end up with a few hundred bikes waiting for an open bridge.

[@ActiveTowns]

Cool, thanks!

[@KESipples]

This is wonderful, thank you so much! Experiencing Utrecht w/o having to leave my home.

[@ActiveTowns]

You are quite welcome! And I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel in general. Cheers! John

[@lkruijsw]

Good video!

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙏

[@sannynjoo9776]

Awesome to see my city of Utrecht. Like 98% of the footage I know as I travelled up there and still do (car, bike and motorcycle). Nice to mention that at around 55" you stopped there at the roundabout at the Carnegiedreef crossing the Gangesdreef (grew up in that area) and (where you're standing) at the Marowijnedreef. The Carnegiedreef used to be a 2 lane way. In the 80's it was converted as you can see now, single street with slalom. There were too many fatal casualties from pedestrians who wanted to cross the street (no official crossing) and cars were speeding. Since then no more fatalities. (Guess Nout didn't know this :D ). The neighbourhood you're in is called Overvecht-Noord and is also known in the Netherlands as the "ghetto" but was in fact one of the first phoenix area's from the early 80's and was considered as sort of a bit elite. That status does not apply anymore. Too bad Nout is not showing how small shopping area's are intertwined into the neighbourhood , how easy it is to get to (without car) and how it is absorbed into residential area, or is that a different topic? You should have stopped at Charlie Chui (Chinese fast food / wok) for lunch when approaching the shoppingmall (1:10") :P. Would have been fun to bike along you guys :D

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! Thanks so much for these delightful insights. That's great to hear about all the shopping destinations within walking distance. I'm not surprised. Yeah, we were on a firm timeline. After we let Lennart get back to his day, Jordan and I explored the city on our own. It was his first visit, so he still needed to see the historic core. That video will Premiere next week. Thank you for watching. I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@_yonas]

16:37 The corridor capacity (i.e. how many people it can move per unit of time) of a 3.5m wide bike lane compared to a 3.5m wide street is around ~6-8x higher.

[@ActiveTowns]

🙌

[@eelcodehaan3994]

lmao i got robbed as a kid at the street behind the crossing at 1:25 when i was delivery dude. just 1 km away from ghetto kanaleneiland, truly a area of utrecht rarely seen :P raised in that neighborhood. prime example of tagging along the global housing trend for low incomes in the 70/80ties good he did not go that way, although it has great bike lanes, you need to keep moving, especially with cameras ;) but, besides some of the grittier blocks, great city to chill. but yeah some portions of the city still have that ancient infra including the grey mossy concrete buildings to house low incomes.. but when you see the woonerf, which is also social "socialist" housing, thus rental homes for lower incomes. you see that mixing demography works better than segregating. which i am, admittingly, a bit proud of! to see that view returning instead of the cold grey blocks designated for low incomes in foreign countries. as some get moist on the grand scale of other cities, they don't get the un-livability of it. when i was a kid our government still had that weird parasocial connection with all american, thus our cities became "american". high rise city blocks....in actual block form like the areas kanaleneilnad and overvecht in utrecht. it us depressing living in such surroundings as a kid. surrounded by big dirty street, no bike lanes. kids getting trashed by cars etc. today it is so much better, and that complete change to separate bike lanes took just 20/30 years. i think we indeed need to stick more to our own vision of infrastructure. it is obviously working if people make such a fuss about it. like it is the best thing after sliced bread.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh wow! That's interesting.

[@scb2scb2]

Was fun to watch again, weirdly enough i missed that they redid the path next to the train (lombok) and used that today as test, pity it has so many speed bumps but ok. I normally take the road you started on (where coffee and me place) vleutenseweg. Kind of crazy i learned this watching a usa based video on a road i use 4 times aday hehe... already stated this in chat but Lennart and others thanks for making our city better and better as a kid from the 70's its so cool to see it al evolve. Your talk on westplein area at the kop of lombok gave me mixed feelings if my parents would still be a alive would be so much fun to tell them what is changing all the time in the area where i and my parents grew up.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Daniel! I really appreciate having you watch these and participate in the Premieres. Cheers! John

[@JeanFrancoisPoulin1]

I went to Benshop in november I loved it

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@miguelmarques2414]

I've recently started following your channel and I'm loving it. I love to see the cities and feel part of the journey and obviously learn a lot. Unfortunately, it's a double edged sword, because it also reminds me of the bad planning in my hometown :( Nonetheless, I have hope for the future and that one day the local planners and politicians will mimic a fraction of what's done in Utrecht.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for following along. Yes, the primary reason I produce this content is so others can see not only what is possible, but also how to get there. I also try to profile cities around the globe that are just getting started on this journey to more people-oriented places. Please don't be shy, share this content with others in your community. Awareness is always this first step in the transformation process and with a little (okay perhaps a lot of) strategic support you can nudge the planners and politicians in the right direction. And please don't hesitate to let me know how I can help support your efforts. More information available on my website: www.activetowns.org Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

28:00 Good point! If your budget is low, start with the intersection! I experienced this is some rural parts of the Netherlands. I haven't seen that in Canada yet. Our intersections are typically the worst part of safe infrastructure.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. The intersections are typically the last part of the network to be considered or just completely forgotten. My previous guest, Vignesh Swaminathan aka Mr. Barricade helped write the NACTO document "Don't Give Up At The Intersection" kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6mamJyooKh-epY

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns Thanks for sharing the link!

[@pbilk]

57:30 Agh, yes! Overbuilding roundabouts. In one city in southern Ontario Canada. When they have replaced intersections without roundabouts, they kept the original slip lane. It boggles my mind on how does that actually do anything besides making the roundabout more complicated. Unfortunately, those roundabouts have led to deaths and serious injuries of many on bikes.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, it really annoys me when North American engineers overbuild roundabouts to prioritize moving only motor vehicles at high speeds when there are also people walking, biking, and using mobility devices in the area. Bluntly, I view this as professional malpractice and gross negligence. I assume you've probably seen this excerpt from my chat with Lennart last year. Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns I plan on getting involved and calling out the Ontario city that I have recently moved too. Actually, I am unsure that I have seen that that from your chat with Lennart. I did see one video with him previously, but I don't recall the professional malpractice comment. I will need to look that up.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@pbilk He may not have said precisely those words - I would though as would Chuck Marohn with Strong Towns, I'm assuming you've seen my most recent interview with him... kzbin.info/www/bejne/opnZp4h5hrh6i6s

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns Yes, I have seen one of yours with him. Maybe it was the one you just shared with me.

[@mavadelo]

You were not wrong with "rail corridor" as the Main Yard for Utrecht is on the other side of that part of the track. on the other side of the train viaduct at 09:05, the end of the yard is right on your right hand side. 10:45 Well... there it is. The new train he is talking about (the Wasp or ICNG= InterCity Next Generation) will get a slight change in livery. The badass look it has now will be mostly gone. As for the new homes, if I am not mistaken, 2800 in a neighborhood called Cartesius (the road you are driving on is called Cartesiusweg) Took me a bit to get my barings, didn't know the coffee shop (I tend to visit the "other" coffeeshops) but quickly realised it had to be either Lombok or New England 48:00 If I would get a penny for every time I see that crossing in a KZbin video, I would have 2 pennies. It is not much, but it is weird it happened twice.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for watching and for your contributions to the discussion. I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy the Channel. Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

18:00 yes! Precast! We need it for cheaper and quicker projects! We already do it with prefab homes. It's quicker and cheaper. I don't know why have we in North America lacked behind this obvious efficiency. Instead, we complain about slow construction because we haven't taken enough advantage of precasting pieces.

[@ActiveTowns]

Precisely! And as you may recall, we featured precasts in the Boulder video a few weeks back as well. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmnXfJpmi9eUntE Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns I do recall that video. I forgot about the precast part of the video. Were they found to be cheaper and quicker too?

[@ActiveTowns]

@@pbilk Yes. Precisely

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns Wonderful!

[@iamjoestafford]

Same here in the UK - our methods are much slower, much more expensive, and of a lower standard. Same as our road surfacing - NL roads are as smooth as billiards tables compared to ours, and many of them even seem to use an asphalt which is much quieter when car tyres drive over it. The Dutch are so clever!

[@henrimessinghausen5185]

Dutch (road)design...for me it is normal, giving not much thought about it as I grew up and still live in the Netherlands. The design to help people follow rules and the social contract between users of the roads is what defines not just Dutch (road)design but Dutch mentality.

[@ActiveTowns]

Very interesting and refreshing! Thanks so much for watching and for this fascinating contribution to the discussion. I really appreciate it and hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@raspberrybitch4299]

I was really liking the idea of going to the Netherlands to escape the US infrastructure hell for myself (I'm unable to drive) and the horrifically expensive college pricing... but unfortunately it seems like it's just not possible with the housing crisis there. That really sucks man :(

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, the housing is very tight there. I have a friend whose daughter had to give up on getting masters in Rotterdam because she couldn't find any housing. Thanks so much for watching the video, though. Cheers! John

[@Brabour]

The housing situation is definitely tough but if you start early enough, have a decent enough budget and willingness it is possible to find something.

[@raspberrybitch4299]

@@Brabour "have a decent enough budget" well if I had wealth, it'd solve all my problems haha

[@hanneken4026]

Your friend might want to look into studying in Sweden, Finland or Norway. Tuition is much lower than in USA or UK (may be free for EU citizens), and they often provide good student accomodation as well for a very reasonable rent (it was free in Finland for EU citizens). Many courses are given in English. My nephew studied in Sweden for three years and was happy to have done so; it was cheaper thsn studying here in NL would have been, and interesting learning and living with other exchange students from different countries. The student accomodation was in an apartment building, 4 students sharing one kitchen and sitting room, with each having their own bed/studyroom and small bathroom. He could bike to the college and around town, or take the bus.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@hanneken4026 Thanks! Yeah, I'll let them know. I really appreciate your reply, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

32:40 haha. I came across noisy geese like that in Woerden, Utrecht. I thought it looked quite friendly so I grabbed some long grass and hand fed it. The goose almost got finger, haha. 😆

[@ActiveTowns]

I'm surprised the goose didn't follow you home. Hehe 😂

[@pbilk]

@@ActiveTowns Haha! Yeah, it didn't follow me back to the campsite. It was definitely not a Canadian goose so didn't follow me that far either. 😆

[@antoinewesthoff4417]

I was really impressed by Lennart Nout. I am so glad I don't live in a neighbourhood like Overvecht: the noise of vehicles! Thanks, John, for sharing.

[@ActiveTowns]

You are quite welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John

[@hendman4083]

1:03:12 The environment shapes the behavior, but behavior shapes the environment as well. Three cyclists are on the bike path around the roundabout, but only two keep following the bike path, and the third takes a shortcut over the pavement. You can see an actual 'desire line' on the pavement, where the leaves have been cleared from the pavement. 🤗

[@ActiveTowns]

Ha! Good catch. Thanks for watching 😀

[@nelsondashner7758]

There is an interesting example of pereidolia at 37-38 minutes. If you look at the door on the house behind them, there appears to be a picture of a cyclist.

[@ActiveTowns]

Cool! 😎 Thanks for watching. Cheers! John 😀

[@czierleyn]

I had automatic subtitles on and every time somebody said cyclepaths it read psychopaths. Very funny.

[@ActiveTowns]

Hehe! Yeah, that’s a known glitch that’s always good for a giggle. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@barthvos845]

The cost of car ownership in car infested countries could be of influence on homelesness but my guess that the influence of high costs for medical care in the US can also drive people into homelesness.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. No doubt on both accounts. Thanks so much for watching. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@stink1701]

I don't want to repeat if its been pointed out already, but notice the "the war on cars" podcast sticker on the bakfeits.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh yeah! Thanks for mentioning it. Actually has not been brought up yet. As you may already know. The War On Cars is a thoughtful and entertaining Podcast thewaroncars.org/about/ about creating more people-oriented places and battling against car dependency. The name originates from and is poking fun at the complaints that frequently ring out from the small yet vocal minority in the status quo that view any efforts to build bike lanes, safe crossings, or attempt to reduce motor vehicle speeds in areas where people of all ages are present as a "vicious war of cars by the all-powerful bike lobby". Thanks so much for watching! I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@zephyrus339]

Really fun ridealong. What made it so fun was that I managed to follow their route with Google Earth. Bonus was that this way I saw the old situation in some places, especially in the beginning.

[@ActiveTowns]

Nice! You are truly resourceful. Thanks so much for following along, literally. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John ps The next one (Premiering next week once I finish the edits) is a little more chopped up, but you might just be up to the challenge.

[@zephyrus339]

@@ActiveTowns I wouldn't call myself resourceful. I saw you cycling past a Sligro store so I typed in "Utrecht Sligro" in Google Earth and I knew where you were. Utrecht has 3D building support, so after that following became easy by looking at the buildings in the video.

[@ActiveTowns]

That's cool!😀

[@aprettyboringguy8963]

At 21:20 he meantions colorado. Does anyone know where in CO they are building this? I'd love to check it out when it's done

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. Fort Collins, CO. It's highlighted in their annual report here: mobycon.com/updates/mobycon-2022-annual-report/ Thanks for watching and for the question. Cheers! John

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

I'm curious, does the U.S google maps have bike options ?

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, it does, and it has been getting better. The route mapping tool, however, tends to lean towards the "fastest" route rather than the safest or most comfortable. It also identifies "bike lanes" and "pathways," and often quiet, low-traffic residential are not identified, which is a shame because these can be much more pleasant than riding in a bike lane next to traffic. Thanks for watching. Cheers! John

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

As much as i prefer our Dutch cities, i do envy the acces to nature in the U.S. I love American wildparks & reservations. Hiking for days , without seeing other people is not an option in Western Europe. Anyway, it would be great to have a digital-map for a (mountain) bike alternative ( without getting lost ,stuck (or kidnapped by bigfoot ;) in the near future !

[@ActiveTowns]

@@spiritualanarchist8162 Check out the Bikepacking routes: bikepacking.com/bikepacking-routes/ My friend and colleague Ryan Van Duzer produces a lot of amazing content using these resources: www.youtube.com/@duzer

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

@@ActiveTowns Hey thank you ! I took a peek, and looks good,

[@ActiveTowns]

@@spiritualanarchist8162 You are quite welcome!

[@Karavyre]

maximum of 2 lanes? lol, traffic is insane already in Utrecht. around Jaarbeurs, where this started is killing.... The Jaarbeurs is where comic cons and such are held and causes an traffic infarction with each event.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, car traffic just doesn't work in cities. Much better to use transit and cycle. As Lennart points out, a cycle path and transit combination can facilitate a 10x number of people compared to driving, and the more people that choose these modes relieve pressure for those who simply must drive.

[@debbymarchena4291]

Should you be interested, maybe I can help you organise a small get together with white cane users in the Netherlands? Say in Haarlem or Amsterdam?

[@ActiveTowns]

That would be wonderful! Thanks so much. Please drop me a line at [e-mail] Cheers! John

[@jfmezei]

In North America, car drivers see a few pesky granola cyclists get in THEIR way. And because the poor infrastructure means only crazy cyclists risk riding , the low numbers make cyclists "exceptions" like jaywalkers. Where cycling was no so inhibited by road design (aka europe with many older roads), you find more cyclists and that means politicians kick start the process of making cycling safer/better which becomes the bike equivalent of "adding ore lane" which induces more (bike) traffic. There are some spots in north america where trials did result in significant bike use increase and politicians have noticed. The city of Montréal in canada has even begun to do snow clearing on some downtown bike lanes. While not granted a priority, the scheduling, process of snow removal and dedicated equipment often means they get clered before streets (which makes the car drivers very mad, but this is just part of the process). Some notes on your video: art one point, you point to industrial area and quiacjkl veer off. That is the problem with these types of videos. What if your destination were that industrial area, how difficult is it to switch from the bike lane one one side to then do a left turn and be on the bigger road? or are cyclists just never expected to ride on roads and are thus prevented from reaching these areas and in a cycling "prison" limited to where there are bike lanes? Another issue with bike paths, is that they are often designed as recreational for kids, and not for travel/transit. So it has lots of unnecessary curves and mothers strolling their babies in a pram. There is one such in Lachine and I just stay on the road because that bike path is slow and dangerous. On the other hand, further east, there is a bike path along a canal that gets one all the way to downtown, and while it does have "recreational" designs here and there, it has enough straight stretches that it becomes a viable transit path where you need to slow down less often that you would if on a road. Where I live there is a nice stright bike path between street and railroad tracks. no intersections and great. Only problem is that it ends with anti0cyclist barriuer, so I have to get off at a poorly designed "exit" to the ride on the road for half a kilometre (and when coming opposite direction, need to make a left turn to get on it where there is no left turn for cars since it is a T intersection for them). Stupid design by people who have never ridden a bike. For the roundabouts: not mentioned in your video is the amount of space needed for that traffic circle with the bike path in a recess from it. That is a huge amount of land, and in urban environment, thet would have to demolish a number of buildings at the street corners to have the space to make this. (and that means less tax revenues for city). So very hard to retrofit them into existing neighbourhoods. Also in north america, major artieries (more than 2 lane streetts) tend to have buildings closer to the road which leaves less space for separate bike path situated where a sidewalk would be. Another thing not mentioned: when you move into a new city, how long does it take to familiarize yourself with possible bike routes to get to various destinations? When you meed new friend and wish to bike to his/her place, how difficult is it t plot a route using the bike paths that are not the same as the street grid? (especially when some paths are on wrong side of road and you need to plot where you need to get off path and find a way to cross back to right side of road to continue). It is all nice and easy when you have a guide telling you to turn left/right and you just need to follow him and not ask questions, but if you are new to a city and without a guide, it isn't so easy until you learn the ins and outs of the bike network.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for watching! Funny you should mention Montréal, which will be the focus of my next video tomorrow. I hope you will give it a watch. I do have another video from last year with Lennart that addresses creative ways to fit Dutch-style roundabouts in tight spaces. Yeah, you bring up a great point about cycle paths not being uni-dimensional, they can and should serve both utilitarian and recreational purposes. Since I travel and document Active Towns all around the world, I can verify that they are frequently very easy and intuitive to navigate, even without a tour guide. Cheers! John

[@arjanrijvers562]

As I live in the area shown in the video I can answer some of your points. The Industrial area they skip over is actually not at all that bad for cycling. All 3 intersections that offer access to the industrial park have bike crossings with dedicated lights on all 4 directions meaning a let turn is simply a matter of 2 protected crossings, you don't have to enter the main intersection. I went there on a bike recently, ironically for my driving exam (only now getting it at 31, never felt the need before). The main roads in the Industrial zone have painted bicycle lanes and all the roads in the industrial area are slow speed, also because drivers are aware that traffic may come from the many side streets. Which is also why they like to do driving practice there. The issue is that there are too many cars parked on the sides which pushes cyclists somewhat further onto the road and limits visibility, and there is no room for separated bike paths, which is probably why he says he doesn't like it. I have never felt like there is a bike prison anywhere in the country, when there are no bike paths it is usually safe and expected for cyclists to be on the road itself. One of the few dangerous situations is a straight country road without lighting after dark, I come from a small village and when riding home in the dark would sometimes take the precaution of leaving the road and stepping of when a car was coming up behind, but even that long road to a small village has been given a (painted) bicycle path now. Within a city there is always a convenient route to take as a cyclist in my experience. I don't really understand the lack of space in North-America as an objection as from what I've seen European streets tend to be narrower, in the city centre because they were built in medieval/early modern times and in neighborhoods because we never adopted the sub-urban sprawl. I fact the reason I think cycling will not catch on in North America is because the low-density and mono-use zoning means there are fewer destinations within cycling-distance. Kind of like you said in the first paragraph. The bike 'highways' are separate from the roads but tend to be easily 'found' when riding a bike. When I go to a Dutch city I've never been too before with a bike I might use google maps and enter the cycling option but just as often I just figure out the right direction and start cycling, trusting every street (except highways) will offer either a bike path or are safe to cycle on themselves. I can only think of one time in recent years I've been disappointed, in a small town I was riding on (what I thought was) a bike path that just suddenly ended at a major road and it really infuriated me because I had to go 50 meters! back to find the real bikepath.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@arjanrijvers562 Thanks so much for your notes. Yeah, the reason given of "lack of space" in North America is just code for we don't to have any change to the status quo. I really appreciate you tuning in, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@mourlyvold64]

@@ActiveTowns "...another video from last year with Lennart that addresses creative ways to fit Dutch-style roundabouts in tight spaces." If you don't mind, what video would that be, John? Thanks.

[@dimrrider9133]

Professor lol. Im a professor in building greenhouses aka kassenbouwer hehehe

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, he got a chuckle out of that one... said nobody's ever called him a "professor" before, but I think it suits him 😉

[@dimrrider9133]

@@ActiveTowns Your to kind for this world haha cheers

[@jooproos6559]

He!!You are in the Netherlands ,so use kilometers!!

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, it's really hard to change how your brain works in measurements when you are visiting a different place, but I am working on making that translation since so many of my viewers use the metric system. Thanks for watching!

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Do Americans actually pour concrete to build a safety island at an intersection?

[@ActiveTowns]

Sometimes, yes. It depends on the context. I filmed several today in Austin that built that way,

[@Mrlopkeson]

Sorry maar de cremerstraat is echt niet druk hoor. Iedereen fiets gewoon over de vleutenseweg En van de 8 treinen die er staan is er 1 een icng. En die marnixlaan rotonde is echt nog dramatischer dan het was.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks for watching and for the comment. Cheers! John

[@RAWDernison1]

Open your bicycle-bible at John 1:13:00 (or there about) for the best observations/questions/answers/comments of the latest (2022) Active Towns series on the Netherlands yet. Dear John, you got it, now go out, spread your wisdom and multiply. And next time, leave the Brompton at home or church/airport hotel. Get a proper FIETS, can't imagine there's no Dutch subscriber willing to lend/lease/sell you one.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh, you've just given me a great idea. I should get a nice comfortable FIETS and leave it parked at a friend's place, so I always have it there. Once again, thank you so very much for tuning in. I really do appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@RAWDernison1]

@@ActiveTowns Haleluya, John has seen the light (and night-light-ride in The Hague). Personally, I can't supply/store a FIETS for you, but my guess is there's a Dutch subscriber out there who will. signed: the anti-Brompton religion.

[@patrickscholten222]

smartman talking

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, indeed. Thanks for watching!

[@debbymarchena4291]

The lack of distinction between pedestrian, bicycle and car lanes, or shared spaces , are very difficult and dangerous for visually impaired persons. I guess over 40% of participants in traffic do not know the meaning of the white cane… which makes those shared spaces even worse places for visually impaired persons. Too dangerous.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Debbie. Very, interesting. Will need to do some research on shared spaces and those people visual impairments.