How this city became bicycle friendly

[@JustClaude13]

When the subject of bike lanes comes up, the quote I keep hearing is, "LA is not Amsterdam!" No one ever remembers that 50 years ago, neither was Amsterdam. 50 years ago Amsterdam was LA Lite, with acres of parking and massive roads being cut into the center of the historic district. It didn't change because of mysterious natural forces. It was a deliberate decision by the people of Amsterdam to make the city safer and more pleasant to live in.

[@CortezBumf]

Santa Monica is a great example of great bicycle infra in LA

[@leonpaelinck]

LA has more potential than Amsterdam

[@bobbirdsong6825]

Yes, thankfully some neighborhoods are starting to take advantage of the good weather and geography. Not nearly fast enough though

[@user-op6kt8pg9y]

​@@leonpaelincknot with the people currently living in it

[@davidc.w.2908]

⁠@@CortezBumf you have no idea what good bike infrastructure looks like if you think that’s already great…

[@SG003]

It's like cleaning the beach and turtles come to lay eggs

[@LeftysLefty]

Netherlands was one of the countries hardest hit by the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Hard to believe that that wasn't a consideration. But patriotism a great motivation!

[@MrPbhuh]

Oh it was, my mother still talks about carless Sundays where ppl rollerskate over the highways.

[@Quetzietse]

It was.

[@Draregkoeliekalie]

It was essential to make this happen indeed. Luckily it did happen!

[@coastaku1954]

@@MrPbhuh Toronto did that during the pandemic on some streets, they called it Active T.O., where certain streets on weekends were closed for cycling and running for the public to use for free. One day they closed a failed Urban Highway, Allen Road, in one direction for it, it was super neat to be literally riding my bike on a 4 lane highway next to a median Subway line, and it was busy too, tons of people trying it out! This was also the same time they closed the right most lanes on streets and turned them into patios and seating areas for restaurants since at the time only Outdoor seating was allowed for covid reasons, and that was also very very popular!

[@jjjiljjjj]

The biggest push wasn't street safety, it was the Oil Price Crisis of the 1970s. Safety is also important though!

[@cdean2789]

Stop de Kindermoord

[@randycallow3736]

Living proof..NYC has converted some previously drivable streets to no car zones .. suddenly most popular places.. they shut down 5th avenue temporarily..as if they are throwing a party.. people walking and riding bikes... pretty awesome

[@virginiahobby3726]

Behind The Green Mask on you tube Rosa , listen.

[@DarkFoxV]

I don't understand cars in NYC....

[@moladiver6817]

Manhattan especially should convert all its streets to extensions of Central Park. It's flat and very cyclable. Take away the cars and you don't even need to build cycling infrastructure. Half the people taking the metro would also immediately jump on bikes. It would be one of the best cities in the world and it could happen overnight.

[@not_amanullah]

​@@DarkFoxVYes me too

[@johnpala7782]

When my grandfather was young he told me people would say “wow! you have a car”. But one day he told me people will say “never mind, you have a car”. A car no longer sets you free.

[@davidloizides8220]

Yeah, was a real eye opener for me going to Amsterdam. I cycle in my city and it’s just not safe (Portsmouth, UK) I enjoy it but it’s requires a lot of effort to negotiate all the cars. And my oh my is it slow travelling by car. All the vehicles with one person in them, what a waste of road space, fuel and time.

[@IOADESTOYER]

They have eliminated pollution, reliance on cars, reliance on gas, a way to lose weight naturally, safer streets, and because less land was used for parking cars... more land was used for building apartments which made rent more reasonable...

[@ChaoticDucc]

All good except for the last part. Have you seen the cost of housing in Amsterdam?

[@IOADESTOYER]

@@ChaoticDucc Metropol size cities will always be extremely unaffordable to the average earner no matter where in the world you go. Imagine the prices if Amsterdam had parking lots same size (regulation) like the USA.

[@DenUitvreter]

What foreigners still don't what to get that it's not about cycling infrastructure. The Dutch did not need bike lanes to cycle and Amsterdam is not always the leading city it imagines itself to be. Dutch kids play on the street, that was an important argument to get cars out of the streets. But give the Dutch some space and they will cycle, they need infrastructure, not cycling infrastructure. Restrict the number of cars and you have a cycling city, other Dutch cities demonstrated that. Bike lanes are infrastructure that mostly serve cars. They seperate traffic on speed so cars can drive faster. If there are few cars and low speeds cyclists will use the whole street. City planners have done some good work, but they follow, they don't lead. Communities that wait for good cycling infrastructure to be given to them top down won't become cycling communities.

[@Nobodyfromnowhere42]

Another major thing is elevation, some countries are so mountainous it wouldnt really be feasible to move around with a self powered vehicle.Where im from many kiddos prefer skates cause you can coast downhill and when its time to go uphill a skate is pretty easy to carry

[@DenUitvreter]

@@Nobodyfromnowhere42 Yes, but there tend to be flat enough cities in most countries and don't forget about the wind in the Netherlands. The point is that the widespread foreign idea that the Dutch cycle a lot because there is cycling infrastructure is wrong. That's not how it worked.

[@kaydenl6836]

@@Nobodyfromnowhere42 e-bikes solve that issue-that’s why they’re so popular in San Francisco. I’ve ridden them there, not a problem going uphill

[@lolnyanterts]

@@kaydenl6836was about to suggest that!

[@JustClaude13]

"The Dutch did not need bike lanes to cycle... Americans didn't used to need bike lanes either, when the roads were still reasonably safe. Now vehicles are bigger, faster, heavier and driven by distracted drivers who can't see out of the car properly because the front end is so massive. That's why the Dutch have been segregating high speed cars routes from bicycles.

[@BoDiddly]

I remember visiting Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Tulip and Maduradam in 1975 as a kid! Back then, I remember it being the cleanest city I have ever been to! I was amazed that there were so many people riding bicycles!

[@PaulJakma]

Exactly, cycling was very much part of daily dutch life, before cycle paths. And the road safety push was for cycle paths, because so many people cycled. This video is wrong to suggest otherwise.

[@landsknecht_voran]

I guess it's called "improving the city to make it comfortable for humans" you should tell that to Americans

[@edgarsandoval289]

That might work in your puny little european countries but here in America where driving across the country wont take you a few hours, cars are an essential part of life. You drive hours to get to a major city, the last thing we want to see is some idiot holding traffic back because hes going 15 mph in a place where cars are going 45 mph+.

[@OLBastholm]

​@@edgarsandoval289 There's so much wrong with what you wrote. 1. Why would bike lanes "hold traffic back"? Bike lanes would take away cars from the road and give the rest more spaces for their enormous metal boxes. 2. Few people are cycling hundreds of kilometers (or miles), but that shouldn't stop someone from cycling to the grocery store. The vast majority of car journeys ik the US is only a couple of miles and there's no reason to make that near impossible to do on a bike. 3. You're a moron.

[@wessel6491]

​@@edgarsandoval289this has been debunked like a 1000 times. Get a new argument

[@edgarsandoval289]

@@wessel6491 How has this been debunked? So you're gonna tell all those drivers that they're not really inconvenienced, while they're being inconvenienced?😂 "hey you see those cyclists in the way and causing traffic to back up? You're not really seeing that, it's been debunked".....

[@ballisticmissl7919]

​@edgarsandoval289 the point is, they won't need to drive everywhere. Even so, the fact that there are more people on bikes means there are less cars on the road, and because bikes are more space efficient, there's less traffic. That's 5 seconds of actual thinking to realise extreme car dependency is maybe not very healthy and that more bikes = less traffic.

[@liuyifei1989]

In America we call this socialism or communsim. I mean how else are the oil companies and car makers going to make money?! Why wont someone think of the corporations?!

[@RandomGal_]

anything less than 10 lane stroads is literally wokeism gone mad

[@victorp3423]

There are bike coporations too ?

[@evanfunk7335]

​@victorp3423 ah yes, General Bicycle, the 100 billion dollar bicycle conglomerate with incredible lobbying power and economic impact

[@liuyifei1989]

@@evanfunk7335 🤣🤣

[@lilacghoste8366]

​@@victorp3423those are the sporty cyclist or those folks who put their bike on car rack, don't give a crap about bike or walking infrastructure since their bike is more for hitting the trail on freetime.

[@drdewott9154]

Its a little funny because in Copenhagen it was basically the reverse. The oil crisis hit in the 70's and so the city realised that making the car the first choice for so many was a bad idea. And bicycles were gasoline free and had already been widely used in the city for several years, only having been lowered in numbers in the few years before the crisis. Plus bicycle lanes were much cheaper than transit and car infrastructure, which was really important as Copenhagen was quite poor at the time. So yeah in Copenhagen everything was done deliberately to get more people to bicycle. The kaviat however being that road safety wasn't considered nearly as much as in Amsterdam, so Copenhagen still has some fairly dangerous bike infrastructure design. The design standards have barely changed since the 1970's anyway, many streets in the suburbs already had bicycle lanes before the oil crisis that look identical to today, if not a little bit wider! And now we're paying the price with an ever increasing number of cars on the road due to lower taxes, more dangerous cars in the form of SUV's, more deaths to bicyclists, Ebikes and speed pedelecs intermixing onto the crowded bicycle lanes, and overpatroling of cyclists by the police for minor offenses while drivers do major offenses elsewhere, and we have a bad cocktail with lower modal share for cycling in Copenhagen than many other European cities now, including newer ones to cycling like Ghent in Belgium.

[@thefacultyoffunk]

I have some questions. 1. How do the disabled/elderly get access? 2. How do they get shopping home? 3. Babies, young children? If they have the answers in Amsterdam we need to incorporate these into our road systems.

[@MrPbhuh]

1. Accessibility scooters and other such means work just as great in a carfree city. The lack of cars make it more common for stores to be closer to the neighborhood, they are usually smaller, but there are more of them, so people on average just walk and bike everywhere and those who can't walk or bike use mobility devices. 2. People go to the store more frequently, and buy less in bulk 3. Babies and children at a young age get bikes and other toys which they can use to travel.

[@thefacultyoffunk]

Thanks

[@dutchpatriot17]

1. It is not uncommon for the elderly to make use of e-bikes as of late, though I personally consider them more of a hazard than anything else. 2. We have what is called a "bakfiets", essentially a biccyle with a large sort of "crate" in the front. Typically these are used to transport children to- and from school, but they can also be used for groceries. 3. Children themselves typically learn to cycle early in life and will often times be accompanied by their parents when cycling to school for the first couple of years. As for real babies, they use the aforementioned "bakfiets" as well. Some variants can be closed up to protect babies from the elements, though babies are more likely to just be transported via a car for safety reasons.

[@thefacultyoffunk]

@@dutchpatriot17 Thanks for that. Looks like we have a way to go .

[@tarekbouwmeester]

​@@dutchpatriot17u can also use fietstassen

[@arafat464]

This is actually kind of inspiring. It is proof that we in the US can also do this. Many cities are already moving in this direction; I just wished they moved faster.

[@schemaricvg4221]

hope

[@lolnyanterts]

It’s not proof that the US can do this, it’s proof any city can do this.

[@mclama1139]

​@@lolnyantertsyou're a visionary

[@lolnyanterts]

@@mclama1139 thanks ❤️

[@cahillgreg]

It is naive to imagine that other cultures can replicate the Dutch ability to organise and impose a cycling-friendly order within an existing transport system - that's their specific forte. It's just not within the repertoire of abilities for many other cultures. I lived in Amsterdam for many years and - alles in het land erg goed geregeld is.

[@Roguescienceguy]

There was a big cyclingculture in the Netherlands before the 70's. Amsterdam had absolutely nothing to do with it. Amsterdam was actually the slow student in class. There were dedicated bicycle -tracks from the fifties onwards wherever that was possible. I know because I live in Belgium and there are roads here from back in those days that had a bikelane. If we did it, the Dutch definitely did it😂. Amsterdam just wasn't completely flattened during WWII and still had alot of narrow roads between historic buildings which complicated affairs. Amsterdam really had to do some serious modifications to make it work

[@PaulJakma]

Agreed - left my own comment on this above. The idea cycling wasn't popular in NL before the extensive path network built in the early 80s is wrong. Indeed, it was _because_ cycling was so common in NL (still, despite a decline post-WWII due to the car) that provided the political pressure to do something about giving cyclists a safe space from the ever increasing numbers of dangerous cars.

[@PaulJakma]

Oh, and none of the NL was flattened in WWII really, other than Rotterdam.

[@Roguescienceguy]

@@PaulJakma true true. I know. My point still stands about Amsterdam.

[@MarcoTheHague]

Yeah we have separate cyclingpaths since the late 40s in the hague.

[@slagjumper]

Every 30 years, the roads are redone. At that point is when bicycle infrastructure must be upgraded.. Because it'll be there for thirty years with or without

[@bicyclist2]

I visited Amsterdam in Aug 1990. Its a beautiful city. I would like to see a lot more of this in the US. I doubt that we ever will, as most Americans are addicted to cars. I don't have a car and bike everywhere. Thank you.

[@Awesome_Aasim]

These changes actually occur greatly over time. As FHWA adds guidance for safe cycling infrastructure it will set the standards for cycling lanes several decades in the future.

[@lilacghoste8366]

​@@Awesome_Aasimpainted stupid lanes arent enough aginst American road rage

[@Awesome_Aasim]

@@lilacghoste8366 I am not doubting that but we need to stop following yesterday's guidelines blindly and start questioning how we can make this infrastructure better. Because the reality is that last year 7000 pedestrians died on our roads, the highest it has been since the 1990s. Segregation of pedestrians from cyclists from motor vehicles is far far better than nothing, and that is what protected bike lanes are.

[@davidlang1125]

I moved from LA to Sacramento and as a result I started to bike everywhere. Now I rarely use the car and I feel twenty years younger.

[@derin111]

Some of the comments here make me suspect that they are from Americans who have never even been to the Netherlands, let alone Amsterdam. 😅

[@notisac3149]

Many of us Americans still think that the Netherlands is called Holland lol

[@JesseWright68]

I used to ride everywhere when I was a teenager in the '80's but I don't think I would risk riding on the roads now. There are way too many distracted drivers.

[@lilacghoste8366]

Well US is too sissy with punishing drivers who are in trouble. You can loose your licences permanently in France if you disobey the law while USA is a suspended license or bribery in some poor states

[@stevecarter8810]

As I understand it, it started with presumption of guilt on the motorist, then the motorists lobbied to get the bicycles off the road.

[@HeriEystberg]

Oh, it's NotJustBikes! I didn't recognise his voice at first.

[@SAMVC1956]

Amsterdam is a fantastic city

[@wlonsdale1]

Is it though?

[@tarekbouwmeester]

​@@wlonsdale1yes it is

[@karenneill9109]

It helps that it’s flat. Not having to go up and down the sides of mountains kinda makes a difference. New Orleans is pretty flat, New York.

[@ravenragnar]

Like cool my dude but like how do we start doing stuff now in the states?

[@hairybustard4247]

Ford Granada at the start of the clip. Gorgeous motor

[@k0nanick]

yeah I saw that too! The bigger, fancier Cortina!

[@hairybustard4247]

@@k0nanick the sweeny mobile lol

[@jadawin10]

It's happen now in Paris...

[@MoanTheCelts]

I went there for a football game. The amount of people who cycled as travel/normal day, was an eye opener. I don’t remember seeing an obese person.

[@sh-ehmed]

The fatties aren't allowed to come out on the streets so as to not tarnish their reputation.

[@wlonsdale1]

They exist there.

[@lilacghoste8366]

​@@wlonsdale1not common as Walmart

[@LexieAssassin]

Wait... Is that NotJustBikes?

[@JohnSchoenbachler]

Thanks for the clarification. It's been a burning question for some time now.

[@ziltoidtheomniscient2398]

Is that NJB? never seen him talk so casually.

[@1lafchris]

Forgot to mention it is extremely expensive to get a driver’s license there 😂

[@AudriusN]

That's why they are better drivers than muricans.

[@cdean2789]

Mothers were fed up with their children being run over.

[@hippiemama52]

Now if they could stop people from throwing the bicycles into the canals...

[@group555_]

I always wonder if canal bikes are counted among the total number

[@jackbrown8052]

Many people in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe took up bicycling in the 80s and later because of the high cost of gas and diesel.

[@MrDvneil]

you were just lucky, now on other countries they just ban new ways of transport.

[@meganmbleed]

It’s funny, I don’t see why everybody thinks this would be some sort of utopia. Unfortunately not everybody is in the physical condition to ride a bike, but I guess those people would just be stuck at home.

[@taleseylad1249]

There's even less people that are capanle of driving

[@notisac3149]

A walkable city is typically much better for those who are unfit to ride a bike lol

[@taleseylad1249]

Wheelchair users take up a lane of a stroad just to get anywhere in America or other car dependent place. In the Netherlands wheelchair users either use the sidewalk or the bike lane.

[@ritokazoriv]

It's much larger than that, huge pieces of land are needed for cars and we don't have a lot extra. What happened in the US is that everything got so far away from everything you need a car to move around. There likely isn't even a sidewalk. Detached single family homes are horrible in suburbia.

[@jimmyjimjim3054]

Try biking to work in canada in February.

[@wade2bosh]

finland,sweden, norway do it

[@cbailey2376]

Dress for the weather.

[@stephenbermingham6554]

Cycling is the best form of transport.

[@westabsupplyebay4093]

The air quality to looks so much better, better air quality means lower asthma rates, lower COPD rates and a longer life expectancy, it's a win win.

[@Missusri]

When people say that cycling is anti depressant, believe them!

[@SlaughteredDecay]

Based Amsterdam!

[@LarryHatch]

Because the locals don't have places to shower at work...Amsterdam workers literally stink. A friend of mine over there says this is a big complaint in that city. Why do Americans want to copy European crap that doesn't make sense?

[@contytub]

Yes ... my area is shit for cyclists with many bad tall sidewalks and no ramps ... more people would cycle if the roads would be safer

[@williewonka6694]

How does cargo move to businesses and homes?

[@notisac3149]

Even in Amsterdam they still have roads. Even then, you can still build lots of freight trains when you have the space for it, much more efficient than trucks alone.

[@diananoonen2262]

I have travelled to Amsterdam. The entire region infact. I think in the US, maybe infrastructure in more dense populations, but other than these hubs, most of the US, is too spread out.

[@boxalox]

Cue the band, not just bikes

[@joshuacadwell8938]

I used to cycle more, getting hit by a few cars turned me off.

[@bobzelley5100]

Everyone was stoned from thc consumption at the bulldog and others , hence they couldn't dive .

[@stephenbrookes7268]

Amsterdam needs to work to work on becoming, pedestrian friendly. Love and respect to our cousins, the Dutch.

[@johnsimonwijaya]

the real people power ✊🏻

[@LinkTheFusky]

Amsterdam in the 70s is how my town looks now, no bike racks, no bike lanes, people speeding through the town centre, we have to jay walk everyday just to go through the town centre when people go up to 40mph, there shouldn't even be cars in a high street this popular, you can barely breath yet alone walk

[@nescionetizen295]

I think the valued added tax on automobiles and the 6 days war creating fuel shortage turned Amsterdam bicycle friendly.

[@cstuart5289]

How do they cycle in the winter (from a a canadian) we get way to much snow without it being cleared regularly to use bikes in the winter

[@ArielHal9000]

If they can clear snow for cars, why is clearing snow for bikes any different? They still get snow in Finland and have no issues biking.

[@cstuart5289]

@Ariel-id8vc snow plows are quite large and wouldnt fit in smaller spaces that bikes occupy, maybe some smaller snowplows exist but iv never witnessed one.

[@notisac3149]

They have smaller snowplows in Finland for their bike paths. Even in Winter plenty of Fins bike and it's not secret that they have some pretty dang cold weather.

[@samueleveleigh2767]

Its super interesting to see the parallels between developing countries going from feudal society to industry and service without the years of infrastructure and education investment And car dependent countries trying to emulate Amsterdam and their bikes by just painting bike lanes everywhere. Just copying the last step in a process never works for anything but PR You want to modernise a country? Invest in infrastructure and education. You want to become less dependant on cars? Start zoning areas that lend themselves to walking and make one road pedestrian dominated at a time THEN connect these communities

[@tomlawless4406]

Let’s face it, it’s cheaper it’s safer it’s healthier but in other countries you’ll just get bullied for it and you’ve gotta pretty strong mentally or you’ll just tap out get back in your car and start bullying others on bikes 😅 that’s heard mentality for ya 😢

[@1RiverCat]

That's why you make it easier to bike. Prioritize cars less and people will bike and walk more

[@AB-wf8ek]

I live in a US city on the east coast car free for almost 20 years. I'm one of those bike commuters who never let cars scare me off the road. Luckily the streets here are so tight, people don't drive too fast because they were never built wide enough for cars & parking in the first place. At this point, my city is starting to see the light. With more people moving here, they realize there just isn't enough parking, and have been building out bike lanes and installing traffic calming measures in an effort to reduce pedestrian deaths. I personally think the roads should be safe enough for kids and grandmothers to feel confident. I'm hoping some day we can get there.

[@Natalietrans]

That’s cause of cars

[@soulassassin0g]

Get a DUI and I bet you'll get used to riding a bike really fast.

[@wlonsdale1]

@@AB-wf8ek Wait until someone texting plows into you for being an ass.

[@thegrandlord2914]

During dutch colonialism, dutch people live in indonesia often go anywhere cycling. This habbit then brought to netherland by dutch who live in indonesia

[@afl6786]

Not anymore today Most local goverment now build anything only for car

[@justaweeb1884]

The thing is, America is one of the biggest countries in the world. Cycling is impractical

[@techheck3358]

Trains

[@tarekbouwmeester]

U do not seem to understand that bikes are for travelling short distances, we use cars or public transport for city to city travel

[@justaweeb1884]

@@techheck3358 trains exist there

[@justaweeb1884]

@@tarekbouwmeester only if you’re in a city

[@tarekbouwmeester]

@@justaweeb1884 no you can also use them when u live in the middle of nowhere i bike 7 miles to school every day so idk what ur talking about

[@mariantebb6730]

Massive difference in size between amsterdam and london, new york eg.

[@atticusrussel3485]

Doesnt matter

[@ploppyjr2373]

What does that change? They still use roads

[@dallaskoivu502]

Now that’s a critical piece of information for those cities in the US who are trying to become more bicycle friendly. We’re doing it completely backwards just make the roads and streets more safe for everyone overall, the function will follow the form rather than the form following the function . People who drive cars will always say bikes lanes are taking up. lanes that used to be used by cars and that that is slowing down traffic and causing congestion which makes peoples drive more aggressively, which makes it more dangerous for people on bicycles. And pedestrians.

[@lilacghoste8366]

Maybe Americans are naturally reetorded like Europeans joke about? Because road rage happens in freeway yet no bike lanes in freeway ?

[@basilkearsley2657]

This is not my experience. My first cycle in the Netherlands was in May 1986 and the bike lanes and cycle culture was well established. Cyclist certainly did not take crap from drivers

[@ChristosChristophi-er7wi]

It helps the place is as flat as a pool table. I don't want to bike in my city, it's so hilly.

[@birikiuc1543]

It only becomes safer when cycler mind traffic regulations. For example in Germany cycler don't give a sh*t of regulations and even shout at walkers even when cyclers are in the wrong.

[@long0612]

Nowadays in North America, every city is built for car friendly not pedestrian friendly!

[@nagylevi3827]

To get yanks out of cars and onto bikes, you not only need to drag them out of their cars but you must also drag them out of McDonald's. The trouble is, if you did all that, the economy would collapse.

[@lilacghoste8366]

So who cares? It is worth the collapse. Better to be dangerous free than peaceful slavery ( current world)

[@barbarahartlen4052]

Actually people became healthier and happier!

[@SweetTodd]

Life hack: make people brawl over parking space so you get support for building car free :troll face:

[@ignaciozermeno2278]

Safer from what ?

[@kraigvanderwyk1153]

I wonder how it affected public health

[@notisac3149]

Public health in most of the Netherlands is quite good actually.

[@TheOtherSteel]

It's, "... bicycles were not a consideration..." Not, "... bicycles was not a consideration..."

[@MaQuGo119]

how can i get greencard?

[@djfearross4144]

Back then there were not so many cars, so it wasn't an issue. Since then, people who owned cars never moved to Amsterdam so slowly bikes became the most popular form of transport for its citizens.

[@MrPbhuh]

Images of the time say otherwise, streets were filled with cars and plans were underway for American style highways to handle the cars.

[@djfearross4144]

@@MrPbhuh it's not an opinion, it's a statistic.

[@marcovonkeman9449]

That may be statistically correct. But Amsterdam is not the only city in the Netherlands. While most adults in the Netherlands have a driver's license, and a lot of them own a car, they don't need that car everytime they have to go somewhere. You could make the same video about any other city in the Netherlands. So car owners may have moved to the suburbs of Amsterdam (or to any other city), they still use their cars much less, partly because of the bicycle / pedestrian friendly infrastructure.

[@djfearross4144]

@@marcovonkeman9449 I'm not suggesting otherwise. I'm simply highlighting the fact that banning cars in Amsterdam happened during a different era than today. Also, there are more cars in the Netherlands now, not less. I fully support government investment in bike lanes and public transport. I'm just concerned with the volume of propaganda that inevitably drives people away from a sustainable future. The reality is that we need to find some middle ground, something the Netherlands seems to be doing very well.

[@y.j.758]

I hope this will work in Germany too. Up to now it's a ferocious fight the car lobby is taking up.

[@ericsalinas98]

Their city never had an automobiles in mind its so old and historical why rebuild such a beautiful historical landmark because of a new invention the coty is built for horses and carriage and boats

[@joshpointoh]

They made the streets safer in the 70s, but people were fighting for painted lines in the 80s...ounds super safety conscious

[@Emppu_T.]

population growth in the city might have something to do with it.

[@lewistrundell]

Technically they changed to design requirements for new roads/ roads being refurbished etc. it was in response to the accidents but I feel they way you described it was glossing over some areas

[@effkay3691]

Central City areas don’t need cars. I love the freedom of a car but I don’t need it around the inner city.

[@artemkatelnytskyi]

But what did they do to make the roads safer? You didn't explain that.

[@jmans4928]

We should go to Amsterdam then. 😂

[@Longtack55]

Luzerne is a joy to be in because they've created pedestrian-only zones. It is so chill and humane.

[@alelectric2767]

Until you’re walking and don’t realize you’re on a bike lane. The last thing you hear before getting clipped is, ring ring!!! From: a tourist 🤷‍♂️

[@topphatt1312]

Yeah that’s why you don’t walk in the bike lane. I was just there and it’s pretty clear what is the bike lane and what isn’t. Nobody ever complains about this with car lanes.

[@biggorilla1999]

Netherlands is the most expensive country in Europe to operate a car. People can’t afford it so they have to bike

[@dragonvalcano5857]

Yes, maybe because cars ruined their cities, and bikes were far more efficient, so now there is very little car infrastructure because people don't rely on cars there anymore.

[@davidcantwell2489]

The subject should be, here in the US, how do we get bicyclists here to act like the Dutch bicyclist.

[@tobiaszb]

That's a new info!

[@saeedhossain6099]

oh that whole oil crisis had nothing to do with it....

[@Sandy-tj4wn]

Amsterdam wasn't CAR friendly in the 60's. Try driving a car thru those streets. I DO remember A LOT of bike riders. Always heard it was really the only way to get around. No "painted"roads back then in any country for bikes. They always weaved around the traffic

[@dotjai330]

only works in tiny countries

[@brycebehnke9566]

Amsterdam is 84 square miles. LA is 502 square miles. That is what people mean by "LA is not Amsterdam".

[@harrywoodman2988]

yes and crossing LA (by car) can easily take more than 12 hours, much longer and more annoying than most European cities. The point is that change is not easy and if you live and work close enough, it would be vastly easier and cheaper to put in more bike infrastructure. LA is perfect, the weather is good and there are a lot of cities in LA county that would benefit with having more alternatives to gridlock and fossil fuel oxidation by products

[@ekaitz303]

most of LA are just urban suburbs built with cars in mind. that is the real issue

[@notisac3149]

Yeah sure, not the best comparison, but how about one that's more fair? The Netherlands is roughly equal to the CA Bay Area in the following regards: size, population and GDP. So why not focus on cities and regions and alternate forms of transit instead of connecting the whole country with bike lanes? Besides, 60 percent of vehicle trips in the US are within 6 miles, while only about 5 percent of trips are over 30 miles.

[@waynehaynes2824]

I can't fit you windows on a bike 😅

[@tgc281]

So what did they actually do? They made the streets safer in what way?

[@nothanks9503]

Ohhhh I get the joke I heard about New York aka New Amsterdam having bike lanes now

[@anthonyburke5656]

Yeah, my son is presently recovering from an extensive operation on his elbow, caused by a cyclist in Amsterdam that was using his phone while cycling and my son was cycling along blissfully thinking no one would be stupid enough to run into the rear of his bike! Of course the offending cyclist rode off.

[@notisac3149]

To be fair, most Dutch folks would pretty upset at such an occurrence.

[@Siegfried5846]

Next, please get rid of the brightly coloured street signs!

[@BrawlerTheSmokyDutchMan]

And then to think Amsterdam is about the unsafest city in the Netherlands to bike about. While still being leagues ahead of many other country. But that is because everybody says f it to traffic lights and space constraints make it so they have to combine traffic. Amsterdam was just rebuilt and kinda new ish cause ww2, so they were reluctant to throw money at safety in favor of economy. Untill the problem became to big in the form of huge traffic deaths. My city has been innovating the throughput working with existing infra from the 40's. And this innovation never stops. Traffic evolves, and what worked 20 years ago doesn't have to work with today's traffic. Building adequate roads means understanding where the global trends will lead us. And we the people set the trend. Yeehaw, so let yourselves be heard. And only accept the newest standards of traffic safety. You need: led traffic lights, metal or weight sensing intersections and infrastructure that incorporates heavy medium and light vehicles in harmony.

[@rhearobinson-thomas536]

That's the secret!

[@dentes1185]

I don’t give a damn about that but don’t expect me to do business in the city.

[@PaulJakma]

I have to disagree with these statements: "Bicycles was not a consideration" "[after making streets safer] people started cycling". Admittedly, I was not in Amsterdam, but in a town a little away, and I was very young and not really aware of the politics [I do remember my dad having a "Blij dat ik rij" sticker], but cycling was a big part of the dutch identity in the 20th C, including before cycle paths. When you say the goal was to make streets safer, it was to make it safer for _kids to cycle_. And I say that as someone who had to cycle to school on the road originally, and who remembers the cycling path being built in the early 80s - allowing me to cycle to school on my own. It absolutely was about cycling.

[@PaulJakma]

Also, there were a good few cycling paths well before the 80s. Built after WWII. Some are still around - they are the worst paths to cycle on today, cause they're usually large paving slabs, rather than a nice smooth surface.