How the Dutch got their cycle paths
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN uses it as the standard short answer to whether car-dominated cities can become bike-friendly, since the Dutch had to fight for it.
What it is
A short BicycleDutch video on how the Netherlands got its cycling infrastructure, including the 1970s protests and the shift away from car-centric planning. The channel later published an updated version.
Recommended by 9 HN commenters across 9 different months, 2013 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec m0nty · 2015-01 · on “Junction design in the Netherlands [video]”
The obsession with helmets in many countries is born of an idea that violence on the roads is inevitable. It's a bit like responding to knife or gun crime by saying everyone should wear kevlar vests, problem solved! Rather than insisting that knives and guns are not used in public spaces. Some people have real problems grasping this. Cars are seen as inherently dangerous, pedestrians and everyone else should (ideally) stay off the roads, and nobody should challenge our "right" to drive where and when we like. But driving is still a choice, albeit coerced since there are so few alternatives, and that choice has profound implications for others. Why should I wear protective clothing because yo
Strong rec bullfightonmars · 2015-03 · on “Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run”
Those "antifragile" solutions have been used to great effect in Netherlands where they have built a massive cycling, walking, and transit infrastructure. They were able to build this infrastructure due to a popular protest movement, 'Stop de Kindermoord' (Stop the Child Murder) which was in reaction to exactly the problem we face in the US of deaths and injury caused by motorists. There is a great video about the protest movement and the transformation of dutch infrastructure here: [this video]
Recommends maurits · 2013-04 · on “Electric Velomobiles: fast, comfortable, and more efficient than cars”
In short, build bike lanes like the dutch. [1] Big, physically separated, omnipresent bike lines. Ensure that bikes are first class citizens on intersections. Compare the 2-stage turn with the dutch design [2] [1] [this video] [2] [LINK]
Recommends gnosis · 2013-07 · on “Linux developer Seth Vidal killed in Hit and Run accident on his bike.”
Riding a bike does not have to be as dangerous as it is in most places in the United States. Here[1] is an interesting video on how the Dutch got their bicycle paths. From the intro: "The Netherlands has the world's largest number of cyclists, but it is also the safest place in the world to cycle. That is largely because of the perfect cycling infrastructure that can be found throughout the country. How did the Dutch get this network of high quality cycle paths?" [1] - [this video]
Recommends Brakenshire · 2013-11 · on “Is It O.K. to Kill Cyclists?”
Yes, definitely a big problem in the UK too. Although I think support for cycling is perhaps more cross-party than in the US, at least in the political elite. Both the Conservative PM and Mayor of London are nominally pro-bike, also The Times (centre-right paper for those from outside the UK) ran a major campaign on cycle safety, after one of their journalists was killed: [LINK] Although certainly their freedom to do something serious about the issue is restricted by the anti-metropolitan, anti-liberal vroom vroom demographic. > If cycling is to ever become safe, cities need to start embracing the bike like they do in the Netherlands, but it's no easy task. On that topic, this mini-documenta
Recommends jorgenhorstink · 2016-10 · on “The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored””
A couple of months ago I watched a short video about how we got our cycling lanes. I think it provides some interesting context on why we built our cycling infrastructure. If you like this topic, you'll like the video... [this video]
Recommends iknowstuff · 2020-08 · on “Dementia on the Retreat in the U.S. and Europe”
I highly recommend researching the Dutch street design. By explicitly avoiding freeways and encouraging biking, they save so much time (no traffic) and money (think long term health benefits of cycling, no pollution, cheaper infrastructure, lower reliance on fossil fuels, fewer accidents, more visits to local businesses) it's insane the rest of the world isn't copying them ASAP. [this video] [LINK]
Recommends iknowstuff · 2020-08 · on “Dementia on the Retreat in the U.S. and Europe”
I highly recommend researching the Dutch street design. By explicitly avoiding freeways and encouraging biking, they save so much time (no traffic) and money (think long term health benefits, cheaper infrastructure, lower reliance on fossil fuels, fewer accidents, more visits to local businesses) it's insane the rest of the world isn't copying them ASAP. [this video] [LINK]