How did the Dutch get their cycle paths?

[Ep. 901] There isn’t a place in the world where people cycle so much on average as in The Netherlands. At the same time it is also the safest place to cycle, relatively. That is largely because the Dutch have excellent cycling infrastructure. But how did they get this exceptional cycling infrastructure, and why?

This video is a 2021 version of the original video from 2011 that was watched over a million times. This new video has the latest insights, contains newly found footage and has an update of the change that happened in the last ten years.

More information in the blog post: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p=22725

Music:
Mister Exposition by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4061-mister-exposition
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
and
Unnatural Situation by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4567-unnatural-situation
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The dutch cycle a lot and why wouldn’t they, on such beautiful and safe cycle tracks? But how did they get their cycling infrastructure, why and when? The very first Dutch cycle path was opened in 1885 in Utrecht, but it was really a racetrack,  for competition on high wheelers. Men like this,

There is no real connection to the  present-day cycling infrastructure. Cycling had long been for  the elite in the Netherlands. It was only after the safety bicycle was invented and became affordable for the masses, that cycling really took off, from about the 1920s. Many of these bicycles were Dutch made.

By then most cities had  several bicycle manufacturers. Bicycles became so affordable  that even children began to cycle. But the streets in the cities were not redesigned. There was no need for it at that time. That was different in the countryside. Because of the higher speeds  of motor traffic there,

It had been standard practice to  have cycleways next to highways, since the early 1930s. Some of which still exist. After World War II the bicycle was the most  affordable and most used means of transportation. It would take until the 1960s, before cars  came into reach of most of the population

And when they did, they changed everything! Planners thought they had to  redesign all public spaces  to make way for the car. Bicycles were seen as old-fashioned, things of the past, that would vanish soon enough. They didn’t and cars required more  space than there was available.

Towns and cities were not made  to accommodate all that traffic and there was another high price to pay. With cars taking over the public realm,  the streets became very dangerous. By 1972, the worst year in  history for traffic deaths,  9 people were killed every day  in traffic in the Netherlands.

People started protesting  against tearing down buildings  for roads in the city. In Amsterdam the road plans were stopped  in a very tight vote in the city council. Utrecht did build a road, partly,  but because it was never finished it didn’t serve a real purpose. To make traffic safer, speed limits were introduced,

As were drink driving laws and seat belts. People at the time did not think it was necessary, but the figures proved otherwise. The death toll dropped considerably, but not really for cycling. All over the country people joined  forces to demand better cycling policies.

A journalist, who lost one of  his three children in traffic… while another was injured, got a group of parents together. Their slogan: “Stop the child murder” was bold, but it resonated. Not only in society, but also with decision makers, especially those who had been affected themselves.

The Minister of Transport  had lost a son in traffic. He was willing to experiment  to improve cycling safety. In the late 1970s, the first cycle routes were tried out in Tilburg and The Hague, a mid-sized town and a large city. While criticized for being too elaborate,  too expensive and too disruptive,

They did start a change. A third project in Delft proved that  one route in a city is not enough.  you need a cycling network. Smaller interventions, like allowing  two-way cycling in a one-way street, bus stop bypasses, shortcuts through a park, small bridges and traffic lights adjusted for cycling,

Were more cost effective to improve  cycling levels and cycling safety. Further experiments changed Dutch street design. Speed bumps slowed down cars, home zones, called “Woonerf” in Dutch, became places where cars had  to share the road with people, even children playing! City centres were closed to car traffic and thrived!

Not everything worked right away. The first cycle street was  too far ahead of its time. Drivers weren’t willing to give  up their privileges just yet. Zones with a speed limit  of 30 km/h were effective, at least if you didn’t just put up a sign,

But really changed the street  to reflect that lower speed. Slowly, the Netherlands developed a system  of different types of infrastructure   for different locations and functions. There are roads for moving traffic, there is place to live your life and there are roads connecting the two.

Each with their own type of infrastructure, optimized for their function. After redesigning almost every  single street in the last 30 years, it is now often instantly  clear what a space is for. Fun fact: the type of cycling infrastructure   that was considered too fancy in the  experiments in Tilburg and The Hague…

Has now become standard all over the country. Cycling has become a viable  alternative to the car. Especially when combined with the train for longer distances. Bicycle parking at Dutch  train stations is spectacular. But the developments don’t stop. Separating cycling from motor traffic now happens on route level.

While through motor traffic  goes around residential areas, the cycle routes go right through them. And some streets that were once  main car routes have evolved. A cycleway got the cycling volumes up,  to the point that it became too narrow. Now the entire street has become a cycling street where cars are guest.

At places where there is more  cycling than motor traffic… cycle tracks are beginning to be removed! Thanks to fewer car movements that is possible. On average the Netherlands  does not own fewer cars,  than people in the neighbouring countries, but the Dutch do use them for different journeys and on different locations.

Wherever possible the more  car centric past is erased, so that the Dutch can cycle on and cities can look and feel  even better in the future. Creating cycle tracks is not a goal, creating an attractive and safe living space is.