Congo Bongo I apologize for my countrymen. I know it happens that way. Outside of Amsterdam its beautiful to cycle. Walk through the cities. That way you use most of your muscles...and finish it off by having a nice glass of Heineken!

as an italian living in a bordertown of belgium I do to (thank the protesters) still italy is stucked in the 60's no cycling infrastructure at all , what a shame specially for the beautiful landscapes and hills

​@@215alessio​I love Italy and it's beauties. (The landscapes, the monuments and and above all the ladies) but when you bike, you do not have the leisure to admire much the surroundings. You pay attention to your balance and all the dangers. To bike is to be vigilant. :)

Time to take actions, my friends💪

Ciao Alessio si la situazione non è cambiata ancora ,ci sono dei tratti ma come ciclista pendolare sono quotidianamente esposto alla morte👋🖖

Cycling is a high status symbol for evolved countries. It's shameful that anywhere would deem it low. Pity.

the netherlands is pretty small so it's been transformed really fast.

@@miles5600 yeah right. Go make excuses somewhere else.

@@miles5600 they are small but they are also the 2nd largest exporter of food in all of Europe too! Not only are their roads amazing but they have some of the best farming techniques in the world.

And the Dutch aren't done developing either. There is non-stop room for improvements. The bicycling parking garages are really starting to pop up nowadays. And cycling tunnels underneath busy roads so the cyclist don't have to cross the roads at all. I can't wait to see what they come up with in the future to make it even more convenient to cycle.

@@miles5600 size is irrelevant, because if it did matter, you could just subdivide your country into sufficiently small bits, until you have a small enough size -- thereby making size irrelevant.

Poppy M he is right about the Dutch being docile. The Dutch citystates were used to being ruled over by other foreign powers. They just paid their taxes and were given a decent amount of atonomy to live their lives the way they wanted. Until Philip II came and burdened the dutch city states with heavy taxations to pay for his spanish wars and all the while prosecuting dutch protestants. Then the dutch with the help of willem of orange decided it was enough. The germans are docile towards their own goverment, but not towards foreign powers.

My country created bike paths. Then put benches, plants and concrete barriers ON them to stop cars parking.

Car is also incredibly space inefficient. Although a full car is fine, but with many cars carrying only the driver will consume unbelievably amount of road space.

@@dbclass4075 True, most people take the car alone and yet even small cars take up more space than 4 and often 6 cyclists

@@tiaxanderson9725 There are microcars that can consume very little space. Toyota iRoad is an example.

And bike traffic is different how?

@@metal87power They have smaller footprint per person, and requires less following distance than cars due to their low speed. While they can eventually reach that point, it takes far more bikes than cars of the same road space to reach that.

"Green" means realistic, aware of the rest of the world and not owned by carcompanies these days.

@@woutervanr No, The Mayor of Paris is really bad at about everything, really poor management of money (one of the worst city for debt and money management), really bad security, really dirty city with a municipality that doesn't do anything about it. The municipality also use huge amount of money to grow some tree (the green part) but it is after removing other trees (so basically they cut trees in order to put some new trees, and they count those new trees in their statistics)

Though it also was there before. A big part that kept cycling alive was the counter-culture movement of the 1960's. Bicycles were seen as the symbol of the anti-materialism of the youth and they became more and more associated as the vehicle of not just anti-material hippies but also the poor, foreigners and every other marginalized group. When the oil crisis hit that attitude was expanded where riding bicycles became an act of defiance against the oil embargo and seen as healthier as the 1970's also saw the explosion of the 'healthy' lifestyle. It's now standard to associate the Dutch with bicycles but before the 1970's the Dutch were not really that much more cycling happy than the Germans or French. However everything just kind of came together with the association of bicycles with rebellion and youth, a better surviving cycling tradition compared to other countries, a search for national identity, a drive for a healthier life style and increasing oil prices.

while I did like cycling, it's pretty much the same for me. Growing up in the Netherlands I never realised how good things actually were for cyclists. Only when I moved to Germany I started realising what I had back in the Netherlands. Moved to Düsseldorf about 16 years ago and up til a few months ago I didn't even own a bike because it's so fucked up for cyclists with bikelanes only here and there and the car drivers not really giving a fuck about cyclists. Started getting a bit better a while ago which made me decide to finally get a bike. Still not all that comfy for a cyclist here but at least I can cycle without really having to worry for my life.

Cycling in America is a nightmare. Chicago is considered the most cycle-friendly city in the country, but I have two friends who were seriously injured. The American idea of a bike lane is to paint stripes in street, which are pretty much ignored by drivers and otherwise useless.

Avenged84 As German living in the Netherlands, I tend to agree. I think the north of Germany (Münster and up) has better cycling-infrastructure and -culture than what you see in Düsseldorf, but even that doesn't compare to anything here in the Netherlands. I can get anywhere by bike and rarely need to get close to other traffic!

+Namewarvergeben And one day...maybe...máybe..you guys can start trusting the traffic and stop wearing helmets in The Netherlands too :P

Abstract1984 I am American and want more cycle lanes in my city. Isn't funny that we always feel the grass is greener on the other side.

What works in the Netherlands, probably only works in similar situations: -high population density -everything within cycling distance -people being prepared to pay for it through taxation It might be food for thought anyway even if you can't copy/paste the roadbuilding methods etc. perfectly

"High population density". That describes most cities. ""Everything within cycling distance" - That too. "People being prepared to pay for it through taxation" - The Dutch build cycle path because for every euro invested, there is a threefold return to the taxpayer, due to reduced congestion, pollution, improved healthcare & work productivity.

Of course, that's why I wrote "learn from them", not "imitate" or "copy" them.

Amsterdam was retrofitted from the mid 1970's onwards. Before that cars dominated.

@@zivkovicable Amsterdam was retrofitted from the mid 1970's onwards. Because at the time cars dominated.

@@wimahlers I think that is what I meant..

YES!!!! I'm from Mississauga and pur huge roads are so ugly. Not to mention Mississauga's roads are empty of people and cars, thus lots of wasted space. Hopefully we can improve this.

Most Dutch cities changed their road requirements and when the road had to be replaced because of wear or the sewer needs work, they have to add cycling roads. In 20-30 years time you have an entire network without too much impact on budgeting because the road had to be redone either way. Tell your city councilor that.

me too. German living in Australia here. Barely any cycling infrastructure here, public transport is a joke and in a lot of cases you can't even get to the "local" shops without a car.

you can always move here if ya want haha

In Australia it's probably 50/50. Perhaps our tendency is to look abroad and say things like, "We're going to follow best practice," kinda waiting for someone to tell us what that means. My van broke down e few weeks ago and I've done at least double the amount of cycling in the meantime. I feel as though my quality of life has improved.

Mobliz what type of place allows that to be possible. Definitely not where I live

You guys know what you have to do to get there : pressure you elected officials

Keep doing it though. You're the reason they might at some point improve the infra.

However, their example is not universal. Each country has a different geographic area with its specific means of transportation that are most suitable for its citizens. There's a place for bicycles everywhere but in different proportions.

@@metal87power most countries in Europe excluding maybe Russia has the potential to do this because they're usually small. Medium Larger/very distributed countries like Russia, The US, Brazil, Australia, Canada etc also have the potential but they'd first need to improve public transport, trains, bus and tram system at the same time or before they implement

And I heard the Netherlands doesn't have school buses. Student who live further just bike. Makes sense

@@irrelevance3859 95% of all students in the Netherlands cycle, walk or get to school by train

@@irrelevance3859 Those countries you talk about have a population really concentrated, so it is feasible as well. Even though Russia is big, the population is concentrated around the Moscow and St Petersbourg région

well, i guess that was a beautifull day then, cus normally people here rage quite a bit over anything that happens

s99bf0c8 oh man I just absolutely love Dutch cycling culture. I would love to cycle around tulip fields & orchards whenever i get the chance to goto Amsterdam or any other city. I wish I lived there as well.

***** Dublin

+s99bf0c8 nah you just had a lucky day, cyclists in Amsterdam are aggressive fuckheads and a nightmare for pedestrians. I've been almost run over so many times, they just don't care, they dont care for pedestrians or crosswalks, all they care about is getting past you as fast as possible with 30-40 kmh

Bull. Yes you have to watch yourself in Amsterdam or the other big cities if you are not used to being around so much cycling traffic. Apparently you were not used to it and made mistakes which some cyclists did not appreciate and call you names? Of course there are always a few that are aggressive but most people are fine and friendly there.

Nice comment. Singapore is an impressive place. Lots of innovation there. I hope all countries can emulate the Dutch way of making cycling accessible and widespread. Cycling is so beneficial and the benefits are too great to ignore- improving quality of life for everyone- individuals in health, happiness, finances, and to society overall in reducing pollution, healthcare costs and the losses of vehicle accidents and deaths. Optimizing cycling infrastructure = winning.

Got much difficulty getting around safely? Do you have any bike amenities in your city at all, or are the roads only suited for the car? Curious to know!

Gerwin Bergsma I live in north Miami , USA it is not very bike friendly at all unfortunately. Along the beach there is a nice boardwalk but besides that all we have is “share the road” sign or a narrow lane with white stripes right along the traffic :(

Though it's also important to acknowledge the social forces that came together. Cycling hang on in the 1950's and 60's largely due to the counter culture movement. This actually changed the image of the bicycles from something lame and outdated to something rebellious and cool. They also greatly made bicycles associated with the Netherlands and now bicycles are considered a core part of Dutch nationalism. This is quite a big thing though because it made national conservatives and progressive socialists allies rather than enemies when it came to cycling.

The link between cycling infrastructure and the happiness of people cannot be understated. For example children are able to be independent in getting around safely thanks to the cycling paths. This independence has a large influence on their happiness and character.

It’s so much nicer to live here than where I used to live (England). But, particularly since Brexit, the English leaders think they have nothing to learn from “foreigners”

Wrong tense! In the United States, as growth in motorised traffic resulted in massive increase in road deaths, the fledgling automobile industry took over and subverted the emerging road safety campaigns: Rather than controlling automobile traffic for the safety of other road users, they instead eliminated more vulnerable road users from the streets. See "Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City" by Peter Norton. MIT Press, 2008: g.co/kgs/PPZ8hS

As is so clearly demonstrated by AASHTO's consistent inclusion of protected infrastructure in all versions of its new cycle infrastructure guide and the >600% increase in protected bike lanes in the US since NACTO published its first cycling infrastructure guidelines. The automobile industry in the US sees selling automobiles as a lost cause in the long term already. Ask Ford, who has come up with some really intelligent traffic analysis software that can analyze pedestrian traffic and presumably also bicycle traffic as well as motor traffic and parking, as well as dabbling in bikeshare systems. They've publicly stated that they no longer see their future as an automobile company. General Motors is in a similar situation, and they already sell e-bikes (unfortunately not yet in the US). They would likely prefer the US to follow global trends instead of making their lives more difficult and making them less competitive on a global scale. The oil industry is in relatively dire straights no matter what happens. There has already been a peak in US oil consumption (2005). Their future is with Vaseline, lubricants, plastics and other petrochemicals, and they already know that. As such, their political grip will weaken substantially, and they know holding up the progress is futile, as has been seen by the attempts of the coal industry to lobby Trump, with no success at all in stopping the decline of coal fired power plants in the US. Frankly, there are only a very few young teenagers I have met who are enthusiastic about driving. Only about six out of many hundreds that I have met are actually all that enthralled by it. It is true that many of them love the freedom it affords in a country that still has a lot of work to improve conditions for cycling and walking. But the actually act is joyless, not so different from using a fridge. Incidentally, of those I have met who like driving, as many of them are women as men. It's certainly not a guy's thing anymore. We still have a lot of work, but I see that with the way things have been going for more than a decade now, and seem to continue to be going, a future like this seems highly likely, even for the US. In fact, I would not be surprised if long term, we get known as the nation that terminated its love affair with the car.

@@Ring_Zero Well, that is a problem: those vulnerable road users may not have access to cars, but they still have to get somewhere.

Yes, it should be shown in school in the Netherlands. But it should also be shown in school in India, USA, and Canada.

dankje ;p

To be honest, also in our country there are lot of dumb people. Only, we're inovative, we love to take initiative and be progressive. Be open-minded, every country could be as us.

I really respect the Dutch and I've never met a dumb Dutch person yet. I've been to the Netherlands five times and I've always found the Dutch to be honest, intelligent and friendly people.

We don't like to be told what to do, that's all. So we all want to be managing.

Indeed you also need to do it well. How they do it in the Netherlands is by having 3 separate road networks. One for pedestrians, one for cyclists and one for cars. Sometimes there is a fourth for public transport as well. They overlap where possible to save cost but each one is a complete network in it's own right with places where people would like to go and since cyclists take up less space they can get routes that are considered too expensive for cars.

Exactly. First, they build unsafe infrastructure and then blame the cyclists if they get hurt: "Just wear a helmet!" or "don't pass a turning truck".

so is every other country in the world. but we're changing really quick!

Actually the Netherlands was behind the US as the US already faced this crisis in the 1920's but the cars won that battle and they even managed to put into law that the streets belong to cars. It actually is that delay that changed the outcome cause by the late 60's a lot of the novelty of cars had started to wear off and anti-materialism was on the rise.

@Mahima Bhat Same hahahah! Go look up highly sensitive people/person (HSP), i just found out that Im not the only one

He actually made me cry with the incredible luck the Dutch had from all those circumstances coming together to allow this

Same here in the US.

Casimira26 I hope in my country as well. I love riding my bicycle but its dangerous because I'm side by side with cars and trucks.

Farhad Ramadhan yes sorry! YT doesn’t notify me when subtitles are made. I saw it by chance now.

BicycleDutch thanks anyway! The video is incredible, I wish one day all the streets from all around the world to have cycle lanes.

Farhad, best of luck with your Kurdish endeavours. I've been rooting for your freedom for years. Once you get your free nation, make the streets bike-friendly! Show the world that the Dutch bike safety is not a fluke, and that anyone can achieve it, as long as they are willing to sacrifice some car flow, which is much safer for cars as well. Slightly related: 'Fahrrad' is German for 'bycicle'. It seems so close to your name and I found that oddly fitting.

YES!!!! Brilliant comment. I wholeheartedly agree.

...including 'stroopwafels'...

Unfortunately not a US-only issue. Here in Germany I recently saw an argument between a city's official police twitter and a ped/bike activist who asked why a driver was able to run over a 4 year old that darted out between parked cars in a super narrow side-street. He was driving the allowed 30km/h and the police say there was nothing he could do. The activist said he should have been travelling slower because of the hazards. The entire argument ended with the officer in charge of social media saying "If you had to take into account that a child could run out from behind every parked car in a residential area, you couldn't drive there more than walking speed, or not at all!" Gives me /r/selfawarewolves vibes

yep, when ever there is a crash the police will figure out what happend and urban planners try to fix those problems

@@severinkempf7819 There’s some truth to both sides. A driver can’t possibly avoid every situation which could cause a accident. Even driving 20 in 30 zone can still cause an accident. And even if the driver is removed a cyclist can still hit a child. It’s part of life, shift happens.

So true and for other places too. We should always prioritize the most vulnerable users on the road first. Unfortunately many have the attitude that people walking and biking need to get out of the way of their car. This is why I love Dutch infrastructure design. It purposefully slows cars down at conflict points and tells drivers they are in a bike or pedestrian zone rather than bikes/peds having to enter a car zone like is typical in so many places.

You're being very harsh to US authorities. In all fairness, you can't blame them because the entire focus on transportation has always been that cars outweigh pedestrians and bicycles. It takes quite some time and a lot of citizens to convince authorities that their cities would thrive if they banned cars and promoted more eco-friendly and more safe ways of transportation. Like bicycles.

It seems to me like we need to do the same for climate change.

Love your message! The answer is that the Dutch are absolutely anal about perfect roads in general, not just for bikes. Not a single pothole or bump in the country. That's the one thing we've never had to protest for. The government has always kept a close eye on the quality of roads. Maybe because we have primarily imported and exported since the Middle Ages, combined with the fact that we are a small country? Something we've complained about over recent years, was parking facilities for bikes in the 4 largest cities. Now they are building parking lots. In my view the only real problem that remains is bicycle theft.

I'm also from the Philippines! I get so jealous seeing the dedicated bike lanes in this video. I haven't even seen a single one in my lifetime. I could imagine going to school, malls, etc. on a bike and being able to save up money due to the decrease in travel fares.

I think people all over the globe would love to have Dutch cycle path network in their respective country.

They would be called "woke" and "SJWs" in today's world. But it just proves left wing policies are the best for the people. The only people who "suffered" were rich scumbags who can't drive their Lamborghinis in the street

That's because they have been told from a very young age that the US is the greatest country on earth, so they never look somewhere else for something better because they don't believe that there is something better.

@@Brozius2512 The sad part is that if you tell them that there is a better way they will immediately call you indoctrinated and brainwashed! They are so afraid of the truth they will bully and try to intimidate people who tells the truth. This is the American way nowadays. It is sad that a country that had such a big potential to be something really great have fallen to this.

They they they....

@@RiderOftheNorth1968 As an independent-thinking American, I deal with this EVERY time when I say things like, "I prefer shopping by bike" or "I refuse to own a car". It's not that they prefer to use a car for everything, but how they always judge me for choosing an alternative option...in so-called "land of opportunity" lmao

@@AssBlasster It is a sad state of affaire really. It is like independant, free, thinking is suddenly a bad thing in the US! You have my sincere sympathy, for what it´s worth. I live in one of those EU-countries that have "no freedom" with gun control and what not and I can choose without much judgement from my fellow men.

So happy to be living in 🇳🇱

Lol that average is so true. When my brother and I still lived with our parents we had 6 or 7 bikes. A friend of mine in a family of 4 or 5 actually had 20 in total 😂

A very sensible approach.

And gives them more incentive to use their bike and leave the cars for only when it's absolutely necessary

And in the driving lessons (for cars to get your drivinglicense) the dutch also learn to always pay attention to bycicles

age of the pedestrian or cyclist does not matter, if a weak road user (pedestrian/cyclist) and a strong road user (car) have an accident, at a minimum it is 50% the fault of the strong road user* *unless the strong road user was not at fault for the accident, example: car was parked and cyclist tumbled over parked car.

Surely if you parked on s cycle lane, someone would call to impound or fine your car i would think.

@@pebblepod30 In London maybe a warden would eventually give the car a ticket. In Amsterdam the Mayor would declare a state of emergency, call in the army to napalm the car, & the driver would be shot at dawn.

​@@zivkovicable Sounds like a fun night of entertainment. Forget the cannabis shops and red light district, I want to see an illegally parked car get "dealt with". I'll be watching with an Amstel in one hand and a windmill cookie in the other.

It used to, it doesnt anymore.

@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 yeah, they are deaf now or something

@@YannickTG you mean because nobody is wearing masks which increases the amount of people getting sick. Where they keep saying, we will open up the country again but keep wearing masks because covid is still about. But people just go no masks everywhere because they don't care. Literally the only reason people don't wear masks or take vaccines is because of american fear mongering and complete incompetence in handling the outbreak. And somehow think The Netherlands is the same because they listen to a foreign country media sensationalism. And carefully nitpicked out of context news so they can win over voters in, again, America and not The Netherlands. So they close it all down again because the amount of people getting effected is way more then anticipated.

America has no tole to play here. The fear-mongering is completely doen by out own anti-vaxx idiots.

I have a colleague that came into the office twice a week by aircraft. It is not that easy to bike from NY to DC.. Things are changing however, but very slow. According to US DOT, the average commute (one-way) is about 15 miles. In the US it would actually be easier to start with the major cities like NYC or LA. They have huge traffic jams pretty much all day long, so they would benefit the most from a cycle infrastructure, also people that live in the city, usually also work in the city so commute distances relative small.. But it is not just cycle infrastructure that is needed. They also have to change (get rid of) the zoning laws. Zoning laws prevent that small businesses coexist in residential areas. It doesn't help if you have to bike 20 minutes to get the store for daily groceries.. But as federal government already have huge problems with maintaining the current infrastructure, I don't see them any time soon making a budget to implement cycle infrastructure..

@@2Fast4Mellow Finaly someone who understands, indeed zoning laws are the main reason the US and Canada are car dependent. Yes cycling infra cost money, but here in the Netherlands we improve or make big changes when maintenance is scheduled, it is basically never finished, what was a good road with cycling 15 years ago is now outdated. And realise that cycle lanes are good value for money, they last ... forever. Roads wear and tear because cars and trucks are heavy, cyclist less (maybe not in the US 😉). So more bikes less cars saves money on infra, less maintenance.

you can't change the whole country from one day to the next. It took the Netherlands 47 years to build a network totalling 273.000 km (170.000 miles). A good informative channel on city planning in this respect is: not just bikes they give a lot of information on why certain things work and why others don't with a clear focus on the USA and Canada.

@@hds66nl29 I wouldn't say they last "forever" especially not when next to tall trees with roots that sometimes lead to cracks/bumps, winters still do their thing and in rare other circumstances damage can occur as well. But if they are designed to hold up to the demands of the future location and width wise they definitely last a lot longer with lower maintenance costs and probably require less foundation work below it than roads for cars. My old school route which had a municipality boundary halfway to the city was always an interesting experience. The municipality where I lived was better maintained (quick to patch damage) and better at snow clearing/salt. Then passing the city municipality border and they prioritised the city bicycle infrastructure first then the main routes to/from the city, which isn't great commuting to school early due to the weather. It was also obvious that after a number of the harsher winters the city municipality parts of the path was getting more damaged bits that weren't always fixed timely. Three of those would become what I'd class as damage that could be dangerous (starting potholes/actual pothole). It wasn't until I was 34 years old when they finally filled in the holes and resurfaced the worst bits of that fietspad. It held up surprisingly well given how much they neglected some of the early signs of damage. Most of it as far as I'm aware is still the original surface from when I went to school there, the only thing my municipality seems to have done beyond the needed patches is redoing the lines when needed.

@@extrastuff9463 I agree, lasting forever was exaggerated, but they do give good value for money. Yes environmental conditions take a toll, but that is for every road. But weight is a main factor in wearing a road down, bikes weigh less than cars. Also you need narrower lanes for traffic. It is surprising how much traffic a cycle lane can handle compared to a road with cars with one person in it.

If the government there followed the real Dutch, those idiots would change and be smarter

They don't have much in common with the Dutch in the Netherlands

​@@mariadebake5483 The thing that annoys me the most about the Michigan Dutch is how they're only into quaint souvenir things like windmill cookies and wooden shoes, meanwhile they complain about the Netherland's strict guns laws and their European Union membership. It's like they prefer the Netherlands of 1800s or something. Seems like a weird fantasy.

@@michaelstratton5223 As I said, nothing like the real Dutch people. We are in favour of strict gun laws and love bikes. Our roads look totally different from American ones. We are on the whole very happy to be in the EU. And we are not into windmill cookies and wooden shoes. Those you'll only see in tourist centers, although some older farmers still wear wooden shoes. Which are amazingly comfortable to wear by the way.

Its not about the dutch people or any nationalities, its just a matter of infrastructure. I assume those dutch dont have the political leverage to change american car dependent infrastructure

And the US rate is 42%...

We have daily free cardio sessions. Every day is leg day in the Netherlands. 😜

New York is somehow exception, where there is better alternative to cars (metro system), and is planned more like space of short distances when it goes to daily needs, you could get most what you need in the same neighborhood within walking distance. But yes, NYC is still far away from Netherlands with cycling infrastructure

same!!!!!

Italy too :/

America is ironically behind when it comes to so many things. -Trains actually run slower than cars, and most are only for freight. Compare that to 120mph+ trains in Europe and east Asia. -Public transport in cities is not well maintained if it even exists. The London Underground is the oldest subway network but it isn't doing a bad job (British trains do have their own issues however) -Cycling infrastructure is non-existent outside the more progressive cities, and even then it's barely protected, and not owning a car is seen as a sign of poverty in many areas. In the Netherlands it's highly unusual to see a road that isn't safe for cycling. -The government is only just discovering the roundabout -Education standards are low and it's totally normal for students to lose sleep over mandatory assignments -Everyone in the country knows multiple racists and homophobes -Walking outside by yourself is considered highly dangerous because gun control laws barely exist -Owning a car is mandatory, and combined with the point above, it makes children unable to roam safely around by themselves outside a few hundred feet of their homes -Car companies make billions of dollars every year. They have lobbied and still do lobby the government to design cities for the car, by killing public transport and making things too far to walk and roads too dangerous to cycle. -Cities are polluted to hell, but pollution isn't seen as a serious issue, as oil and car companies try to spread misconceptions that benefit them financially (ie. 'climate change is only a theory, don't feel guilty for buying a car!'). That combined with low education standards leads to conspiracy theorist groups popping up due to those misconceptions circulating, and those groups gain mainstream attention. -Road deaths are common and hardly anyone cares as it's just seen as a fact of life ---in 2018 36,560 people died in car accidents. Imagine 9/11, then multiply the death count by 12. -There's a large group of people that keep insisting that America is the best country on Earth and there's nothing wrong with it Coming from a European perspective, I'd honestly advise Americans to get out of the country as soon as possible. You guys have a really horrible government that's in the paw of car and oil companies. Honestly I find Americans themselves to be great people, these problems I listed are systematic and only the government can really change them.

Probably after "How America put a limit on the amount you can spend as a party on advertising your presidential candidates", "How America became actually democratic by getting rid of the two party system" and "How America improved their educational system to finally get in the top half of the charts".

It also helps that the whole country is flat. How can a country with lots of hills compete with that?

Paragon84 Do hills really matter that much if you have a geared bike?.. especially considering the low speed riding some of these people go at to begin with. Well maybe to some but hills making people become in better shape would only be better for them.

Sure does. The gears may multiply your torque, but you still have to work for longer. Speaking from my experience, I had to leave to work early, get to work sweating, stink for the rest of the day, then have to bike all the way home, struggle up hills while breathing in diesel fumes from trucks that pass by. No thanks, im over that. If the whole city is flat, then it would be quick and easy.

You're probably right and with the upright bikes with the relaxed style it probably is even worse now I think about it. I ride a fixed gear and with hills I can manage but the bike not being too heavy and the aggressive geometry probably helps a lot. The best solution for hilly areas then would probably be to have electric motors assist for the way up. The added weight wouldn't affect much riding on flats but downhill the brakes just need to be in good condition. Maybe regenerative braking can help a little with that. It would be more expensive and have a little more maintenance but still much less than a car.

peak income tax in the netherlands isn't substantially higher than in the USA (49% instead of 39% iirc). What's most likely different there is that the highest earners actually pay their dues as opposed to wriggling out of it the way that high-earning Americans are able to. In the USA the simple issue of fiscal ignorance keeps us subsidizing car ownership. Nobody ever went back to check the numbers on whether suburbia paid for itself (hint: it doesn't) so once you start talking cold fiscal figures it's very difficult for people to ignore without seeming reckless and wasteful with taxpayer dollars. Additionally, it's very possible that a large component of that tolerant mindset may be due to the way that the Dutch live. Whereas most Americans insulate themselves completely from the world outside their social circle, the bike/walk/transit lifestyle of the average Dutch citizen means they are brought into contact with many more people of different backgrounds on a regular basis. Diversity breeds tolerance.

We've got plenty of those in Ottawa, Canada. As soon as you inconvenience motorists, residents or businesses get up in arms. This particular case was businesses and mayor blocking an initiative to close one lane having 19 parking spots to create more space for physical distancing for pedestrians: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/mayor-motion-menard-glebe-traffic-1.5568857

One month later, just north of that spot, victory! 15 blocks get temporarily closed to increase pedestrian & cyclist space: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/bank-street-closure-covid-bia-1.5642234

The US are a bit slow on the uptake. They fear the "Not Invented Here" syndrome and they suffer the consequences of the oil and car lobbies.

We are starting to here and there. Unfortunately that's more on the state level. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands recently paid a visit to Austin Texas (of all places) to check out their Dutch style cycle paths.

actually the traffic in Amsterdam is one of the worst in dutch cities... if you want examples of good traffic look to cities like Rotterdam, Den Haag or Utrecht. Or even my small town Houten, where all the main streets are bicycle streets, and cars have to take the ring road around the town.

Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht good traffic? Maybe you should watch the TomTom Traffic Index: www.tomtom.com/nl_nl/trafficindex/list And we're out of the crisis so the percentages are at least 12% higher now: www.anwb.nl/verkeer/nieuws/nederland/2016/december/filezwaarte-december-2016 . However, if you don't mean that kind of traffic then see the list of the Cyclist Union: fietsstad.fietsersbond.nl/over-de-verkiezing/genomineerden fietsstad.fietsersbond.nl/archief . Utrecht is great for cycling, but Rotterdam? Nah, still very car-orientated, although it seems that's gradually improving.

i didn't say good, i said better than amsterdam

Sujit Patwardhan so you watched over 125 minutes of it.

does taxes affect Dutch gov't officials? how many Dutch gov't officials own cars?

@@grahepo Taxes only affect owners of cars. Our prime minister, Mark Rutte, cycles to work on his bike. But Femke Halsema, former head of the Green Party, used to drive a car to work, as she lived far from the Hague (where parliament is seated). She is now mayor of Amsterdam (where I can only assume she rides a bike. It's a complicated nightmare to drive through Amsterdam). Bare in mind that those who own cars also own bikes and use their bikes more often than their cars. Roughly, bikes are for everyday distances (supermarket, work, taking kids to school, visiting friends, going out for beers, etc) and cars are a long distance thing for rich people who dislike trains.

@@grahepo It varies. It's safe to presume that the vast majority of the officials that live outside of the Hague get to work by car (the lesser known ones might take a train, but the famous ones would draw too much attention in a train) except for certain members of the Green Party who try to make a statement by taking a train. But a lot of officials live in the Hague, close to work. Hard to name numbers.

@@TheJenniferKK it's good to know that your PM cycles himself, i hope the rest of his gov't does the same otherwise they'd be unjustly benefiting from their gov't positions

I guess that depends on the town/city. My roommate pays about 50 Euros (Goes) a year for his parking permit, which is hardly too expensive for him. A second car would cost double that amount, but is still not cost-prohibitive.

The city of Brno should hire cycling experts from the Netherlands and Denmark to get advice to build a nice cycle infrastructure! I am Dutch, but the Danes have made some great inventions about cycle infrastructure as well!!

Then please, either find or found a group that lobbies for these roads in your municipality. Find likeminded people and get involved. Print flyers and hand them out at primary schools to parents, who obviously want the safest roads for their kids. If the municipality tries to comply with a bike lane that's painted on the normal road, object. Anything without at least a curb separating the cyclists from motor vehicles is not enough, and London is a prime example of why. Tell this to your fellow lobbyists as well. You're Scottish. You don't wanna be like England's London, with the half assed cycling paths trying to please everybody while doing nothing. You're better than that! You want the freedom to cycle without fearing that a car might rear-end you. Separated bike lanes!

@@deldarel totally agree, i am going to speak to a couple of government officials i know as well, when you ask a traffic warden, to do something about cars parked in the cycling paths at the side of the road , they keep going on about they have the wrong signage up, when this pandemic is hopefully passed, I intend to push the subject 👍.

It would be good if all the UK had this cycle systemm.

@@elizabethwilliams1523 i don't do the uk, my country badly needs out of that dictatorship, but I agree your country should adopt the Dutch system as well good luck with that all cyclists should not need to be in such danger just to enjoy a bicycle.

@@deldarel Yes and sign petitions. There's the UK parliament website and a Scottish one. If the petitions get enough signatures then the parliament WILL debate them and WILL respond here a link to two petitions but go and see more into it too. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/320918 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/334180/sponsors/new?token=d4wZ2-EkAbfGKdIo6HAU

And not just city design.

And a lot of other things!!

I have this in Brussels and it is not really working out: Everyone behaves like if it was the day without traffic laws and there are more injuries that day than on an average day. But we Belgians are a messy people. Alittle bit more civic education would do us some good.

Download or post a link

@@dietbountyicecream1444 so I gather.... I wanted to post a link but haven't yet worked out how you do that 😂

Click on share, then copy link

@@ecopennylife yay! I did it, thank you. This is quite an achievement for this less than technical old bird, I'm quite chuffed. 😁👍

@@judebrown4103 Contrats ! There is a sharing option. You can click it and it will show you many other options, like Facebook, WhatsApp and so on. On whatever app you want to share this video, click the icon of that app,and it will automatically lead to you that app. I'm glad that you are trying to bring awareness, though I think urban people are too self-absorbed to pay heed to such wonderful things. I'm a bit disillusioned,haha :) All the best! Greetings from India.

We should focus on getting sidewalks/pavements first

@@muhilan8540 why not both at the same time? Less money spend and otherwise people will park on the pavements ;)

See if you have a local bicycle advocacy group and join them! Many of these protests here were organised by such groups here so it might be the first step and at least like that you know of new developments :)

You do have a point, but theres not much space to make cycle paths and sidewalks, especially since 1.4 billion people live there, And since the Indian government cant really fund it anyways...

Just that you know that Amsterdam is the worst city to bike in the Netherlands. If you want to bike a city, go somewhere else. Old city, narrow infrastructure, mixed traffic, trams with slippery rails that you fall over, and the people are traffic anarchists (so you have to count on very unexpected behavior all the time).

I was always more interested in the smaller old cities like Utrecht and Gouda, and the "new cities" like Almere. I think cycling there would be ideal. Too many Americans are obsessed with the Amsterdam red-light district and "coffee houses". To me, that is the least interesting part of the Netherlands.

Robert Coates I'd love to recommend you my hometown, Haarlem. I've been to most of the major cities in the Netherlands, but none equals the beauty and atmosphere. One helluva bike-friendly city I tell you

+Ruben Wahab: Not only a bike friendly city! It is one of the most beautiful cities in the Netherlands!

Levi Sedlock i would recomend a less busy city with some baeutifull sightseeing

British Petrol doesn't want Brits neither to watch nor learn.

If you think the UK is backwards, you should see the pathetic bike culture out here in America.

Actually it is a real shame, but the UK started to go down this same route and then abandoned it !! www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2017/may/09/how-80-forgotten-1930s-cycleways-could-transform-uk-cycling

Yeah, In America bicycles are thought of as toys.

they dont cus their citizens are too stupid, fat, and lazy to ever coordinate a public movement on this scale (I'm american btw)

A lot of us are really stubborn, and refuse to believe alternatives to car dependency exist

@@MustacheMerlin This. The USA prioritizes money over anything else, including the well-being of its citizens. This is visible in other very profitable areas as well, like the pharmaceutical and the weapons industries.

Because we are a profoundly stupid nation. We will fall on our swords before we learn anything from another country because "American exceptionalism."

The big bug was motivation for many to start cycling. The upcoming gas crisis will literally be what led to dutch cyclepaths. May history be repeating itself. Every small step in the right direction is progress. And you guys won't have to invent the wheel...you can show them it works by pointing to other countries/cities. Just start small and it will spread. Good luck.

I share your wish, but I don't think there's any benefit to drawing a distinction between cyclists who need to cycle and cyclists who want to cycle. People like Nairo Quintana have taught us these categories are not mutually exclusive. And really, fitness riders and practical riders both deserve to be safe on the road.

@@michaelstratton5223 You're absolutely right

@@maaiker2977 Thank you - I've seen some recent progress here since initially commenting so I am heartened