In this episode, I connect with Steffen Berr, an American engineer working as a transportation advisor for the city of Haarlem in The Netherlands, for a discussion about the difference in street design approaches between the United States and The Netherlands and how Dutch design can encourage more people of all ages and abilities to walk and bike more often.
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Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
– Steffen’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@buildthelanes
– Steffen’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@steffthetranspodude
– The Roundabout video: https://youtu.be/G24x26s3Hjg
– Not Just Bikes Million Subs Celebration Video: https://youtu.be/8nZh7A7qTPo
– My Haarlem Reaction Video w/ Jordan Clark: https://youtu.be/nBtENt-TTmQ
– BicycleDutch Channel: @BicycleDutch
– My interview w/ Avital Barnea: https://youtu.be/88OlKc4ps30
– My interview w/ Mr. Barricade: https://youtu.be/Ex7girkCKD4
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Credits: Video and audio production by John Simmerman
Music via Epidemic Sound: https://bit.ly/3rFLErD
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– Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: https://bit.ly/35DBDDU
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Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I’ve been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a “Culture of Activity” for “All Ages & Abilities.”
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2023
8 Comments
Whoa…. I'm from Sacramento and went to Cal Poly
Thanks for another great episode on our shared living spaces.
Would love to see a case study on Alkmaar, that is still more car centric vs. places like Amsterdam that have been transformed to be more focussed on walking and cycling. I've lived in both cities and Alkmaar feels very dangerous at many crosspoints and cars still have the main focus here. We also have a road to hell here in Alkmaar where many people get killed or injured all the time at the Kennemerstraatweg and Vondelstraat.
Steffen is one of the people who has made me belief there is still hope for the infrastructure in the US of A. Engineers who think for themselves and not just follow the standards because they are the standards are the gems around the world, and the way to improvement. This basically is the case in any field of expertise. If only there was a way to remove the money from the industries from politics, it could go fast. Thank you again for a great interview.
Seems like a loss for the US, things wont improve if you flee from them.
thanks John
Once again, great interview! It feels like both parties got to say everything they wanted! Thanks for sharing.
I decided to share six of my personal highlights/notes from this talk. Just things that felt important to me.
25:40. This really speaks to the effectiveness of auto's takeover of streets. In small scales cars are helpful. So obviously the city adjusts to make it even more helpful. A true Tragedy of the Commons playing out.
28:47. "It's really easy to damage part of the city and takes a very long time to undo the damage" Especially when it's something the inhabitants all are proud of. – It's often literary impossible to recreate the same emotion.
39:27. Nah, car traffic is like a gas. Take propane as an example. Let it loose and it explodes violently. Instead bottle it under high pressure. Now it's useful and safe for many to use.
47:25. The language has adapted is another thing I'm jealous of. The fact that roads are not "cycle streets" or "made for people" but instead has "staying quality". – A plane is made for people but not nice to be in. But if a plane had nice "Staying Quality" that's a whole different thing.
51:39. I wonder how bricks and winter would mix. Probably fine? Snowplows in Sweden are not really famous for being gentle even against asphalt. Luckily we're upgrading to sweep+dissolved salt!
1:00:45. The duet of hearing part of the system being explained and the stunning ride-along was an excellent touch. Great editing.
Great video! And nice to feature my hometown of Haarlem. I can’t for these infrastructure improvements to get implemented. Especially the area around the train station deserves some extra attention. Wouldn’t it be great to get our tram/street car network back in the city, and surrounding region?