Cycling in Amsterdam (NLD)

In many places people drive around in cars. From an Amsterdammer’s perspective, these people are potential cyclists. That is because in Amsterdam cyclists dominate the streets. It is widely considered to be one of the best cities for cyclists in the world. When Floris and I moved to Amsterdam, we joined the city’s biking culture and cycled to every destination in town. We sold our cars since they were standing idle and were only costing us lots of money.

To us the advantages of cycling are obvious. Bikes – “fietsen” in Dutch – do not emit any CO₂ or any other pollutants, which makes them perfect for tackling climate change and air pollution. They also keep you fit, provided a city has the necessary infrastructure to guarantee a biker’s safety. Bikes are fast and easy to park and take up considerably less space on the road than cars, buses or trams, which is great for clogged up inner cities. Most of them are cheap and there’s a bike for every purpose. Therefore, biking is the preferred sustainable transport solution for cities, as it tackles air emissions, health and use of space all combined!

Still, in many cities only few people cycle to work, to do groceries or to see friends. What is obvious to us, often amazes foreigners visiting Amsterdam. This article therefore focuses on the benefits of cycling and the infrastructure needed to stimulate a biking culture in your city, while also some challenges are discussed.

Zero emissions

Cycling is – next to walking – the most sustainable means of transportation. It emits zero CO₂when in use, which makes it climate neutral. Furthermore, it also emits zero NOx, SOx or particulate matter, which positively contributes to the air quality. When different means of transportation are compared in terms of CO₂emissions, gasoline cars stand out on the high end of the scale with 225g of CO₂emission per kilometer per person (when used by one person) (Source: Milieucentraal – Dutch). This provides us with a good indicator of the CO₂emissions saving potential when car drivers shift to bicycles.

Health benefits

Riding a bike is a great way of staying fit. The relaxed pace of biking is a like a slow-motion exercise. Even moving around the paddles for half an hour a day already has significant health benefits. These include: prevention of diabetes, burning body fat, cleaning of blood vessels, reducing stress and protecting your brains. This has been proven by scientific research (Dutch).

An indirect beneficial health effect is the lack of air pollution from bikes. Whenever someone moves from a car, motorbike or scooter to a bike, NOx, SOx and particulate matter emissions decrease. Seen in this context, supporting a strong biking culture can be a sensible policy when local governments need to enforce clean air quality laws. Naturally, these health benefits are only relevant when biking can be done safely at all times. And there’s where infrastructure comes in.

Infrastructure and safety

When in Amsterdam, you’ll certainly notice the sheer amount of bikes. In 2015, there were actually more bikes (881,000) than people (821,000) (Source: Amsterdam – Dutch). All these bikes move around quickly and safely because of the cycling infrastructure and the cycling culture working together. The cycling infrastructure invites more people to safely use bikes. Bike lanes are everywhere, clearly marked and very often separated from the streets. When kids learn to cycle at a very young age, they, become very capable cyclists when they grow older.

However, this wasn’t always the case in Amsterdam, and the change didn’t happen by chance. Seeing images from a few decades ago, when the city was choked with cars, really illustrates that point. Although cycling in Amsterdam has a long tradition (as American Pete Jordan describes in his book), in the 1970-ties the residents took some very specific steps to get to where they are today.

The short film “Bicycle Anecdotes From Amsterdam”(in English; credits: Street Film) nicely illustrates a foreigner’s view on the city’s biking culture. When Pete Jordan was asked why he left America his answer is “Because I saw 927 bicycles in 20 minutes”. While that is nothing special to a Dutchman, it apparently is to an American.

The video explains this story of two sides very nicely. On one side the advantages of cars are explained: technological “progress”, economic growth and convenience for those who can afford to buy cars. On the other side their disadvantages become clear: air pollution, public space is taken away and traffic safety conditions worsen.

The key for change in Amsterdam came from a grassroots cyclist movement, assisted by a coordinated public effort to demand policy change. The result is the infrastructure we see today.