Category Archives: The Netherlands

Priorities

Posted on April 28, 2014 by aseasyasriding

We’re all familiar with those situations where cycling provision just gives up. Places where the designer couldn’t be bothered; places where it was too expensive to do things properly; places where space was a bit tight; or a combination of … Continue reading →

Posted in Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 36 Comments

Independent mobility

Posted on April 22, 2014 by aseasyasriding

One of the most striking things about cycling in the Netherlands is the difference in the demographics you encounter. On my usual cycling trips in Britain, the people cycling around me are typically aged between 20 and 50, and mostly male. Children … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Mobility, Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 42 Comments

Five minutes in Utrecht

Posted on April 17, 2014 by aseasyasriding

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, I was taking pictures outside a supermarket on Biltstraat in Utrecht – watching people coming and going by bike. I’d estimate there are around forty to fifty bicycles parked outside the shop here; a steady … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Subjective safety, The Netherlands, Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Not everything the Dutch do is transferable

Posted on April 15, 2014 by aseasyasriding

Way back in 2011, I cycled out of the city of Utrecht with my partner, who was riding a bike for the first time in well over a decade. The trip was almost entirely painless, with no interactions with motor … Continue reading →

Posted in Fietsstraat, Infrastructure, Subjective safety, Sustainable Safety, The Netherlands | 24 Comments

The joy of cycling in the Netherlands

Posted on April 14, 2014 by aseasyasriding

Last week I posted, quite deliberately, about the bad bits of my cycling experience around the Netherlands. The purpose there was to show that the Dutch still have difficulties to overcome, in particular locations, to make cycling attractive and safe, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Subjective safety, Sustainable Safety, The Netherlands | 14 Comments

Nothing useful to say

Posted on April 10, 2014 by aseasyasriding

Some comment on a detail from the recent inquest into the death of Venera Minakhmetova at Bow roundabout last November. Coroner Mary Hassell said she had “nothing useful” to say to Transport for London as the roundabout had since “been … Continue reading →

Posted in Bow Roundabout, Infrastructure, London, Sustainable Safety, The Netherlands | 17 Comments

The bad bits

Posted on April 8, 2014 by aseasyasriding

I’m just back from a week-long tour of the Netherlands, cycling between (and across) a number of cities and towns I hadn’t visited before. I travelled around 300 miles, across the entire country. I will obviously come to the good … Continue reading →

Posted in Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 25 Comments

As if we didn’t already know, a cycling revolution won’t happen by itself

Posted on March 27, 2014 by aseasyasriding

There is a curious opinion that often manifests itself in government and in councils – that a serious commitment to cycling as a mode of transport in its own right can’t be made, precisely because very few journeys are currently … Continue reading →

Posted in Cycling policy, Department for Transport, Infrastructure, London, Subjective safety, The Netherlands, Transport policy | 39 Comments

Continual improvement

Posted on March 13, 2014 by aseasyasriding

We often hear that we are ‘forty years behind’ the Netherlands – for instance, Andrew Gilligan stated last year that It took 40 years to turn even Amsterdam into Amsterdam, with the kind of cycle facilities it has now This statistic … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, The Netherlands | 6 Comments

Junction capacity

Posted on March 6, 2014 by aseasyasriding

The cycling schemes in Bedford and Southampton – the ‘Turbo’ roundabout, and the Itchen Bridge junction, respectively – have been hitting the headlines recently. A post by SmallTown2K (who has been taking a thorough look at the Southampton scheme) goes … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Smoothing traffic flow, The Netherlands | 12 Comments