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(UNFINISHED FROM SCHOOL)Essay that concludes on a comparison between changed infrastructure on cycling in the Netherlands to the changes being made in cycle infrastructure across the world.

2016.

Change comes after influencing events or actions which support change or development, the main influence of the cycle infrastructure in the Netherlands would be the kindermoord campaign from the 1970s. This came after a scare of child deaths in road accidents, and meant a campaign rose that based its ground on decreasing car activity by increasing cycle activity. It was after reading an article in the Guardian that explained how this had changed the Netherlands that I had the inspiration to uncover the differences in the the way the Dutch have changed their infrastructure for bicycles compared to what I have seen here in Britain, and what is happening in other parts of the world.

The 1970s was a very angry time to be in the Netherlands. With Cold War troubles across the world, the tensions led to activism, this was obviously a very wide spread feeling and looking back on the time now reveals the unrest and need for change people were feeling.with the world developing at such a rate that little thought was put into reviewing what the negative results of developments like cars and roads bring, and this resulted in the cycle culture the Netherlands has today.

The stop de kindermoord campaign originated around stopping the large amount of road deaths that were so common in the Netherlands at the time. Dutch culture, roads and law were all together reasons allowing such things to happen. Dutch psych is very efficient, the government and most large business had cars and valued time, it is considered this was what influenced the government to have limited low speed limited roads. This with the the fact that automobile mass culture was fairly new and raw, there was little awareness and application concerning safety. This threw numbers up And started the new public campaign. While in comparison,Britain the psych was a lot slower, geography meant roads are hard to speed around in the same way, awareness of road safety was good and there had been low speed limits in place for a long time.

Another massive factor that influenced policy change in the Dutch government back in the 1970s was the massive oil price. The sanctions and tariffs set by each nation on the other across the world during the Cold War drove oil prices high meaning governing bodies were trying new things. The Dutch government were in an easy place to influence in favour of the stop de kindermoord campaign. The president at the time chose to encourage bicycle use and the rationing of fuel. With this he changed city policy and gave government funding to cycle plan organisers. Such as the ones connected to the stop de kindermoord campaign.

The campaign was a mass movement of a mix of government lobbying, protesting, rallies and riding bicycles that was so significant in the way the Dutch develop a lot of their city and road infrastructure. The advancements made by the Dutch after the shift in attitude have shape the way bicycles are used in the modern world and set an example for the way we can make the general populous of the world healthier, and the way we can make the air in the atmosphere cleaner, preventing climate change and minimising air pollution in busy cities.

The Guardian. 2016. How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world | Cities | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord. [Accessed 16 November 2016].

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Resultant Dutch developments ,cycle way

Obviously the Dutch cannot be hailed for pioneering the cycle way but they can be credited for have the most for there size of population. The Dutch call their cycle ways frietsstraat. The fietsstraat is a road where bicycles are considered to be the primary and preferred form of transport and where cars and other motorised vehicles are allowed "as guests". There are four different types of fietsstraat but they are all required to have a speed limit of 30 km/h or less and are usually coloured in the same red asphalt as bike paths.In Dutch towns and cities, many bike-only routes are not alongside the roadway, nor do they run close-by and parallel to major car routes: rather, cycle routes are often completely separate from motor vehicle routes. In many cases, dedicated bike routes are far more direct than the local car routes are to common destinations, such as town centres. This complete separation of bicycle routes from motor vehicle routes is called the unravelling of modes and is an important feature of modern Dutch urban design and traffic management. The Dutch are very good at acknowledging safety because of the stop de kindermoord campaign. It is widely accepted as a good way of relieving traffic and improving infrastructure to allow cyclists past traffic, but the Dutch authorities do not do this as it is against the "unraveling of modes" to separate out modes of transport to improve safety on the road for cyclists. Have one lane dedicated to buses and cyclists doesn't make sense In their minds. This is one instance that the cycle infrastucture in the Netherlands has restrict use, compared to what is accepted in many other places.

YouTube. 2016. How the Dutch got their cycle paths - YouTube, channel - BicycleDutch [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o. [Accessed 14 December 2016].

A view from the cycle path: Stop the Child Murder. 2016. A view from the cycle path: Stop the Child Murder. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/01/stop-child-murder.html. [Accessed 14 December 2016].

Modern developments

Anyone who has been to Amsterdam will have witnessed the extent of the restrictions on cars around the city. For instance, many Dutch towns and cities have a "soft" green core that is only accessible to cyclists and pedestrians. Therefore, while drivers wishing to cross the town may have to take a lengthy detour via a ring road, cyclists can take a direct route through the town centre. City design is one major factor that still only stands as a cycle infrastructural implementation in Dutch cities alone. Other European cities such as Copenhagen and Budapest are the only other cities that can compare to the Dutch standard of cycle city design. Cycle ways in London are few and mainly connected to bike rental stations and alongside roads. There is big reluctance to take away from car space to give to cycling because of the demand of the traffic in London from cars. The Dutch reclaimed many of their roads and made them cycle ways while the British are only making new ways for cyclists. This means that the routes are windy and non direct while cyclists in Amsterdam have priority and the most direct routes.

BBC News. 2016. BBC News - Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20140307050642/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23587916. [Accessed 23 November 2016].

A form of strict liability has been law in the Netherlands since the early 1990s for bicycle-motor vehicle accidents. This means that, in a collision between a car and a cyclist, the driver's insurer is deemed to be liable to pay damages (motor vehicle insurance is mandatory in the Netherlands, while cyclist insurance is not) to the cyclist's property and their medical bills as long as the cyclist did not intentionally crash into the motor vehicle, and the cyclist was not in error in some way.If the cyclist was in error, as long as the collision was still unintentional, the motorist's insurance must still pay half of the damages though this doesn't apply if the cyclist is under 14 years of age, in which case the motorist must pay full damages. In Britain this has been discussed in parliament and considered nation wide. But having been in a state of conservative government for a long time the idea of insurance for cyclist in this way has been rejected. If this were to be implemented it would drive up insurance prices at least to begin with. It is true that the Dutch do pay on average slit lay more for motor insurance than the British but only marginally. This being completely against the Tory mandate it has been hardly considered. If anything the Dutch government is more conservative but social pressures from the stop de kindermoord campaign led to this being considered late 1980s, and the general demand for it high. Again this is an instance of low demand as little people cycle in the uk compared to the Netherlands but implementing it would be a massive encouragement.

No compulsory bicycle helmet laws.

In the Netherlands, bicycle helmets are not commonly worn as they are mostly used by young children and sports cyclists who ride racing bikes or mountain bikes. In fact, the Dutch Fietsersbond (Cyclists' Union) summarised existing evidence and concluded that, for normal, everyday cycling (i.e. not sports cycling), a compulsory helmet law would have a negative impact on population health. This comes from studies and surveys sowing that if it were made a legal requirement for a helmet to be worn, that less people would cycle due to the inconvenience of wearing a helmet and social pressure due to their appearance. There is no law in Britain that means you need to wear a helmet while riding your bike but under a different attitude to the Dutch, it is considered irresponsible not to do so. The Dutch's general attitude does not consider wearing a helmet to be needed and perhaps this is because of the awareness of motorists and infrastructure built in designed to keep cyclists safe. Britain has no such attitude and infrastructure. If it was made so that people felt safe while cycling in Britain it would mean people needn't wear a helmet and therefore a greater uptake in cycling. It almost seems backwards to see the Dutch rejecting a safety implementation and the British encourage it but this is an example of the thought and the consideration of the Dutch and their mindfulness of the cycle world.

Roads Were Not Built For Cars | Why is cycling popular in the Netherlands: infrastructure or 100+ years of history? . 2016. Roads Were Not Built For Cars | Why is cycling popular in the Netherlands: infrastructure or 100+ years of history? . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/netherlands/. [Accessed 23 November 2016].

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In Britain it is illegal to lock bikes or anything to "street furniture". If certain legal arrangements are put into place to enable legitimate "ad hoc" parking, for example to allow people to lock their bicycles to railings, signs and other street furniture when individual proper bike stands are unavailable then it will enable people to go anywhere on bikes rather than use their car over fear of their bike being stolen.. The Netherlands are a very conformation people and dislike "ad hoc" parking as much as the British, therefore by policy in the Netherlands, bicycle parking is supposed to be provided next to every shop. Bicycle stands are common around the Netherlands, an alternative to chaining the bike to a post.

The Netherlands and surrounding countries such as the Danish, have pioneered the concept of “bicycle superhighways” to increase the speed, safety, and comfort of bicycle commuting. Since then London and Flanders have also started building bicycle superhighways. The physical design of the routes changes depending on the circumstances and can include shared in-road bikeways, bike lanes and cycle tracks, making it difficult to categorize into degree of separation from other traffic. The first Dutch route opened in 2004 between Breda and Etten-Leur; many others have been added since then. The first Danish route opened in 2012 between the Vesterbro rail station in Copenhagen and Albertslund, a western suburb. The route cost 13.4 million DKK and is 17.5 km long, built with few stops and new paths away from traffic. “Service stations” with air pumps are located at regular intervals, and where the route must cross streets, handholds and running boards are provided so cyclists can wait without having to put their feet on the ground. And then London in this instance have actually designed a cycle way that is in advantage over the use of cars, have demolished sections of road and built the automobile infrastructure around the bikes. Of course these super highways for bikes are far few in London since there way such a little budget, and what they have does not compare to the Dutch or Danish, but it is a start and a place to begin, setting an example. But the problem can the uk is more than the reluctant attitude of the main government.

Britain as it is now has a lot of qualities that make it harder for use to develop infrastructure compared to the Dutch, but many roads could easily be adapted and optimised for cycle use, such as on large roundabouts of the design typically used all across Britain and Ireland, cyclists have an injury accident rate that is 14-16 times that of motorists. Research indicates that excessive sight lines at uncontrolled intersections compound these effects.In the UK, a survey of over 8,000 highly experienced and mainly adult male Cyclists Touring Club members found that 28% avoided roundabouts on their regular journey if at all possible.

The Dutch CROW guidelines recommend roundabouts only for intersections with motorized traffic up to 1500 per hour. In order to accommodate greater volumes of traffic they recommend traffic light intersections or grade separation for cyclists. Examples of grade separation for cyclists include tunnels, or more spectacularly, raised "floating" roundabouts for cyclists.

Grade separation roundabouts sometimes have cyclist lanes around them, with signposts directing the cyclist to a destination. Traffic on roundabouts in the Netherlands usually has priority over entering traffic, and when a cycle lane is bundled with it this priority also applies to the cyclists. This means that cars have to give priority to bicycles both when entering and exiting the roundabout. Other roundabouts have completely separate cycle paths around them. Signs indicate whether the cycle path or the crossing road has priority. Many authorities give priority to the crossing roads, as this is thought to be safer.

An excellent design around is applied to a very busy roundabout in Eindhoven using tunnels and an interior roundabout for cyclists to keep the two traffic streams completely apart.

With similar but even more genius,The Hovenring is an architectural first for bicycle infrastructure. Opening on 29 June 2012, it is an elevated circular suspension bridge and bicycle-only roundabout built in between the localities of Eindhoven, Veldhoven and Meerhoven (thus the name, being Dutch for "Ring of the 'Hovens'") in the province of North Brabant. Built over a large and busy road intersection, where before its construction cyclists had to cross busy roads, it is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

BICYCLE DUTCH. 2016. Stop de Kindermoord | BICYCLE DUTCH. [ONLINE] Available at: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/tag/stop-de-kindermoord/. [Accessed 14 December 2016].

BICYCLE DUTCH. 2017. A cycleway that’s not as straightforward as it seems | BICYCLE DUTCH. [ONLINE] Available at: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/a-cycleway-thats-not-as-straightforward-as-it-seems/. [Accessed 23 March 2017].

Roundabouts in Britain do give priority to cyclists but not in the same way and this is not known to many and they still prove to be very dangerous. Local authorities such as where I live believe that there must be demand before they will build and adapt the roads but they don't understand that more start cycling if there is safe ways to do so.

Other projects

In London the air pollution has been recorded to be twice that of the target set by the European Unions environmental committees. Many other cities in Britain are worse. The use of cars in the capital has risen and the use of bicycles barely. In London it has been made clear that it could be bad for you to cycle commute to work because of the pollution in the air. Wearing face masks such as is commonly done in Chinese cities such as Beijing are being encouraged. This is because of the governments lack of acting on changes and developments that could be implemented to stop as much car traffic. They have banned trucks in the centre which is a start and are going to make a ban of Diesel engines in the centre too but this overall won't prevent traffic coming in. Evidence shows that more bicycle commuting options with lower car activity but with so little infrastructure it is considered almost dangerous travelling anywhere other than between bores bike stations. The Dutch have defeated air pollution targets time after time due to the all car bans in city centres and masses of cycle lanes.

Observation by the New York City Department of Transportation, of the effect of the new cycle lanes built in New York in the United States show the less than obvious advantages they bring. Evidence suggests that the cycle lanes divert enough flow of commuters into cycling that the traffic slows down, meaning this is both a good way of freeing up traffic in the right place and also reducing reliance on cars. As well as that it shortens the walk across the road of pedestrians because less road is for cars and more for the cycle lanes, reducing the number of pedestrian involved car accidents by 22%, in turn allowing more people to commute on foot or bike. This would be a complete contrast to Amsterdam in the Netherlands which they reduced purely to reduce the amount of cars in the capital and therefore increased traffic congestion in and around the centre. In the states and in London in the uk, traffic congestion is a large problem and the because British and American attitudes are a lot less pro-cycling, it has not occurred as easily that it could be an answer to a problem they are actually always focusing on solving.

Streetfilms | Vancouver’s Breathtaking Network of Safe, Protected Bike Lanes. 2016. Streetfilms | Vancouver’s Breathtaking Network of Safe, Protected Bike Lanes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.streetfilms.org/vancouver-has-a-breathtaking-network-of-safe-protected-cycletracks/. [Accessed 09 November 2016].

Co.Exist. 2016. New York City's Protected Bike Lanes Have Actually Sped Up Its Car Traffic | Co.Exist | ideas + impact. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.fastcoexist.com/3035580/new-york-citys-protected-bike-lanes-have-actually-sped-up-its-car-traffic. [Accessed 23 November 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Cycling in the Netherlands - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands#Overview. [Accessed 30 November 2016].

Canada cycle projects

They way Canada has developed for a few hundred years has built a country almost perfect for a very good cycle system, wide roads and population being in dense pockets.

Cycling is the fastest growing mode of transportation in Vancouver. From 2008 to 2011 alone, trips by bike increased by a full 40% according to local government. Previous bike lanes were thin and one way, with the road being four car lanes wide, now though they have developed this into three lanes with one lane dedicated to two way cycling and separated by bollards. Dutch roads were similar back when lanes were being implemented. Dutch geography means road were straight, flat and often wide, meaning bikes lanes were not too much of a compromise. Of course Dutch towns and cities are closer together meaning cycling can be a way of connecting towns but in Canada it is mainly cities with long distance between, but the cities are spread on a city-suburb basis, meaning the same applies.

In comparison to Europe, Canadian cities are not as bike friendly. Canadian cars are larger with more blind spots, cities have higher speed limits, highways often travel in or near the core of the city and there is more on-street parking which can present more door zone hazards for cyclists. Consequently, some inexperienced cyclist will use a "pedestrian" style of riding where no cycling facilities exist in order to feel safer cycling in the city such as by riding on the pavement, rather than on the roadway. Although pedestrian cycling is technically illegal - as bicycles are deemed to be vehicles under the laws of all provinces - it is a common method in small town and suburban Canada (where pedestrians on sidewalks are often rare). Canadian cycling advocates typically favour segregated cycle facilities (bike paths and bike lanes) so that cyclists do not have to ride in mixed traffic with motor vehicles. The general knowledge of cycling in Canada if fairly poor although it has been made part of the school curriculum to learn to rides bike and road safety.

In 2011 the province of Nova Scotia passed a law requiring all motor vehicles to give cyclist 1 metre of clearance to protect people riding on the shoulder. The narrow streets of Downtown Halifax (the provincial capital) were originally designed for horse, cart and bicycle and they therefore require drivers to share the road with a mix of other users. The city is small and reasonably easy to navigate by bicycle as infrastructure is gradually improved each year. And increasingly cycle use is being more and more recognised for the advantages it brings and major money being spent on encouraging bike use.

Success and failures of Boris Bikes

The London bike hire scheme better known as Boris Bikes was set up in London after the success of the French bike hire scheme in Paris France. The French cycle scheme velib was started in 2007 and showed there could be support and uptake of such culture outside the Netherlands, after the trend being started in early 2000s at lots of railway stations across the Netherlands. The idea of the scheme in the Netherlands was to allow travellers such as business people or even commuters to use bikes as a way between places in a city, after not being able to take their bike when traveling. They termed the application "covering the last mile".

The biggest start up bike hire scheme was 70.000 bikes in the city of Hangzhou in China. China has recently set up massive cycle schemes in all of their biggest city's in order to lessen traffic congestion after such observations as the one in New York. As Bradley Schroeder of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy said, "I don't think there is anywhere you can stand in Hangzhou for more than a minute or two where you wouldn't have a Hangzhou Public Bike go past you." Another streetfilms article interviews the. Director of the cycle scheme saying that "daily travels peak at 320,000 journeys." He said that most people use it as a way around but the initial idea way to ease traffic and help commuters and traveling. Business people. They have said they want to expand to 175,000 bikes in the system by 2020. This really show the influence of the Dutch's advancements and problems that can be solved and applied using such bicycle systems. In terms to compare, Asian countries have more recently had massive surges in cycles use, the application could be argued to solve more problems there than here because of the less economically developed areas in Asia. But despite inventing and having had bicycles for a long time we still appear to be more septic than China's government who have jumped on the opportunity to improve their infrastructure and build for the future.

The application here in Europe only applies to encourage good health, to ease traffic congestion and to improve the impact we have on the environment. But in Asian countries such as India, Taiwan and China, the surge of cycle use has been due to it being much cheaper. Here people have enough money to drive down the road to the shop so there is no need to cycle.

A study on the use of boris bikes by transport for London which I read on in an article on the online site, the road reduction forum, showed;

“Looking only at those SERCO reported Cycle Hire collisions that are consistent with the STATS 19 reporting, in the first year of operation of Cycle Hire there were 7 collisions involving personal injury per million Cycle Hire bicycle journeys. By severity of injury, this breaks down as 5 slight and 1 serious injury collision(s) per million Cycle Hire bicycle journeys.”(My emphasis).

And that by comparison, for all pedal cycles:

”… there were 21 collisions involving personal injury per million pedal cycle journeys in Greater London in 2010. By severity, this breaks down at 19 slight and 3 serious injury collisions

per million pedal cycle journey stages. “(My emphasis)

You were statistically three times less likely to be injured when using a boris bike, toppling British concerns of traffic and road safety, cyclists and motorist might get injured. The argument had been made that cycle hire schemes on the continent would not compare based on the level of education towards cycling in school between us. The Dutch and French both have mandatory cycling lesson and teaching from low levels in school while in the uk it is up to parents to teach or to self teach in later life, the concern is therefore the lack of cycling awareness in the uk, the people using the hire service were typically unhelmeted, include tourists and others unfamiliar with central London’s roads. The same was expressed by Bradley Wiggins before the get go of the London cycle hire scheme.

“(they)…can’t even ride a bike for a start…create more danger on the road…drivers get frustrated,…not wearing helmets…a disaster waiting to happen. But what do I know…”

A big wall yet to be climbed due to reluctance is the fact that roads and pathways are not big enough for cycling to be much bigger than it already is in London. This due to the reluctance to design road ways around cycling rather than cycling a round the car road system. This is known to be a very British attitude towards the difference of cycling to motor culture. Britain, despite being a big player in competitive cycle sport, are very poorly minded on the side of cycling being a solution to many environmental, infer-structural and public health problems. There is a health crisis in this country with many factors but one big main one is obesity and a culture of unhealthy life style. Commuting in this country is made primarily by car even though we are one of the most densely populated countries in the west. You can live in one town and work in another with it still being in cycle distance, the government is too scared to implement any changes because of the attitude of the public. And despite the implementation of the London cycle system, the uptake has been mild and and the encouragement of the government minimal. The 'boris bike' news and coverage has Perhaps made it a joke.

To conclude, the fact that the British are reluctant to dive forward like the Dutch is down to, little demand for cycle ways as not many people already cycle to work; British attitude of comfort in cars; possible risk due to air pollution compared to being in a car when commuting; and little education and bike awareness. The Dutch had mastered all these in the eighties and nineties after the public battle and change in attitude. The proof of these infrastructural implementations into society being easy to see and recognised needs to be acknowledged by the government and local governments across the country.

The influence of the Netherlands and there big design ideas such as cycle hire and general cycle infrastructure, can be seen across the world such as in Asia and in Canada. Obviously it is hard to compare the Dutch to other countries as they are perhaps a one off example of such culture adapted to develop in such a positive way for humanity, which is why they can so easily be hailed for leading others into a positive direction. The development in Canada in the past few years have show how fast the ideas can be taken on board with the willingness and the money invested into developing. Britain needs to change direction and focus more on adapting the everyday of everyone to encourage good health and a good attitude towards the world we live in together. Cycling is a solution to more than one problem. The U.K. Is obese and cycling can help improve the general health of the entire population. The U.K. Is bad in terms of car emissions, more people choosing to cycle to their place of work and school will help improve air quality and reduce co2 emissions, helping general health and effects on the environment.

Article in depth to the cycle development in Vancouver it is most likely government organised which means data is usually collect externally, trusty.

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Article summing up the increase in cycle infrastructure in the Netherlands.

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Wikipedia. 2016. Cycling in the Netherlands - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands#Overview. [Accessed 30 November 2016].

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YouTube. 2016. How the Dutch got their cycle paths - YouTube, channel - BicycleDutch [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o. [Accessed 14 December 2016].

BICYCLE DUTCH. 2016. Stop de Kindermoord | BICYCLE DUTCH. [ONLINE] Available at: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/tag/stop-de-kindermoord/. [Accessed 14 December 2016].

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(UNFINISHED FROM SCHOOL)Essay that concludes on a comparison between changed infrastructure on cycling in the Netherlands to the changes being made in cycle infrastructure across the world.