If you’ve cycled in Groningen, then you’ve no doubt come across them. Traffic lights where cyclists from all directions have green at the same time. If it’s your first time encountering a traffic light like that, it can be a bit of a shock to the system, especially at rush hour. Cyclists criss-crossing, seemingly willy nilly.
An ‘all cyclist green’, sometimes called ‘all directions green’ traffic light, is an ingenious piece of cycling infrastructure that actually makes cycling safer. For even though it might look like insanity to a bystander, cyclist never have to cross paths with motorised traffic. They encounter only each other in a chaotic, but organised way.
Timestamps:
00:25 How it started
01:32 What is ‘all cyclists green’?
03:25 Are there any rules?
04:43 How to survive ‘all cyclists green’
06:15 What about disadvantages?
07:58 Conclusion
Watch my whole Youtube playlist about cycling infrastructure in Groningen here: https://youtu.be/Mgrt06EVnwQ?si=-8VkAKWhAPORLrXS
#activetravel #cyclinginfrastructure #groningen #cyclingingroningen #allcyclistsgreen #trafficlights
If you’ve cycled in Groningen, then you’ve no
doubt come across them. Traffic lights where cyclists from all directions
have green at the same time. If it’s your first time encountering a traffic light like that,
it can be a bit of a shock to the system, especially at rush hour. Cyclists criss-crossing, seemingly willy nilly. Is it insanity or organised chaos? Let’s have a look. It’s a bit unclear who invented ‘all cyclists green’, but the first traffic lights with this system appeared in Enschede, a city in the east of the Netherlands, in 1987. Two years later, Groningen adopted it and since then
it was really embraced by the municipality. Of the 56 intersections with traffic lights
in Groningen, 33 have ‘all cyclists green’. Although many towns and cities in the Netherlands now have some ‘all cyclists green’ intersections, Groningen is unique, as it has made it
the standard for traffic lights, unless there are compelling reasons not to. This map shows all the traffic lights in Groningen
that have ‘all cyclists green’ in red dots. The purple dots are traffic lights that don’t. As you can see ‘all cyclists green’ intersections
are dotted all around the city. I guess there could be even more, were it not that
Groningen also has quite a few roundabouts, many of them ‘Dutch style’,
which make traffic lights obsolete. But what exactly is an ‘all cyclist green’ traffic light? At an ‘all cyclists green’ traffic light, cyclists from all
directions have green at the same time. This makes it easier for cyclists to turn left, as they don’t have to wait for the lights twice
and can just cross diagonally. It also makes it saver for cyclists, as they will never
have green light together with motorised traffic. According to a municipal paper,
no fatal accidents occurred in Groningen between cyclists and motorised traffic since
‘all cyclists green’ was introduced in 1989. ‘All cyclists green’ also makes it possible to get a
large number of cyclists across the intersection in a small amount of time, making waiting
times for other road users shorter. Some busy traffic lights have green
for cyclists twice in one cycle. Not all intersections are suitable for ‘all cyclists green’. There need to be enough space for cyclists to gather and sightlines and directions need to be clear. Truth be told, there are a few intersections in Groningen
that are perhaps less than suitable for the system, but cyclists make it work.
After all, they’ve done so for 36 years. In Groningen it is also often allowed for cyclists
to turn right while the light is red. If there is minimal space for cyclists to gather,
turning right becomes quite a challenge. Cyclists go around the waiting cyclists by swerving into the
car lane, or mounting the pavement. Neither is ideal. However, there are newly redesigned intersections which have a ‘right turn’ lane to make things a bit easier. You might be wondering that if all cyclists converge on the intersection at the same time, who has priority? In other words, are there any rules at
an ‘all cyclists green’ traffic light? The short answer is: no there are no rules when all
the cycle lights go green at the same time. There are quite a few cyclist however, who think that the road markings are the rule at
the moment the cycle lights go green. But that’s not the case. The road markings are only there in case
the complete traffic light system malfunctions or when it is turned off, for instance at night. In those cases the intersection becomes a ‘normal’ traffic light free intersection where standard rules apply. For example: Whoever comes from the right goes first, or if you find triangular ‘sharks teeth’ in your way,
you don’t have priority. But at the moment all the cycle lights go green,
the traffic lights are working, so the road markings should be ignored. In this video the woman on the left hesitates
and stops at the sharks teeth. Other cyclists immediately take advantage of this and forge ahead, even though she’s coming from the right. Because of this the cyclists behind her are held up as well and have to cross quickly when the other cyclists are gone. So how do you survive an ‘all cyclists green’ intersection? We’ve just seen that there are no rules at ‘all cyclists green’. So if there are no rules can cyclists just enter
the intersection and do whatever they want? Yes and no. Officially there are no rules, so it’s basically open season,
but that could lead to dangerous situations. Instead these four unwritten rules are agreed on,
so that the chaos can become organised. 1. Give way to cyclists coming from the right. They still have to make it across the intersection,
so give them the opportunity to do so, before the motorised traffic lights go green. 2. Make clear what your intentions are. If you turn right or left,
indicate with your hand that you intent to do so. If you are turning left, make sure you’re already on the
lefthand side when gathering in front of the red light. That way you don’t unexpectedly cut
in front of cyclists who go straight on. 3. Don’t go too fast. You might be in a hurry, or on a faster bicycle, but it doesn’t hurt to take five seconds longer
to get across the intersection. 4. Make eye contact with other cyclists and perhaps wave your hand to show them they can go first. In other words, just work together to make sure this jumble of cyclists gets safely
to the other side of the intersection. Keep an eye out for each other and don’t be rude. The ‘all cyclists green’ traffic light might sound
like heaven, but is that true? It is known that especially older cyclists
find the system a challenge. Their reaction time is slower than when they were younger and they might get a bit frightened
when cyclists come at them from all sides. There is no easy solution for this,
especially in a city like Groningen, where ‘all cyclists green’ intersections are everywhere. It’s a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand the municipality wants its
citizens to remain active and healthy, but if older people avoid cycling because
of the traffic lights, that won’t happen. Unfortunately, I don’t have the solution. Other cyclists who might get confused
are the ones who are new to Groningen, like visitors from other parts of the country,
tourists or first year students. While visitors and tourists might not be
in Groningen long enough to get used to ‘all cyclists green’ intersections, students usually embrace the system very quickly
and become pros in no time. So here’s some suggestions for people
who are planning to visit Groningen by bicycle. First of all, when getting to an intersection know
in which direction you want to go and just go with the flow when the lights turn green. Secondly, if you feel really unsure, just get off your bike and watch the intersection from the pavement for a little while. It will soon become clear how it works and with
a better idea of what is ahead of you, rejoin the waiting cyclists. Thirdly, please enjoy this unique feature of
Groningen’s cycling infrastructure. It’s part of what makes Groningen such
a great cycling city that is worth a visit. I personally really like ‘all cyclists green’, although I have to admit that the first time
I encountered an intersection like that after a long time abroad in York, England, I freaked out a bit when the lights turned green
and normality seemingly turned to chaos. But I soon got the hang of it and whenever
I am in a city that doesn’t have ‘all cyclists green’, I often get annoyed waiting at traffic lights
as they seem cumbersome to me now. I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder. To me ‘all cyclists green’ might look like insanity, but I find that in reality it is beautiful organised chaos. I’m curious to hear what you think. Have you got experience with ‘all cyclists green’ intersections? How do you navigate them? And if you’ve never come across one, do you think they could work in your town or city? Let me know in the comments below this video. Thank you so much for watching! Please give this video a like and if you want to make
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