Safe Cycling Showdown - Good vs. Bad City Design - Plus 1 Minus 2

[@NotJustBikes]

Dutchies: the moped (blue-plate snortfiets) at 3:44 should *NOT* be in the fietspad. I am correct about this! Snorfietsen have been banned from the fietspaden in the centre of Amsterdam for over two years now: www.amsterdam.nl/snorfiets-rijbaan/kaart-snorfietsers/ Please stop emailing me about this! 😂 The rules are different in Amsterdam than where you're from!

[@NotJustBikes]

It's actually crazy how many Dutch people have commented, emailed, DM'd, and tweeted to me telling me I'm "wrong" about this, when really they just don't know the rules in Amsterdam. 😂

[@itsACody]

@@NotJustBikes didnt know this. Driving 25kmu with cars allowed to go faster is not a safe and fun ride

[@NotJustBikes]

@@itsACody That's fine, approximately 0% of snorfietsen that haven't had their speed limiters removed. If snorfietsen actually went 25 km/h, they probably would not have been able to get enough to support to ban them from the fietspaden.

[@itsACody]

@@NotJustBikes hahaha, yes, I agree

[@SupremeRuleroftheWorld]

@@NotJustBikes in my 40 years of living in and around amsterdam i have never seen a blue plate actually do 25k, i have seen plenty overtaking my electric scooter (that does 53 on the gps) tho....

[@rbase96]

The ride in Calgary went from pretty good, to manageable, to terrifying real fast

[@Wuz314159]

Just use the damn roads. Roads are for vehicles and bicycles are vehicles. I'm furious at cyclists who put themselves in danger using pedestrian infrastructure.

[@mdlouie]

The first bit is the very best this city has to offer, most of it quite new. The vast majority of Calgary has recreational multi-use pathways, but most don't connect to anything. In general, only hardcore cyclists will commute more than a few KM to work...

[@jeffparker1617]

"Vehicular cycling" is one of the dumbest ideas to ever propagate in North America. I'm thankful that the leader of the movement died recently, hopefully we can bury the idea now too and return to separated infrastructure.

[@mdlouie]

@@rbase96 40 km/h = 25 mph...

[@rbase96]

@@jeffparker1617 It works perfect! ... on quiet streets with very low speed limits.

[@sagewaterdragon]

I live in Wichita, Kansas, and finding your channel a week and a half ago (and mainlining all of your videos) inspired me to email my city's director of pedestrian infrastructure about some of our issues. His response was sobering, but it makes sense - people working in American cities in those positions are even more enthusiastic about these kinds of designs than we are, but it just comes down to the money that's being made available to them. In Kansas, public infrastructure is voted for on a state level and the vast majority of constituents in the rural parts of Kansas aren't going to vote for their money to go to bike paths and raised intersections. He gave me his office number to call about becoming an advocate for change on that front in this city, and I took him up on that yesterday - I hope I can help make changes.

[@sammymarrco2]

good luck bro

[@knosis]

I started doing the same thing when I found this channel. The money is there. It's all about political will. COVID-19 vaccine research is a great example of polical will.

[@rogerwilco2]

The point is that in the Netherlands, we also have good bike infrastructure in the rural areas. It doesn't have to be a city problem. These videos might give some idea of what the Dutch countryside looks like for cyclists: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKPUZqN9i5ammtk - The high end. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5aWnJaVpth0q6M - The most rural areas, often just 0,3-1m (1-3 ft) wide path. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIGyfJ-JmJKsnZY - very "new" area, only infrastructure from the last 40 years.

[@_The_Moustash_]

Try suggesting a temporary lane as a test. Less money to implement and you can use it to prove the concept works. There are some videos on KZbin about people doing that in the US.

[@boxie001]

it can't be the funds if the numbers I hear are true. it is more a catch 22 there are not enough people that cycle because it is dangerous. some of the numbers are given in this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6qzdZ96np6InZY

[@blenderpanzi]

Quite frankly, the "you hear birds instead of cars" should be a +10. 😄

[@englishwithkristin8962]

Agreed and that whole park should have been +10 it looked pleasant as fuck

[@FlushGorgon]

@@farredit It's like hearing humans singing: depends which ones.

[@thedolcetto81]

@@FlushGorgon I sort of agree with this 😆. I live near the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, and Kookaburras and Cockatoos can be very loud. I love them though, they constantly remind me I share my living space with the Australian wildlife.

[@natalliarosowski5701]

wilcomme to germany!

[@d0kk542]

I think I would have to cycle for years for that to happen where I live.

[@starstheengine]

The fact that Calgary is at least trying to have some bike infrastructure makes it better than a lot of NA cities.

[@PhilVaive]

Exactly, and despite a LOT of people who are, for some reason, against it, it's getting better and better

[@Gueroizquierda]

Calgary is still better than anything I've seen in person by far. Texas is a desolate F150 wasteland

[@GrandCorsair]

I would kill for even the bare minimum here.

[@smileychess]

@@Gueroizquierda - Boise has a really nice green belt that spans 25 miles from downtown into the suburbs. We're faaaar from perfect for bikes, but we're just one example of (some) good implementation.

[@emiloguechoons9030]

I'm in a small Scottish city and most of that city seems better for cycling than here, eugh

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thanks Jason! What a fun collaboration with @NotJustBikes

[@nictamere9666]

Chicken truck 😩

[@nastusia55]

So brave of him to try and cycle on MacLeod Trail: the mother of all Stroads here :)

[@enzoaitmuhendsson4512]

Extra points for Pedalpub!

[@CochiseGE]

@@gregorybyrne2453 gtfoh with that garbage

[@GoldenBeholden]

@@gregorybyrne2453 Wha?

[@carolinabrager3445]

The other cool thing about the Netherlands is that there were definitely at least 4 hardware stores closer to you than the one you went to.

[@pizzablender]

That one must have been the furthest away in all of the city. There is actually another Praxis at 10 minutes cycling from his home. (And not a tiny one).

[@nielsmeijer492]

@@pizzablender probably so the comparison to the other hardware store was more accurate

[@Xiph1980]

Yeah, I live in the suburbs in a small town in the east of NL, and there's a praxis, gamma, karwei, intratuin, and some other home and garden stores within 8 minutes by bicycle. (coincidentally also about the same travel time by car 😊)

[@tardvandecluntproductions1278]

He's just showing off the infrastructure!

[@pvtghost117]

@@dutchman7623 it's the same in the us tho, but it's less common on big hardware stores, but if you go to a local one you can buy bolts per piece and nails per piece or by weight depending on the store.

[@questioner1596]

As a Canadian, I'm actually impressed the stroad has a sidewalk - the bar truly is that low.

[@googiegress]

The West Coast US version of that stroad has homeless encampments and wildfires all along.

[@steemlenn8797]

@@googiegress Adventure Road Trip.

[@gstrdms]

on BOTH sides, no less.

[@guhz3395]

lmao come to brazil, got hit by cats twice in a year, the bar truly is that low

[@googiegress]

@@guhz3395 I didn't realize there was that big of a stray problem

[@Mattym-gf5wc]

If someone played this game anywhere in the US, they’d have to dock two point at the end because by the time they did their shopping and left the hardware store their bike would have been stolen.

[@nateyauck772]

Calgary resident here, I can assure you we are not lacking in the bike thief department. I once had a fine gentleman try to steal my bike in the 5 seconds that I leaned it against a wall, to put something in a mailbox 2 metres away.

[@kaspervercruysse5710]

That's also a thing over here (Belgium) though. I'm sure there's a lot of bike thefts in the Netherlands too

[@reformCopyright]

Bike infrastructure is next to non-existent, and there's still a market for stolen bikes?

[@MultiNevyn]

This. I live in a small village in the US where I could technically live my entire life without a car with how close everything is, and there's still somehow 0 bike infrastructure. Hell, they didn't put a bike rack up at the highschool, where most kids that attend are close enough to just walk, until my last year there, and they only did that because me and one other person were chaining our bikes to places they didn't want us too when it was the only option.

[@utterbullspit]

Nobody's stealing crappy bikes in America. Cars...yeah, bikes...not at all!

[@aralii9935]

"a developed country is not where poor people have cars, but rich people take transit" - some person in KZbin comments

[@dennischen96]

Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogota

[@brandnewmark9232]

@@dennischen96 lol, yeah colombia is a very developed country 🤣

[@bdeimen]

@@brandnewmark9232 That's the point.. It's calling out the inequity and saying that it's a signifier that they can't really call themselves developed because of it.

[@FHRider-o1m]

In wealthy UK suburbs, people spend £££’s cycling for sport, and hike/mountaineering, but always drive their car to the corner shop 🤦‍♀️ Exercise v Mobility!

[@UNSCPILOT]

If I could take transit or my bike to get anywhere stress free, I would deffinitly consider that a more developed city, 100%. As it stands my city's transit is barely adequate and biking is possible but risky in quite a few places, still, my part of BC Canada is at least trying to get some proper bike/pedestrian infrastructure however so maybe that day will come

[@rainpuppies]

Your channel inspired me so much I’m going to university to study urban planning. After years of high school being depressed because of my lack of independence and my intense dislike for cars (I used to daydream about fixing my city and making it walkable everyday) I didn’t know what to study because nothing really clicked with me until I found your channel and found there’s other people like me. it was crazy, Like finding something you’re passionate about but you had no idea it even was an option. Thank you.

[@gentlebabarian]

You should study here in the netherlands live here a little bit and then go back. To bring back the expertise!

[@MB-co6qj]

Yeahh get your study abroad going over here!

[@eastonwerling7315]

So I'm not the only one that daydreams about fixing my city, making it walkable and bikeable.

[@Freya76]

That is so cool!! Go for it!!

[@Markuden]

Study in the Netherlands. I believe I heard this channel saying that the study is way harder/complexer in the netherlands but that should only motivate you. You should live here and study here for some years so you know and lived what you are talking about. You will learn the little details and behaviours that make this possible. And how every dutch child can ride a bike and ride them to school and really have it part of their upbringing. Funny story is that in ww2 hitler/nazi's were very organised but in all the years of occupation they couldnt control the bikes in amsterdam and how they all go through each other their own way like a hyvemind.

[@jamesboston]

What really impressed me with the Dutch bikes paths is how well connected and continuous they are. In Toronto we have some good bike paths but they aren't well linked to each other. Trying to get somewhere while also staying on a bike path usually involves taking a convoluted route.

[@jameshansenbc]

Same issue in Vancouver, sometimes it feels like parts of the bike infrastructure are more for appearances of being a "green city" than actual practicality.

[@nickberry5520]

I think this a huge problem in all North American cities. Missing connections are not a huge deal to me, but I know it is a deciding factor for many.

[@stejer211]

First came the bike paths, then the connections. At some time every European city that is now considered bike-friendly had bike paths that lacked connections. It is just a matter of time to fix this. My impression is that Canadia cities are on the right track, so be patient and it will get there.

[@davidkelly0]

Same in Dublin, although it's gotten a lot better recently.

[@Mr_Gabbles]

Because they're built for leisure, not function

[@brachypelmasmith]

I love how most dutch deductions are mild inconveniences and things no one would notice. And calgary ones get deduced once and continue to plague everyone.

[@mra4486]

Oh chicken truck and gets a point there’s clearly a bias 😂

[@darksaiyan2006]

@@mra4486 I'd give it a point for chicken truck too.

[@kairon5249]

@@mra4486 that was also partly a joke, and at that point amsterdam already had like 10 points so it doesn't really matter.

[@arunkarthikma3121]

@@mra4486 but for the dutch one, he deducted points anytime an intersection didn't have bike priority. If he did that with Calgary, it would be in the negative 100s 💀💀

[@_noahrh]

I'm like 8 minutes in, and compared to what we consider "bikeable cities" here I'm wondering why the score isn't like 5000+ at this point... this is beautiful and so well designed

[@tylernewcomb6465]

Same here. As a cyclist in NYC, I’m just wowed by the infrastructure, the minor annoyances he notes I would barely notice.

[@gianvandenbroek9168]

As a dutch man i am here wondering, what the heck are you doing.

[@MighoulEL]

No kidding, I love/hate his videos because I love the beautifully designed cities but hate how envious it makes me!

[@royvandermarel3953]

Worst thing is: in the first few minutes he took the one route that I would try to avoid in Amsterdam. Cycling in the center of the city can be quite dangerous because of the tourists that lack an understanding of how cyclepaths work. So to take one of the most crowded (and tourist heavy) streets towards the park doesn't seem logical to me. It may be the shortest route, but def not the fastest, safest or easiest one

[@bardame]

@@royvandermarel3953 In my experinece, having REALLY squeaky brakes helps a lot with the tourists!

[@t0ysoldier18]

I would've added a point for the long uninterrupted parts of the ride, no intersections, no traffic lights, just 5-10 minutes of safe cycling. It's amazing how spoiled we are in the Netherlands. I also got to say that I appreciate your in-depth analyses for your scoring. It isn't a competition, but you seemed to know a lot more about balanced road design than Shifter showed in his video.

[@jody024]

I just wish this channel would do more about the actual Netherlands not just Amsterdam. This is a typical mistake made by foreign content creators that live in the Netherlands.

[@cosettapessa6417]

@@jody024 the capital gets all the focus.

[@SeanMcCarthyMusic251]

@@jody024 thats a valid criticism but NJB does live in Amsterdam and not in another part of the country. Would love to see him travel a bit more to see other parts of the country.

[@jong3303]

Fair point, amsterdam is much busier then some areas. I would like to see him cycling in the veluwe and place like around Gouda. It’s quite different of a feeling there to cycle and at times quite special. Around Gouda me and my family have gone around for cycling trips quite a few times and it’s no less pleasant then a great walk. Not sure how that would compare to amsterdam for example

[@downorth]

"oooh a chickentruck thats a +1" yep very in-depth analyses happening here

[@nicostrappazon]

Attention to the devs; I tried playing the game but my scoreboard maxed out in the negatives before I even got out of the neighborhood. Please fix

[@iamsosad1429]

If I tried playing I would be dead

[@PanzerFaustFurious]

Integer underflow

[@ydjun]

Hello from a South Korean cyclist. I live in Seoul and we have much much better infrastructure than most of U.S. but not even close to Holland. This video provided me concept and idea how I could better explain the odd feeling I’ve been having cycling around my city to people here in much clearer way. Thanks a lot, and will continue subscribing.

[@zxth]

You d ride the us Fr

[@EE-sw3uh]

@@zxth he just said his country was better than the US. Are you sure you can actually read? Maybe you’re just picking out the words you understand like “better” and “U.S.” and going off of that LMAO

[@zxth]

@@EE-sw3uh I never said the us was better 💀

[@EE-sw3uh]

@@zxth when someone is talking directly talking to you, and then refers to “him, her, he, or she” it means they’re talking about a THIRD person, not the person they are talking to, or themselves. If you need an english lesson

[@tgypoi]

I'll send you a video of me riding to the hardware store in Houston if you'd like. I'll probably have to live stream it in case I don't survive to upload it.

[@rickb3078]

Would love to see it. But please wear a couple of mattresses and stay healthy

[@georgekarnezis4311]

You should do it I was thinking of making a video for my city.

[@wdenman12]

I'll do an LA one for comparison. Just need to know what distance they went.

[@georgekarnezis4311]

@@wdenman12 4miles seems adequate

[@cosettapessa6417]

Just take an AR15 with you to protect yourself and your family.

[@calvincurtis8648]

I would add at ten point "hero bonus" to the Calgary player for even attempting their suicide run. No way would I let anyone I cared about attempt a downtown to suburbia shopping trip on a bicycle in my home town of Houston, Texas. The odds of making it back alive are abysmal.

[@Ferrichrome]

I'm from around Harrisburg and I had the same idea. Harrisburg isn't even that big compared to other cities, but it's still terrifying to a cyclist. Cars have pretty much no regard for bikes or pedestrian. You're viewed more as an obstacle than a fellow human sharing the road.

[@Ricky911_]

My classmates here in Rome literally said the same thing to me when I said I was gonna start biking to school. They were genuinely worried I might die and for a good reason, the drivers here are some of the worst in the world. So, I ride on the pavement for around 2/3rds of the journey because of that. It's not too bad but it's very very bumpy, as all pavements and roads here in Italy tend to be. Ironically, the karting industry is largely based in Italy as a lot of constructors are Italian. I giggled a bit when I found out about it because flat raceable roads are definitely not one of the first things that come up to my mind when I think of Italy. Anyway, I think it's hard even for American cities to do a worse job than Rome on keeping cyclists safe so I'd probably be better off in Houston tbh 😂

[@viardent8823]

lived in north dallas for a couple years and had to walk like half a mile every morning to meet up with my ride share. i saw more car accidents and was more scared for my life during that period that any other. accidents on that little stretch of time and space were multiple a week. i considered for a small period of time after moving there getting a bike, and later realized that i'd have been killed in a month tops. texas's road design is /bad/

[@jobalho7309]

The thing with the Calgary route is that he chose to ride it along the highway instead of the shorter (in time and distance) and more pleasant river path. In short this guy is actually suicidal for having chosen this route. it makes no sense.

[@Ricky911_]

@@Skyduke lmfao your comment is the most tourist type of comment ever 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I don't understand why everyone seems to think Rome has the looks of an ancient city but the quality of life of a modern one. The reality is WAY different. The only good part of the city is the central area, where all of the monuments are located. The rest of the city looks no different from any other city in Italy as most of the buildings in Rome are only a few decades old. Most of Rome's original architecture was lost due to a massive reduction of the population after the capital was moved to Constantinople 1700 years ago. By massive I mean that the city went from 3 million to 300k people in 200 hundred years. Most of the buildings in Amsterdam are probably just as old as the ones in Rome. Rome actually has a few streets in the very centre with no cars but those are tourist spots. In reality, most people commute using relatively big highways with lots of cars but zero space for cycling. In my area, there's not as many people but the road is extremely wide. There could easily be a bike path there and I'm not even exaggerating. If I was the mayor, I could literally redesign the entire city to make it more bike/bus friendly without even destroying any of the cultural aspects of the city. Rome is just a terribly run city, much like the rest of the country in the end.

[@rory_person_being]

As a Calgarian, I am not remotely surprised that the cycling went from not great but workable to terrible the moment you left the city center. Calgary has put some effort into bike infrastructure, particularly under the previous mayor's time in office, but it's all been focused on downtown.

[@PhilVaive]

It's stating to move out of the core now - they installed bike lanes through the main roads in Midnapore within the past few years, as well as traffic calming measures.

[@ahmedzakikhan7639]

Everything in N America is contrasted in downtown-suburban model.

[@beebfajeejy]

having lived in Nowheresville, Arizona my entire life, where we don't even have paved sidewalks or bike lanes in half my town, and where the best it gets in the other half is narrow painted lanes right next to cars, yet we're touted as one of the most bike-friendly communities in the state, watching the amsterdam ride was unreal. it felt uniquely utopian.

[@zeffery101]

100%. I never ride my bike around my suburb, but when I lived on university campus, my bike was my best friend. My whole campus is abt 1.5 miles long by 3/4 mile wide and its just lecture halls, dorms, and walking paths and abt 40,000 students. Closest thing to a utopia I've ever experienced. I wish everywhere was like that.

[@johnsonfamilyvideos1876]

Same experience here, used to live in Phoenix Arizona, a “bike friendly city” and commuted a modest 3 miles to work for two years. I routinely got into yelling matches with car drivers who were using the unprotected “bike lane” (see “paint line”) as a right turn lane. Moved to a smaller town in Arizona without even sidewalks, and I’m lucky if the white stripe is actually on the pavement. It usually straddles the pavement and dirt shoulder.

[@deyesed]

There's also a huge difference in the number of people you see outside vehicles in the two cities, especially the suburbs.

[@revolver2750]

Really makes the city feel lived in.

[@KleineJoop]

@@revolver2750 I doubt the skyscrapers in calgary were all inhabited fully, there's just so few people oustside, even the amount of cars is. The whole system is worse.

[@5Freddys11]

I was shocked to only see 3 pedestrians in that whole ride.

[@Zraknul]

@@KleineJoop Calgary had ~25% office space vacancy pre-covid. They are converting some to residential, so that's something.

[@4GregF]

As a Canadian with ZERO bike infrastructure within kilometers of my suburban house, I would say you graded Amsterdam too harshly, and you gave Calgary too much credit.

[@NotJustBikes]

I definitely graded on a curve here.

[@lkj974]

yeah, every unprotected intersection deserved -2, and there was a bench sitting half way into the sidewalk that you didn’t mention. So typical. Businesses will put advertising signs in the middle of the sidewalk! And yes, technically it’s illegal for bicycles to ride on most sidewalks but riding in the road would be suicidal.

[@rcmrcm3370]

@@lkj974'is' suicidal. Burlington Ontario had a teacher killed on a bicycle while going to work. Stuck while waiting for light to change at intersection. Police refused to bother to view traffic camera until after large protest. Driver got off with fine.

[@Inquiring]

@@rcmrcm3370 sad

[@eddys.3524]

@@lkj974 That was my impression too, that riding those stroads would be suicidal on a bike...

[@dawsonfradin9071]

Its refreshing seeing infrastructure, not only for cyclists, but also for the disabled. Where i live in the US, I see people in mobility scooters and wheel chairs riding on the road due to the sheer lack of sidewalks. Whatever sidewalks that do exist are is such poor condition that you can't even ride a commuter/road bike. Some of these roads that people are forced to walk on don't even have shoulders and the cars go about 40mph and over. Its a real shame, considering we have the time, money, and resources to do all of this.

[@jazy3091]

That's genuinely so sad.

[@dawsonfradin9071]

@@jazy3091 It really is. We have hit and run incidents all the time because of it. My town alone had 5 people die in the last month.

[@ewoutbuhler5217]

they made a song about it, in Belgium, just South of the Netherlands where it's scary on the highway even if you do not have a disablity, with all them potholes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooe1dId9gZ2IhbM

[@sssaaa9043]

why wouldn't they just drive?? driving is so much better

[@dawsonfradin9071]

@@sssaaa9043 Most of the folks come from an assisted living center. They cant drive for the most part. The shuttle services are meh at best too.

[@scur-ow]

Imagine a novice biker watching Tom's ride. He spends 90% of his time avoiding obstacles and dodging curbs when the sidewalk crosses a road. It's no wonder so few people pick up cycling in NA when it's this risky even for an experienced rider like Tom. I also would have marked off 2 points for every time he had to ride through a parking lot, there are few areas in cities more hostile to bikers than those.

[@PhilVaive]

Yeah but he didn't have to go through the parking lot there. Like, at all. There's a sidewalk that he just...totally skipped. Source: I worked in that mall for 10 years and took transit for all of them. He also skipped the heated, enclosed pedestrian bridge.

[@xxnarnarnarxx]

@@PhilVaive Cycling is against bylaws on sidewalks. I agree that the path chosen was suboptimal, but this isn't a good example.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

The idea there are novice and experienced riders is really funny haha.

[@scur-ow]

@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 why’s that?

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

@@scur-ow i don't know, just sounds funny to be a novice at riding a bike, or the idea there is a scale to how good a bike rider you are. To me novice bike riders are 3 and 4 year olds. After that everybody is an "experienced" rider Just never heard anyone talking about it like that. Just made me chuckle and thought it was funny.

[@bentrig9128]

Watching this video as a Calgarian - "Oh this is pretty cool!" Realizing he's about to cycle onto Macleod Trail - "Oh.. oh no"

[@pauljones9150]

Macleod trail is scary. I tried biking alongside it at midnight after work and gave up. 0/10. Very terrifying

[@PicturesqueFilms]

Same...

[@nastusia55]

Trying to bike anywhere outside of downtown bike lanes is honestly so dangerous. Also because many drivers don’t consider the cyclists and just speed past them at unsafe speeds

[@mikecorsini85]

I'm also from Calgary but if I'm not mistaken there are much better bike roads just off of McLeod trail. One of those non intuitive types of things

[@iloveprivacy8167]

WHY is he on Macleod? I just checked Google Maps & it suggests Elbow Drive - pathway - 5th St. ???

[@hesterclapp9717]

Dutch people: Cycling is so hard here, I had to yield to a car! The rest of the world:

[@k34xy4wmnb]

I know right?! People get really frustrated when having to yield, let alone, yield to a car if they are on a bicycle.

[@alanchen4836]

However, so Chinese' city's old downtown design for bicycles as there are not enough cars on the road before 1980s.I have seen one road is 8 ways, 2 for bus, 2 for bicycle and 4 for cars

[@juschtn]

Srsly I am from Germany and I never saw such good Infrastructure for Bikes. My commute has this really terrible exit road out the city. The Bike path is more like a single trail.

[@frisianmouve]

@@juschtn I've ridden in north-west Germany. It was usually pretty good outside cities, within cities it didn't feel safe at all

[@jasonreed7522]

"i had to yeild" (to anything) is such a dumb complaint to me. "Oh no, i had to respect the fact that i am in fact not the center of the world" When i learned to drive one of the first key lessons is to just be patient and a spot will open, sometimes you will need to be bold but be patient for a good spot in the current conditions. If we want more options for getting around then you have to accept sometimes you won't have priority. Like with the draw bridge for the boat to pass, that affects everyone equally and shouldn't habe counted as a conplaint.

[@deldarel]

This video perfectly shows that industrial and suburban areas actually have the highest potential for good cycling infrastructure because of the ridiculously wide roads. Yes, distances are long, but that's okay. You get used to it. I used to cycle 10km to my school. Instead of wasting 30 minutes per day waiting in a car (back and forth), I spend 60 actively exercising. And if you wanna be fresh at your destination, just grab an ebike and you have some exercise light enough to wake you up, or just cycle a bit slower. Turn off the pedal assistance on the way back for the actual incidental exercise. My point is, time sat is time wasted, but time exercised is not.

[@oasntet]

Yeah, in a lot of North American cities outside of the eastern states/provinces, it would not be hard to add continuous protected lanes from the suburbs all the way downtown. Quite a few of the older cities (especially in the Northeastern US) would have a much harder time making it continuous as places that used to be suburbs are now cities in their own right, densely packed around highways to get to the 'real' cities. And e-bikes make a huge difference in work commuting range, _if_ the infrastructure is there. I used to e-bike 7 miles each way to work (from downtown to the suburbs), including some hills I actually could not climb on a pedal bike (>25% grade for one of them, climbing a riverbank). The e-bike turned that commute into a mostly-low-stress half hour, _except_ for where there were breaks in infrastructure and suddenly I had to contend with cars on a parkway with no sidewalk or bike gutter at all... If we did put in the effort to fix those gaps, a whole lot of people would start e-biking to work from the suburbs - no traffic jams, a little exercise, and so much cheaper than driving.

[@NotJustBikes]

Especially with ebikes becoming so cheap, this is such an easy win for the suburbs. And it would help to mitigate (though not solve) the growing issue of the "suburban poor" in America. www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/8/15/suburban-poverty-what-the-research-says

[@A_Box]

Actually they just did exactly that in Calgary this Summer. One of the roads that connects to the University of Calgary campus was reduced from 4 lane to 2 lane and there is now a dedicated bicycle lane on both sides of the street next to the sidewalk.

[@A_Box]

@@NotJustBikes Even better, solve the problem of obesity in general.

[@polendri4812]

Exercise for a purpose is also so much better than going out of one's way to "work out". Humans are naturally lazy; we don't WANT to "work out", and so very few of us succeed at maintaining that habit over a lifetime. What we're very good at however is exercising for a purpose (travel, gardening, social sports, etc). If you can fill your life with reasons you HAVE to exercise, you'll never miss a workout. I work from home now, and although I love it overall, I very much miss the 2x20min exercise I got from cycling to my previous job.

[@ayadkhalil]

I love love love this video, speaks my heart. It's just not common at all that people talk about noise issues in urban cities. As a cyclist from the middle east, I'm sick and tired of cars passing by me at high speeds all the damn time and therefore I have to resort to dark alleys... Bottom line: thank you for making this video. I am definitely sharing it with as many as possible

[@NotJustBikes]

I'm glad to hear that the video speaks to you so well, but I'm sorry to hear that you need to deal with that mess where you live. :(

[@ArrowRaider]

I am constantly complaining about noise and every single person tells me I am the problem.

[@rolandboerhof9391]

@@ArrowRaider To me, one of the main benefits of Dutch cities. Really underestimated.

[@sm3675]

Yes!!! Middle Eastern Cities thrive with human interaction and beauty, but they still refuse to build bike infrastructure and rather spend millions for highways. It's infuriating. Hopefully we can build a better future 🤲

[@Abdullah34610]

@@sm3675 - I don't understand, how many cyclists are there in the middle east? I don't imagine there would be that many people who would want to cycle in that kind of heat.

[@torger8305]

as an American i never realized how bad we got it when it comes to bike accessibility, I always just thought it was the way things were, but now looking at that Amsterdam clip i cant help but think we need an infrastructure update.

[@Hoen100]

Understandable. Being Dutch I had the exact opposite. I always took our bike infrastructure and road design for granted, until Not Just Bikes made me appreciate it.

[@cameronjs222]

Also, Amsterdam apparently has relatively poor bike infrastructure for the Netherlands.

[@henkoosterink8744]

@@cameronjs222 Yep!

[@cocoacoolness]

I swear covid has been the best thing ever for the infrastructure in my city. The council has been putting in protected bike ways everywhere because lots of people began riding bikes and e-scooters instead of catching the bus or an uber. The traffic is so much lighter. Also, people are still working from home, but still! But then.... Yeah once you leave the city the pathways become the safest place to ride. Good thing most people don't walk anywhere outside of the city anyway so they're usually empty

[@markschattefor6997]

Have you ever compared other things that are normal in the US to (western) European standards? There are many US American expats living in Europe who are sharing their experiences on YT.

[@HipyoTech]

preach bike king

[@NotJustBikes]

lol

[@meh23p]

BIKE KING

[@maknyc1539]

E

[@AdyanHossain_]

idbao man here?

[@aprilshowers3008]

How are two of my niche interests channels here 😭

[@devonlives]

Being in the US, I dream of biking being as EASY as it is in Amsterdam. I would have given a point for every pedal of that trip. There's no downside from my POV.

[@TremereTT]

Off course the Netherlands are the most bike friendly nation, yet allmost every European city small and big is pretty bike friendly and constantly improving. For example my poor city in Germany as we don't have streetcars or a metro most people move by bike. Most roads have bikeways but streets that are part of the living quarters don't. Pupils in 4. grade are trained in bike traffic by the police. And drivers in Germany have a very expensive licence that envolves many hours of training and a test by an official in theory and praxis. So most drivers know to give space for bikes. As bikes are allowed to overtake from the right, cars and trucks have to have blind spot assist system. Basically all pupils from 5th grade on commute to school by bike. It's not as perfect as in Dutch cities as schools are placed in the living quarters where there are no bikeways yet we manage to make it work everyday. I think we have overall less traffic, as every city quarter works like a little city where everything in foot or cycling distance anyway.

[@TremereTT]

@@austinhernandez2716 Also I hate electric scooters...they are like a plague.

[@halapunjete]

I've you are prepared to cycle 80% of the time in either rain or cold.........

[@romansongen6284]

Whenever you show these "Stroads" it just feels so barren and desolate.

[@sm3675]

My city is full of them. They have the space for bike infrastructure, but not the money and priority 🤧

[@LucasPelusso]

@@sm3675 I'm not sure if I've seen stroads in my country (Mexico) because the sidewalks aren't that narrow, however it wouldn't surprise me to see a city filled with them, we always copy the worst things from developed countries 😔

[@50733Blabla1337]

It looks like dystopia :c

[@markpriest8504]

Yep so ugly. So devoid of anything pleasing.

[@jordipalmos7544]

@@LucasPelussothe roads in Mexico are just dangerous for cars, bikes, people and anything that moves

[@viccasaur]

People always talk down about cyclists in the US due to them being “ in the way” of the vehicles. Seriously... they literally have no where to ride! It’s pretty upsetting actually that Americans think they depend so much on pothole machines.

[@RDJ2]

Traffic separation doesn't just benefit cyclists. Bikes can't bother you in your car if they're on a different road. NJB could do a car perspective video to illustrate that.

[@pajasene]

@@RDJ2 Yes totally! My sister is soon to take her drivers license and we talk all the time about what to look out for ragarding poeple walking or biking. It makes it so mutch easier to drive when the lanes are fully seperated. Also i would imagine that truckers and busdrivers apreciate not having to look out for bikes on the road when driving big wehicles.

[@HelloWorld-yq9yy]

@Sweet Toother well In toronto, everything outside the tiny downtown is large strodes and large parking lot. And there are no real small businesses except for a few immigrant run businesses

[@UrbaneOracle]

The folks that yell at me most are the passengers in pickup trucks. Like, I'm glad you're sharing a ride but dang maybe respect other road users?

[@johndumpling1896]

@Sweet Toother This it usually the case in most of the European countries and cities.

[@francoisbouchart4050]

Calgary is my home so I feel I can say this: “You gave us a lot of pity points”. 😏

[@San-ez6yt]

Salut François !

[@Edwinbraun20]

Calgary look a bit like Estonian. Otherwise pretty but very rough roads. I’m comparison, Holland’s roads seem very well paved. Almost spotless. In west Europe they have quite impressive roads.

[@jakovnikolic2144]

here in edmonton we dont even have bicycle paths at all

[@jaymartine7670]

@@jakovnikolic2144 please stop embarrassing yourself by broadcasting your ignorance. Edmonton's bike network over 1300 kilometers. nice try, i hope for your sake that is the most wrong statement you will make this week, i fear for all of us it may not be......

[@jakovnikolic2144]

@@jaymartine7670 15 kilometres of protected bike lanes, 31 kilometres of painted bicycle lanes, and 1,180 of shared pathways, aka sidewalks or pedestrian walking paths. The very little proper bicycle infrastructure is in the city centre with a small amount in other places. For your own sake do proper research before trying to give yourself a cheeky ego-boost on the internet.

[@jackloder5691]

Calgary should have been lower, but the requirement shifted to "this is good by NA standards"

[@stillx1211]

It seriously is.

[@sudoku252]

It is seriously Pat by. 5 street underpass has been. Blocked by construction for eons.

[@ohwow9870]

It’s scary how low it scored while still being better than a good majority of US cities lol

[@Cobalt985]

It genuinely is. I live near Calgary and it was genuinely shocking how much bike infrastructure there was.

[@zeffery101]

oh it is 100% better than any bike infrastrucure I've ever seen. Vancouver was really nice, but I only stayed in the city. I live in Southern California and I only only bike on mountain biking trails.

[@j.mbarlow5952]

18:00 Biking along the Stroad... I want to point out my first observation. I live in a suburb as well in Canada, and I have to drive along a Stroad like this every day to work. What blows me away is what we see on your right during the majority of your ride along the Stroad: there was no place to put a big enough sidewalk or a proper bike lane, because these expansive CAR DEALERSHIP parking lots were overflowing onto the grass and the sidewalks. No space for pedestrian or cycling infrastructure, because they need to sell more cars, because nobody walks or bikes anywhere because all the real estate is occupied by the cars they are selling! Recent subscriber, who also hates being a suburbanite..

[@namenamename390]

You briefly mentioned that you want to wish for mopeds to be replaced by E-Bikes, and I couldn't agree more. I live on a street that is so steep, you will not get up there on a bike unless it has 21 or more gears and you never skip leg day. In fact, riding up here could be a replacement for leg day. So most people choose a motor vehicle to get up here, which is a bummer because it's already a 30km/h street that's pretty narrow, so in theory cycling would be fine here. And recently, the amount of E-Bikes has seemingly skyrocketed and I hear less moped noises and more conversations of people on E-Bikes while sitting at my desk. There's a café at the top of the slope, and while sitting there recently, I was amazed how many people rode that street up on E-Bikes.

[@sammymarrco2]

wheres this?

[@namenamename390]

@@sammymarrco2 rural Germany, the nearest proper city is Siegen, but my town has ~6k residents

[@ewoutbuhler5217]

@@namenamename390 Yes! Untill rcently the Electric boosted bikes were considerd for grandpa and -ma, but it's becoming quite popular as the prices are going down and the models are getting better. For sure the speed pedelecs. I really do not understand why many people love the roar of ICE and certainly not those high pitched mopeds, hate them.

[@namenamename390]

@@ewoutbuhler5217 I mean to be fair a lot of the people I saw were probably already in retirement, but honestly it's good that these people have an alternative to driving a car. Also, I still think a proper engine rev noise can be exciting, but keep it on race tracks and out of places where people live. And yeah, screw moped noises. That's not an exciting sound in any way, it's just loud and annoying and awful and I hate it.

[@ewoutbuhler5217]

@@namenamename390 I agree, it's great that e-bikes extend the time that senior citizens can use a bycicle. It's not meant to be demeaning, but nowadays it's just getting a bit mor "sexy" to use all kinds of cool e-bikes. Partly they are replacing non-E-bikes, that's a pitty, but every car-ride they save is a big win for humanity and the earth...

[@sarahr4855]

I just got myself a Dutch bike to ride around downtown calgary and I'm really nervous because of how hostile cars can be but also excited. Funny thing is I kept getting comments from people who thought my super cheap and plain Dutch bike was fancy and expensive 🤣

[@trystanswansonart]

i just try to stick to 12 ave, 2nd st, in beltline but otherwise theres the path that circles the entire downtown which i really enjoy, riding in the commercial parts is very hostile i literally got hit by a car last week while the dude was looking in his backseat and driving

[@exploringthedepths74]

you should also dock points for the scenery of the ride at places. some Canadian biking paths are so much more depressing (the loud street next to you and sea of concrete) compared to dutch paths which also contributes to your experience riding

[@potatomaaan1757]

Definitely at least worth a mention. If I had to cycle down that route every day I'd probably be much less happy in life

[@davoshaunessy7481]

Nova Scotia is appropriately ( even bigger ) same size as netherworld AND EVERY BIT AS BEAUTIFUL ( hollllland is quite beautiful) AS THE NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱

[@richardvanromunde4188]

@@davoshaunessy7481 I believe you when you say that Nova Scotia is a beautifull place. It seems hard to enjoy that beauty when you're travelling on bike to a certain place, like they do in the video. In the Netherlands there are a lot of bycicle routes that are used for travelling/commuting that go trough beautifull places where no cars are allowed or where they are restricted. That makes commuting a very pleasant experience. This is one of the reasons why I prefer to go by bike to work. I don't think I would bike to work if I had to travel on a stroad.

[@RememberedReads]

This used to be my actual commute, and they chose the more dangerous/less scenic way to get between those two points. The elbow river bike path (which is what I used to take) is more scenic and involves a huge car-free section.

[@s3fruit969]

You’d have to dock points from the Netherlands for never being sunny then

[@ephremcortvrint2376]

The most stressful part of player 2 was that so often I didn’t have a clue where he would go/where the bike lane was supposed to be. I’m so accustomed to the red roads in the Netherlands now.

[@PMCraig]

I’m kinda old at 64 and I grew up in the ‘70s in one of the “car dependent” suburbs of Chicago. Despite the lack of bicycle friendly infrastructure my friends and I rode our bikes everywhere. We’d ride on the edge of the roads and the vast majority of cars would slow down and give us a little space as they passed. We used common sense and chose lower speed/traffic roads as possible. Fast forward to today. People have changed and there are a way more of them. Try riding on the edge of the same roads today that I did as a kid and automobile drivers will be actively hostile to you, honking horns, swearing at you, even trying to run you off the road. Sad state of affairs but society seems a lot more hostile than it was 50 years ago. Lack of bicycle safe infrastructure is a problem but so is the current hostile society.

[@Imthefake]

the couple holding hands at 10:10 is the cutest thing ever

[@webchimp]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWXNc6Oaic6WiKs

[@Imthefake]

@@webchimp omg it's so cute I want to move there

[@kaj4501]

She's actually holding on to him because his bike is electric so she doesn't have to pedal as much 😂

[@Imthefake]

@@kaj4501 you just killed the last bit of love in me

[@mariadebake5483]

@@kaj4501 Do you really have to be that unromantic?

[@benderboyboy]

I'm absolutely astounded. In Singapore, we've been advocating for better bike infrastructure for a while now, and the progress is slow, though still far better than North American cities. Yet, seeing someone able to cycle such far distance in 10 minutes with such ease is truly enviable.

[@clebsgaming92]

The cycling infrastrucure in the Netherlands makes me happy and relaxed. The cycling "infrastructure" anywhere else gives me anxiety.

[@briannugent5518]

I'm British cyclist now retired in rural Massachusetts and I dream of living in the Netherlands just so that I can cycle all day, every day of the year simply for the joy of it.

[@TheAnoniemo]

Do a biking holiday in the Netherlands!

[@briannugent5518]

@@TheAnoniemo I probably will and test drive a Carver too.

[@MartienBLY]

@@briannugent5518 If you go to our country consider driving past by the stormvloedkeering. it is one of modern wonders of the world and i promise you ain't seen nothing like it. ;-)

[@briannugent5518]

@@MartienBLY I had recently watched some youtube videos of the incredible scale projects to reclaim land and manage the water. Its is indeed a wonder of the world.

[@tonnycroezen85]

Coming from Britain, you are at least used to our weather conditions. It might stop you from cycling everyday. You will enjoy the good days even more🙂

[@clawrence034]

At 13:39 is the intersection I was hit by a car at. Heading north on that block from the 12th ave bike lane, you have to cross 4 lanes of traffic without a dedicated turning signal so you're liable to be side swiped by cars (and during hockey games its full of drunk drivers coming out of the saddle dome). You're then supposed to ride on the sidewalk that's less than a meter wide with parking signs in the middle of it and 3 driveways. Then you get to the intersection where I was hit at by a driver turning right on a red light. Calgary has some good bike infrastructure, but they do a horrible job with starting and ending bike lanes.

[@kachinjsh]

Here in Riga, Latvia a painted bicycle gutter is a blessing from the Lord himself. Once such a lane appears on a previously 4 lane street, the motorists lose their shit and they park on it obviously.

[@Pathogen7]

It's no different in Calgary. Getting the protected bicycle lanes through downtown, that appear early in the video, took enormous effort at City Council. And I'm just waiting for the next mayor to get rid of them.

[@Markuden]

Okay im in a good mood so I will tell you the dutch secret to bikes. The secret is that EVERY dutch person rides a bike. Some more than other and some maybe havent for a few years, but everyone of them grew up on bikes as a child. So of course we prioritise bikes if everyone rides one. And of course there are less accidents if everyone rides one and knows how its like to ride on a bike. One of the most beautiful things I can see is a school were all the kids are coming by bike.

[@adityapathak5761]

Here in Mumbai, India we have got like 2 separated bike lanes (token lanes not more than 100m in length) in one of the largest cities of the country lmao. I cycle here on highways with multiple close calls every week, feels more like a death defying adrenaline rush than a quaint exercise

[@sjblack9135]

I don’t know why, but it suddenly clicked for me when you said “invisible infrastructure.” When I lived in Spain, I walked to work everyday, because the sidewalks were huge and it was so easy to get around. When I lived in Korea, I ran almost everyday by the river, because there were large walking and biking paths that made it easy to do so. I live comparatively the same distance from work now as I did in Spain, and I take my car. I don’t even think of biking, because the roads are incredibly narrow and winding, making it difficult to see pedestrians or bikers. Thanks so much for these informative videos-it really goes to show how infrastructure is an important aspect to quality of life!

[@nosegrindv4951]

Hello! cyclist from From Kelowna, Canada here! I never realized how high my baseline cycling stress level was until i felt the nirvana of watching you ride through Amsterdam in this video.

[@NotJustBikes]

I'm glad! That's part of the reason I wanted to make such a direct comparison.

[@birchtree5884]

The Okanagan Valley is beautiful, but full of stroads and massive parking lots

[@СергійДєдов]

It would be amazing to have such a videos about Eastern Europe, because in some countries the bicycle infrastructure is developing quickly but the understanding of how to do it is so pure. Unlike the Netherlands, it's more like American practice here. Anyway, thanks for doing a great job!

[@asdsdjfasdjxajiosdqw8791]

It differs so much from country to country or even from locality to locality in Eastern Europe. Some places are indeed like America, with no regard for anything but cars, other places are like the Netherlands in the later 1900s, with the start of bicycle infrastructure but very outdated designs, and some very few places actually rival the Netherlands in modern times.

[@boomerix]

Like in Budapest. In some places it's a nice bike path (like along the Danube), other places are like Mad Max, only the strong survive. Well at least we have a really good public transport infrastructure that works 24/7.

[@memoisis]

The difference is simply astonishing. The first ride felt like a cycle through heaven, while the other one - through hell. Still, anything is better than Russia, where even major cities have second to no cycling infrastructure and the sidewalks are hell on earth even for pedestrians. And the drivers... well, let's not even start on that topic.

[@GirtonOramsay]

Russians all have dashcams for a reason...insurmountable number of crazy ppl on the sidewalks and roads.

[@adammazeli]

Do you even have a road infrastructure in russia ?

[@memoisis]

@@GirtonOramsay oh yes i use a dashcam myslef

[@memoisis]

@@adammazeli just a tiny little bit of it =)

[@farmazonlost]

@@memoisis "why do you need a car, if don't have a road?" ©

[@joshcee3362]

I live in Colorado Springs, a city that bills itself as a healthy living, active "City of Champions" and I have to say...anywhere outside of city center is impossible to get to effectively as a pedestrian or cyclist. My work is 15 miles straight down a busy highway (intersected with stroad after stroad). The only "bicycling" intrastructure that could get me there more safely would take me more than 10 miles off course, and having to ride along many stroads still in each direction. Thanks to your videos, I now hate living in the US as someone who would love to have options other than a car.

[@joshcee3362]

Side note: I have a shopping center a mile from my house. The route there is along a stroad, and on an unpaved, unplanned "trail" worn in the grass by people that weren't given another choice.

[@insertaverygenericnamehere]

In Germany, there is currently a debate whether it would be a good idea to subsidize cargo bikes with € 1'000.

[@uncelebreinconnu1]

Great idea !

[@MrLeovdmeer]

Money down the drain

[@OP-1000]

@@MrLeovdmeer Why?

[@grambo4436]

I disagree with this it should be led up to the more regional and localized areas to see if there's any demand or support of it.

[@woutervanr]

Awful, it's like 2.5k in France I believe 😬

[@VarthBlitz]

I'd like to add that there's a lot of winding roads in Calgary with limited vision around said corners. The car at the bend at 17:36 is visible a split second into a potential interaction. That could genuinely be a dead cyclist if you have a speeding, drunk, or sleepy driver.

[@mikpiotto]

The lanes are separated, very unlikely on that particular road

[@yourex-wife4259]

This reminds me of this one road near me that goes up a gigantic hill. The road spirals up a mountain so you can only see about 10-20 feet (3-6m) ahead. On one side you have the earth coming up the mountain, the other, guard railing down a steep ledge. I sometimes see bicyclists taking that road because the view is beautiful. People drive insane though. I was going up in a car and almost got hit head on by an oncoming pickup truck that was completely in the wrong lane because he wanted to speed down the road.

[@taylorucr]

In LA, we just count how many times we almost die while riding through the city.

[@fenderOCG]

I live in NZ and legit assumed points would be based on near-death experiences. After 20 years biking to work I could never stay calm after near-death number 3, so to avoid potential jail time (or death obviously) I now run to work.

[@siobhanahbois]

Same in Seattle.

[@Ricky911_]

Same in Rome

[@flozano8]

It's surreal seeing the bicycle being used as a legitimate form of transportation. In the US, people (in my experience) mainly use bikes for fun, exercise, recreation, leisure, etc. It's also surreal seeing the amount of people on their bikes on those bike lanes: there's real volume and traffic, not just one or two people, like I'm used to seeing on US bike lanes (where they have them). In other words, if you're on a bicycle in the Netherlands, you don't get lonely. Or at least, you don't feel lonely. In the US, it's just a lonesome feeling, because you might be the only person on a bike, sometimes, for your entire ride. You kind of feel odd, and even second class, compared to people driving their cars.

[@njkuijper]

The reason for the poor junction at 8:00 is because that street is one of two exists for the CBR ( the building at 8:59). Which is where people learn to drive. If you think about it, its safer for cyclists as there is little risk an inexperienced driver could hit you as you dont have the right of way.

[@SimiDavid95]

Last summer, I decided I was going to practice cycling on city streets here in Toronto, since before I would only cycle on park pathways and trails, away from major streets. One day, I was cycling in the right lane of a 50 km/h arterial by my house, and a car with a trailer started honking behind me, and the guy was yelling at me to “get out of the way”. When I stayed in my lane, he passed me so closely my handlebar almost touched the side of the trailer, and I almost lost control of my bike. At that point I decided to put my bike away and haven’t tried cycling on city streets since. I am primarily a driver, but I would love to be able to cycle more around the city. However, I live somewhat far from downtown and we barely have any cycling infrastructure here. And if we do, it’s interspersed and not really interconnected. I fully support adding protected bike lanes city-wide, and changing road design so Toronto’s streets are accommodating for EVERY type of road user, be they a driver, cyclist, or pedestrian.

[@ISpieleUndMehrDE]

That roundabout in the Netherlands makes me envious. We have pretty decent bicycle paths in Germany where I live, but they just dump you onto the street whenever there's a roundabout, which creates very dangerous situations with cars trying to overtake cyclists quickly before the roundabouts

[@MartijnVos]

That is terrible. Intersections are the most dangerous parts of the road. I admit they take more effort to make safe, but it's effort well spent.

[@rest_in_prince_I_h_trains]

Same in Sweden, even in largest city Stockholm.

[@gctyrsdax2591]

Yep, non Dutch planners are staring to design/like roundabouts, but no idea how they should work properly…

[@Casperski1312]

Ive just binged your entire channel in one sitting. Thanks for helping me to understand why I hate every city Ive ever lived in. I have a disability that keeps me from driving, so I have to walk everywhere and, while I've always known something was wrong, youve really shed light on why Im always uncomfortable being outside. To make matters worse, the solutions for these problems will only find support among the most privileged communities as inner cities (that we see implementing bike infrastructure) continue to face massive cost of living increases. So, as usual in the US, the poor and disabled will continue to be overlooked and forgotten for the sake of profit.

[@Casperski1312]

Also Im going to need you to tell the Netherlands government that I work for you so I can move somewhere I will actually enjoy living. I can actually come work for you if you want, but I primarily just need you to cover for me so I can get my foot in the door. Thanks in advance!

[@_Matt_Matt_365_]

Ah my god! Finally! Been dying for another video from NJB!!

[@NotJustBikes]

Thanks! I'm back from holiday now, so videos should be coming more often now. :)

[@_Matt_Matt_365_]

@@NotJustBikes thanks for the update..!!

[@carfreeneoliberalgeorgisty5102]

I've been waiting forever for them

[@pizzablender]

But... you could have gotten that little bit of stuff at a much closer distance in Amsterdam. Which is another piece of "invisible infrastructure" - that everything moves closer to where people actually need stuff.

[@AirLancer]

Insert spiel about how cars give you "freedom", even though American dependency on cars in most places demonstrates how little freedom of mobility there really is.

[@NotJustBikes]

There are probably about 10 hardware stores closer than this one, but going to those would defeat the purpose of this comparison!

[@A_Box]

Also, there is definitely at least one large hardware store near the city center in Calgary. You wouldn't really go that far if you live downtown.

[@jonnyd505]

@@A_Box yep two decent options that are half the distance of this one.

[@ab-tf5fl]

The bike rack at the Home Depot in Calgary kind of reminded me of the bike parking at the Home Depot in Seattle. After circling around the parking lot a couple times, I finally gave up and just walked the bike through the aisles in the store as if it were a shopping cart.

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

Omg. The Netherlands is just on a whole other level.

[@eddys.3524]

Don't forget that it's a process of gradual road improvement going on for at least 40 years... Bike-friendlyness in the Netherlands isn't something that always existed. Most cities used to be car-centred while many people rode bikes and complained about the dangers they endured while biking.

[@MartienBLY]

@@Celis.C Well you can't cure stupid ;-)

[@MartienBLY]

Full disclosure. yes our infrastructure is quite good but we pay dearly to keep that way and still there room for improvement.

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

@@Celis.C It seems pretty safe from where I'm sitting. But of course I've never been there so I can't tell. What do people do that's unsafe?

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

@@MartienBLY You have the best cities in the world, by far. I also see ways you can improve. But it's like picking out imperfections on a super model who's a 10. You'd be disgusted by the cities in my country

[@N0VaDa]

I live in amersfoort in the netherlands, and this really makes me realise how lucky I am to live here. It's unbelievable for me that infrastructure like this isn't found at many places outside the netherlands.

[@gwendolynsarai]

As a Dutch girl the ride in Canada was really scary to watch😱 The roads are in very bad conditions and there are almost no signs. The roads are so unsafe and dangarous that I can understand that there aren't a lot of people motivated to ride a bike. It's like Russiun roulette💀

[@jonahpeacock2561]

I live in Nashville a city that sets records for pedestrian deaths and calls two lane road with a 80kph speed limit a bike route with no bike infrastructure at all. Calgary would seem like a safe bike trip to me which is sad.

[@gaywizard2000]

This guy took the worst possible route, we spend millions on bike lanes in Calgary every year. It's so unfair to my city!

[@BasePuma4007]

It's not that unsafe lol. Relax.

[@Hhhh22222-w]

@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 Netherlands has a huge amount of foreigners, Indonesians alone are more than a million, the infrastructure is good but it's a small country

[@sem_dervishi9386]

I live in Canada Montreal and I gotta say, the ride shown looks confortable to me compared to what I usualy go through. (Ex: going in a 60 road side by side cars and potholes and virtualy 0 infrastructure for bikes.)

[@alienamzal477]

What I love the most is your funny Patreon adverts

[@NotJustBikes]

Hah. Thanks!

[@SneakyJ1991]

Soon he'll thank his Patreon supporters who pay him to make jokes when thanking his Patreon supporters.

[@alienamzal477]

@@SneakyJ1991 dont give him any ideas

[@marcchapman6812]

Loving how the construction detour has more thought put into it than most bike paths around here.

[@martindh5264]

You should come over to the Philippines, Metro Manila. They recently started to build a bicycle infrastructure here, but I don't think whoever was in charge of it has ever seen a bike from nearby. One thing I was really impressed with is that every bike lane has clearly marked bicycle repair stations every kilometer or so

[@kamoke2011]

It is so very depressing to think that all cities could look like Amsterdam, but politicians (voters?) choose to cater to cars. Loads of respect to the Netherlands for that.

[@CurrieNerd]

I think it's more the lobbyists from the oil companies, and the politicians in their pay, causing the problems for the 'voters'.

[@Brozius2512]

Amsterdam is actually one of the worst cities in the Netherlands too cycle in.

[@BicyclesMayUseFullLane]

I'm pretty sure the Dutch have excellent bicycle infrastructures is because the people actually fought for it. Yes, up to, and including, blocking the "highway", and actual fisticuffs.

[@Markuden]

@@Brozius2512 Yeah Amsterdam is one of the worst. Its cost me way more focus to ride a bike there than in almost any other city.

[@miyounova]

In some places, voters are also guilty, yes. Where I live now, having a car is a given, no one wants to abandon theirs, worse, almost everyone wants a big car, whether they need it or not, and people change cars way too often (I'm from Europe, and I had never lived in a country where people routinely change cars, whether they buy new each time or second hand). People also all want a house, the bigger the better. They'll say they live in city X but will be living 30+km from the center or 45min+ drive from their work (driving on highways, not even on slow, small, packed streets) : mate, at this point, you don't live in city X anymore, you live in a different city, accept it. I'll never understand the need for a big house with too much space, but also, I will absolutely never understand or condone the need for a big house that means you can't walk or cycle anywhere, while not even being in the middle of the country side! Here, if you tell anyone you don't need your own big garden, with your own trampoline or your own pool, with 2 cars per family (more once the kids can drive), that you can share a ride, on a bus or train for example, share a swimming area, like the beach or city pool, share a park or community garden, or anything else, they'll almost be offended, and will often proceed to tell you they can do whatever the hell they want and you're just jealous

[@janSimiman]

As a cyclist I really like the anti-moped speed bumps in bike lanes. I usually accelerate whenever I see one coming up.

[@nathalie9905]

Yeah, it's like a mini rollercoaster :')

[@hens0w]

The moped around mine would too

[@TiaMat99]

don't forget to yell "wheeeee" when you cross them

[@luukrutten1295]

Yeah free pumptrack!

[@MB-co6qj]

Bmx cyclist?🤪

[@pascalstrijker3985]

cycling next to that strode gave me second hand fear for it feeling like your next to a highway on a bike.

[@sammymarrco2]

yep thats how it feels

[@PlatinumSan]

I am in Sydney, Australia and seeing the bike infrastructure in Amsterdam is absolutely amazing. Biking is basically just a sport/exercise here. You sometimes do see people delivering food using them in the city but it's not a very viable transportation method in the suburbs.

[@zoesaverage]

Such a great collaboration! The bike infrastructure in the Netherlands is so beautiful it makes me want to cry. The trip in Calgary actually made me physically anxious. My heart rate was noticeable up by the the end of the ride. Can't say it's much better in Australia, but cross country collaborations like this are so great at highlighting the differences. More please!

[@rickb3078]

Same anxiety here. Once he leaves downtown and starts on the wide 40km/h residential road it becomes an absolute nightmare.

[@alexseguin5245]

Your channel motivated me to get my bike out of the locker again. I've been using it to commute since then, and it's great! Such a good way to end the day after work.

[@NotJustBikes]

Nice!!

[@NickShvelidze]

I was amazed by the accessibility of everything when I went to the Netherlands! Great to see so many disabled and elderly people getting around independently and without cars.

[@thetheflyinghawaiian]

Ironically Calgary is leagues ahead of almost any city I've been to in the USA.

[@MonsieNL]

The “weird” intersection on 7:50 was changed most likely because of safety. When seen from the other side you see it used to be straight and crossing where you wanted. But this severely limits visibility towards the street from the right. It looks weird, but is safer. You’ll be more visible for cars and the cars for you.

[@7kaisheba]

People will have the hindrance of having the thought: I can drive as fast as I want to, which will cause accidents

[@TobiasMoes]

I knew the biking infrastructure in the Netherlands is great compared to other countries, but seeing a comparison like this really makes me appriciate what we have. Great video!

[@FunboxKaraoke]

You're an urban planning enthusiast with a remarkably hilarious sense of dry humor. Jackpot of a channel, right here.

[@ahmedzakikhan7639]

Haha yea

[@lyssasfaith]

I think it's also worth mentiong that traffic lights tend to work differently in Canada. I lived in Montreal for a year and one thing I noticed is that all traffic lights on one side tend to turn green at the same time. This made it a bit of a nightmare to turn left on an interzection as there usually is no zone for cyclists to turn left.

[@Caroline-us1hn]

It had recently been established, that the best cyclingcity (or beste fietsstad) in the world is actually the Dutch city of Zwolle! I would love to see Zwolle compared to another city outside the Netherlands... It would be really cool to see you react to it!

[@sarahkathleen6752]

Love this! You can also tell how much nicer the 1st ride was in comparison. The second ride looked way more stressful and bumpy.

[@BRACE_The_Ace]

As a physically disabled person (I have Cerebral Palsy) living in the US, this video makes me wanna cry. I wish I was able to have this much independence. Instead I have to rely on my grandparents & literally never leave the house unless I accompany my grandmother on a trip to the grocery store. Which I also don't have as much independence since we always have to walk from one side to the other to get just a few things.

[@jensanruby6739]

As someone who loves to walk to places even in the stroad hell that is edmonton, I have to say that I appreciate you pointing out how awful the sidewalks are. Do to a lack of cycling infrastructure I have to share the sidewalk with cyclists, which I hate doing. I just wish that there was more separation between the other modes of transport.

[@Radde1Radde]

Populations of the urban areas: Calgary 1.581.000 Amsterdam 1.558.755 So the cities are a good comparison. (source: Wikipedia)

[@Boost00130]

and Calgary has 4* the land area of Amsterdam

[@Galactic_Centre]

Thank you!

[@Radde1Radde]

@@Boost00130 Hmmm, does this mean, there should be enough space for bike lanes in Calgary or or does the larger area favour taking the car? I don't know...

[@sammymarrco2]

@@Radde1Radde yes but rn its full of grass and parking lots

[@mdlouie]

@@Radde1Radde Calgary is incredibly car-centric. Bike infrastructure, including that which you saw in this video, is always controversial. For some reason the ideal for most people here is owning a house, and with nothing really constraining the city's growth, developers have just kept going... There are tons of beautiful green spaces with recreational multi-use paths, but real bike infrastructure is rarely ever considered. It's also a windy, hilly city with harsh winters, so cycling is a tough sell.

[@FleshWound87]

8:13 On older pictures on Google Street View, you can see that there used to be a crossing with priority to cyclists at that location. I suspect they changed it for a bus route, and made the weird intersection like this so that the cyclists are more visible to the bus driver.

[@NotJustBikes]

Ah, interesting. That seems plausible.

[@MB-co6qj]

I think it also has to do with it being two different streets? At around 8:00 you can see the priority lane bending to the left, which would make a normal crossing there all the more confusing I guess?

[@ab-ky2rj]

you can avoid it by using the Naritaweg / Heathrowstraat intersection.

[@Untara1]

As a Calgarian of the inner city, I would be interested to see how it scores with the new Canadian Tire store in the beltline at half the distance...oh and NEVER EVER bike down MacLeod Trail!!

[@quinnhutson5566]

And in fairness to Calgary there was a plan to rebuild that whole stroad into a boulevard with shared use and shops along the sidewalk, they just couldn't sell people on the price tag.

[@sexyworm1000]

@@quinnhutson5566 I’ll never understand why cyclists don’t plan their route to avoid hassles like people who drive cars do, I intentionally avoid places like whyte ave and lrt lines cause they make driving annoying

[@Cobalt985]

@@sexyworm1000 ??? is this a joke? the route you saw Shifter take was the BEST you can do. that IS the planned route. that's the problem!

[@williamhuang8309]

Why is it even called a "trail" when it's more akin to a highway?

[@PhilVaive]

@@quinnhutson5566 Yeah that would have been amazing. North of Southland, Mcleod is just a disaster

[@FogelTheVogel]

The thing that stands out the most to me, in several of your videos, is that it surprises you that someone would have a conversation while riding a bike. I guess that shows how ingrained safe cycling is to someone that grew up here.

[@jasonreed7522]

I was tought to only ride single file for manueverability reasons, i assume this is a common lesson in NA that doesn't appear common in the Netherlands. Basically if you are side by side with someone they block both visibility and your ability to suddenly turn into the space they are occupying. I have ridden single file on both back country roads and our town's "bikepath" (its a multi use 5km loop around a gulf course, and has 2 entrances, its more like a park than an actual road to anywhere) and held conversations with my mother or brother behind me, obviously i have to speak up but bikes are already much quieter than even riding in a car so its not a problem. (The single file thing applies to most individual vehicles like ATVs, snowmobiles, bikes, motorcycles, ect its just a safety thing that doesn't aid quiet conversation)

[@coteries655]

I live in the #7 large city in terms of share of bike commuters in the US. While watching this video I was blown away by how insanely bike friendly the Amsterdam was. I can't imagine being able to go that far without having to stop at a busy intersection.

[@ke9tv]

I was envious of that Calgary sequence. I'm certain that my town would score even lower!

[@akshaykv123]

As someone who just moved to NL from Canada this is a real eye opener

[@82gamerprincess31]

I like that you mentioned a water filled pot hole. These things can be a death trap for rider and bike alike. Between that and high curb drops makes for a very good way to destroy a rim or take an over bar face plant. Here in my city we also have weirdly huge storm run off drains that if you get to close to the curb to avoid a car will end you. Hilariously our streets still flood often lol.

[@MrGpButler]

I'm just going to say that downtown Calgary was quite good for cycling. Imagine the comparison if it was doen 20 years ago. Canadian cities have come a long way.

[@HrafnkelHarthrathi]

You need to do this for a car trip, to show cagers that driving would often improve

[@shanetaylorwilson]

thank you for being one of the best channels on youtube discussing ideas in city planning and transportation from an engineering perspective! for years while working in the sciences, i have depended on your videos to supplement dense books in land use. i just got into a PhD program in urban and regional planning so i can finally formally study these important issues, and i am sure i'll be falling back on these videos to synthesize information

[@beingnonbeingincludesexistence]

Always great content from not just bikes, realy informative, fun, and it made me appreciate the Netherlands even more. Njb made me even interrested in urban planning, maybe in the future I will do that.

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

I never been in Calgary, and haven't been in Northern America for a decade by now, but it looks way, way better then anything i ever seen in North America before. So if this is how Canadian cities have changed, i'm genuinely surprised .Way to go ! 👍

[@benji272]

I live in the US, but Calgary is probably better than 99% of cities in NA unfortunately.

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

@@benji272 I do understand the problem, because people in general don't care much about 'society ' as long as they are alright. That's why a country needs taxation, (and anti corruption ) Don't get me wrong, i don't want to pay taxes. No one likes paying taxes. But i do love the carfree center, the green parks etc. So i guess people need to see the result first ? See what tax money can do for them.

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

@@chadcroteau2775 . I watched two other videos about Calgary, and i know we Dutch have a different system , 'developed over decades of pro-bike legislation etc .But we (and a few Scandinavian countries )are the exception, not the rule. What i did see & hear about Calgary is already far better then most European or American cities i have been.

[@dougbrowning82]

@@spiritualanarchist8162 In Canada, half your paycheque goes to taxes.

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

@@dougbrowning82 The same in the Netherlands.I used to complain about that , until i had an accident . Then i got help from the state with my rent , they provided a basic income, healthcare,etc ..That converted me into a leftie..😅

[@gregormonkey]

A bit beside the point of the video: I was shocked to see a single full-size truck (Chevy Avalanche) in the parking lot at the hardware store in Amsterdam, meanwhile anyone who has been to Alberta knows just how common such vehicles are there. Cheers from a fellow former Fake Londoner and keep up the great work!

I'm in Montreal and one thing I often see it disappearing bike lanes. Basically you are following a bike lane (good) and then it gets to some intersection and then it suddenly disappears, as if the planners decided to go on a coffee break. I'd certainly appreciate signs indicating the end of a dedicated cycle lane. The other issue is one way cycle lanes on one axis and two way cycle lanes in the other axis, leading to people finding themselves going the wrong way on a one way lane. This problem could be avoided with proper signage. I had been tempted to create a map where people could mark cycle infrastructure issues, but that never really happened. Maybe someone with more time could take up the initiative?