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How the Dutch got their cycle paths

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    The Netherlands has the world's largest number of cyclists,
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    but it is also the safest place in the world to cycle.
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    That is largely because of the perfect cycling infrastructure, that can be found
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    throughout the country.
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    How did the Dutch get this network
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    of high quality cycle paths?
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    Some think,
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    including many Dutch themselves,
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    that cycle paths have always been there.
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    That is only partly true.
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    Yes, there were some cycle paths,
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    but they were of an entirely different type than today.
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    Narrow, of poor surface, dangerous or even absent at junctions and not connected.
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    And cycle paths weren't really necessary,
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    Cyclists outnumbered other traffic by far.
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    After World War II everything changed.
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    The Dutch had to rebuild their country
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    and they became incredibly wealthy.
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    From 1948 to 1960
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    the average income
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    got up by 44%
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    and by 1970
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    it was a staggering 222% more.
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    People could now afford expensive goods.
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    And from 1957 on especially
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    this led to many more cars in the streets.
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    Streets of mostly old cities that were not built for cars.
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    So buildings were demolished to make room for the car.
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    Even some of the old cycling infrastructure was removed.
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    City squares were turned into car parks.
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    And new developments had huge roads for motorized traffic.
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    The daily travelled distance
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    went from 3.9 kilometers in 1957
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    to 23.2 kilometers in 1975.
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    But this "progress" came at a terrible cost.
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    Cycling was marginalized; it decreased by 6% every year
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    and 3,300 lives were lost
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    in 1971 alone.
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    Over 400 of these deaths
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    were children under the age of 14.
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    The slaughter of kids
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    got people on the streets.
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    To protest.
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    "Stop the child murder"
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    called for safer streets for children
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    as pedestrians and cyclists.
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    Their calls were heard.
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    Especially when in 1973
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    the first oil crisis halted the country.
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    The then prime minister told the people of the Netherlands, that this crisis
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    was life changing.
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    That they would have to change their ways and be less dependent on energy.
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    But that that was possible without a decrease in the quality of life.
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    Policies to encourage cycling
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    fitted perfectly in that picture.
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    The car free Sundays to save oil
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    were a reminder to people
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    of what the cities looked like without cars.
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    Around this time,
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    the first city centers were made car free,
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    permanently.
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    And the protests continued.
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    Mass motorization killed people,
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    the cities and the environment.
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    Mass cycling tours
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    through the cities of the Netherlands and smaller protests in favor of
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    cycling facilities
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    created an awareness
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    that eventually changed thinking about transport policies.
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    In the mid 1970s
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    municipalities started experimenting with complete and safe cycle routes
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    away from traffic.
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    Financed by the national government,
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    the first cycle routes were created, from scratch,
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    in Tilburg and The Hague.
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    In retrospect
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    they could be seen as the start of the country's modern cycling policies.
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    Cycling increased in a spectacular way.
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    In The Hague by 30 to 60%
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    and in Tilburg by 75%.
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    "Build it and they will come"
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    proved true in the Netherlands.
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    So to sum it up.
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    What caused the changes in the Netherlands?
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    There were the problems of:
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    cities that couldn't cope with the increasing traffic.
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    That led to demolishions and to a public outrage over the amount of space
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    handed over to motorized traffic.
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    An intolerable number of traffic deaths that again led to mass public protests.
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    An oil crisis and an economic crisis that led to gas shortages and high
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    prices of energy.
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    The solution was found in the political will on a national and municipal level
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    with both decisionmakers and planners
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    to deal with this situation.
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    By turning away from car centric policies
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    and making way for alternative transport,
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    like cycling.
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    Cycling is now an integral part of transport policies.
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    And what success did the protesters have?
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    The child deaths went down from over 400
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    to 14 last year.
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    This street got its cycle path.
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    This bridge didn't keep its cycle lane,
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    instead it got a cycle path.
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    This painted cycle lane,
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    became a permanent cycle path
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    and cars were totally banned from here.
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    It is the now famous site of the "I amsterdam" sign.
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    Earlier, also a site of one of the mass protests.
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    The protesters would have been a lot more comfortable lying down there today.
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    The Netherlands' problems were and are not unique.
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    Their solutions shouldn't be that either.
Title:
How the Dutch got their cycle paths
Description:

The Netherlands is well known for its excellent cycling infrastructure. How did the Dutch get this network of bicycle paths?
Read more: http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-dutch-got-their-cycling.html
Click CC for subtitles in English or Dutch.
Klik op CC voor Nederlandse of Engelse ondertiteling.
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Video Language:
English
Duration:
06:29
Amara Bot added a translation

English subtitles

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