Cycling  In  Amsterdam

If anyone wants to see how cycling can be the predominant form of transport in a busy city then visit Amsterdam.  Linden and I had the pleasure of spending a few days there at the beginning of November.  Most people know that Amsterdam is one of Europe’s longest standing cities of bikes but we were amazed at just how dominant cycling is.

Everywhere you look there are people on bikes and bikes parked.  All the wider streets have dedicated cycle lanes but the cyclists ride everywhere, including out with the traffic, along narrow streets where motor vehicles are banned, through alleyways, and back and forth across tram tracks.  Also, everyone cycles with enthusiasm; no-one appears to just potter.

There are no special markings, coloured surfaces, advanced stop lines, ‘cyclists dismount’ signs or steel barriers.  The cycle lanes are marked with just a painted line or a line of raised blocks.

It is enlightening and refreshing to see the way that all road users seem to avoid and respect one another.  The few cars there are avoid and give way to cyclists, and the cyclists avoid and give precedence to pedestrians.  There seems to be none of the antagonism between different types of road user that we exhibit in the UK.  Also, the situation makes the way that UK highways engineers agonise over the precise details and engineering of cycling facilities seem out of all proportion.

Much to our amazement we did not see a single reflective strip, fluorescent jacket or helmet on any cyclist all the time we were there.  All cyclists ride in their normal clothes, including coats and skirts.  We even saw people cycling with an unfurled umbrella in one hand whilst steering the bike at a shallow angle across wet tram rails with the other hand!

Furthermore, very few cyclists had lights at night, despite the generally dark clothing and complete absence of reflective strips.  Is this cycling anarchy or just the sensible way for people to move about a city where people and not motor traffic dominates? 

Cycle parking has to be seen to be believed.  Bikes literally line the streets, often two or three deep against walls and railings.  Technically they often obstruct the pavements, sometimes leaving just a narrow channel for pedestrians to walk through, but interestingly we saw hardly any cars parked with wheels over the kerb.

For the less energetic or weather-hardy members of the population, one can always take a bus, a tram or the metro.  Public transport in the city is extremely efficient, and relatively cheap.  Single zone journeys using strip tickets work out at less than 50p per journey.

It is good to see just how well the use of cycling and public transport can work, and how the dominance of cars in cities can be eliminated.  At the same time it makes it all the more depressing and frustrating to come back to the UK and see the political and cultural barriers which result in us spending a lot of time and talk going virtually nowhere with our transport policies.  It is hard to see why the politics and cultures are so different between the UK and elsewhere in Europe.  You would not think that we are generally of the same ethnic origins and have similar democracies.

One gets the impression that if Amsterdam was faced with a fuel crisis it would have little impact on life in the city.  In the UK, however, we have experienced first hand just recently how rapidly a shortage of petrol brings the entire nation to a standstill. 
 

Make sure you are in Amsterdam when the oil runs out!

Peter Hutchinson