Though already a very good city for bicycling, in recent years Utrecht has decided to go a step further and reduce the number of cars in the city’s center. How? Eliminating roadways, reaching nearly 33K bike parking spots downtown, making transition to get to the train easier and safer for people bicycling in their new bike parking facility and hosts of other ways. See it all here. I guarantee you if you live in a city that doesn’t have good bike planning or infrastructure this film will equally inspire and depress you!
43 Comments
It's like city heaven! I would jump at the chance to experience this.
Cars DO have their legitimate place in transportation. Physical limitations. Speed limitations. You suddenly seriously choke on food while eating a need a doctor immediately to save your life: Are you going to bicycle to the hospital while in a choke situation? Or wait for emergency medical personnel to arrive at your place via bicycle?
Self sufficient does not include the automobile.
Lesson learned: Dutch people are very smart.
Wonderful video of a wonderful city! I had the good fortune to be able to visit Utrecht in May for 10 days. Upon arrival, I had just unpacked & repacked our tandem after a 2-week cycling tour in France. I asked myself, "Gee, should I rebuild the bike just for a long week?"
The answer was OBVIOUSLY A RESOUNDING YES!!!!
What a wonderful experience it was! Although I've cycled in The Netherlands and toured in Europe before, I was still amazed by the cycling infrastructure. Talk about cycling nirvana! It was just so ideal.
And boy do the Dutch commuters have skills. In 10 days of riding among thousands of cyclists in downtown Utrecht, we didn't see a SINGLE crash or even a close call. Everyone's so competent on two wheels. Like riding among 1/2/Pros in a peloton!
Advantages of society embracing cycling:
1) Fight obesity. Look at all these folks in the video. Hard to find many overweight.
2) Overall health, especially your knees. Cycling is a favorite exercise for orthopedic surgeons getting people back from surgery AND injury prevention. I can only assume my 10 years of playing soccer without a SINGLE knee injury is due to a life-long love o cycling. And cycling to soccer practice is about the best warm up you could ask for!
3) Benefits kids about a BILLION ways!
4) Makes better drivers. Any kid growing up on a bike knows so much more about they dynamics of driving than any non-cycling driver. Most drivers have NO CLUE how their brakes stop their cars. The % split between F & R and how it changes the harder you brake. Cornering and braking. Maximizing traction. Minimizing spin-outs. Learn it on a bike when the consequences aren't so great (and when your young and know how to fall and not get injured), so when you get behind the wheel, you're already more knowledgeable.
5) Reduced urban noise & pollution.
6) Reduced health care costs.
7) Reduced serious injury and fatality due to high-speed & mass crashes of automobiles.
8) The list goes on and on…. feel free to add more.
Thanks Netherlands for showing the world the way!!!
fighting for a more bikeable chicago
With the advent of e-bikes cargo bikes this is all possible.
Such a civilized place!
"Not for cars" means not for people, at least not for families, especially not for large families such as mine.
I totally support this concept
0:47 it’s BicycleDutch !
Don’t you all miss the “freedom” to waste all of your money driving around in an SUV that has enormous blind spots that makes everything and everyone less safe?
Really nice 👌 👍
Yeah theres definitely a reason why the Netherlands is one of the happiest countries in the world.
Looks great, only thing I would change would be to get rid of the mopeds in the bike lanes. They cause too much noise and air pollution and no one should have to breathe in their exhaust.
In my county there are too many motorcyclists. If we were to implement such infrastructure they would probably take over and make it theirs. How do you prevent motorcyclists from using the bike lanes
Great vid!
I live in the southeast of the Netherlands where it is absolutely not as flat as in the areas of our big cities and there is just as much cycling.You are raised with it and you become more independent.🥰👍
amazing! i'm impressed and EXTREMELY ENVIOUS!
the dutch are leading the world in bike infra
@10:00 Hay! a Bostonian!
Cycling makes us healthier, relaxed and saves energy
I want to have this video watched by the stupid decision makesr in Japan.
人家商店業者主動要求政府取消停車格，台灣的商店業者則相反，反對政府設置人行道，因為會讓顧客不好停車進而影響生意，不思進取的一群刁民
In 2020, I had decided it was time to move out of my homecountry.
I wasn't sure what the destination would be, and moving to the Netherlands was not yet on the table.
So, one day, late at night, I stumbled upon this video almost randomly.
Long story short, I live in Utrecht with my family for over 2 years now and couldn't be happier about it. We found our place on earth.
So, THANK YOU, people who made this video. It changed my life. 🙂
In my city, cars are in a strong position despite the narrow streets.
I would love this to happen in Belfast but as with all these procycling videos they never show people cycling in extreme weather. It's not dry all the time! It's windy and wet and cycling in a head wind isn't fun.
The answer to creating cycling incentives is density. In the US, so many suburbs are laid out so far apart that it’s impractical to cycle for anything other than fitness, even if you could get paths installed. Changing building and zoning codes has to be the first step.
Man, the things I would do to live in Utrecht, or a city like Utrecht. The USA is so absurdly behind when it comes to building cities for people and bikes
How i wish this bike lanes be visible in my place.. i know people filipinos will adopt..
The UK government of course went in the opposite direction quite recently – out of town retail that encourages motor traffic – more opportunities for politicians to get back-handers?
I'm looking at the city of the future
Hardly anyone is overweight in this video.
💗💗💗
Nice place to retire someday❤ the downside is i might get mugged a couple of times because im asian😂
I wish my city do this to,but my city and country was dominated by motorbike, i think this was impossible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqQSwQLDIK8 where is this messiness?
Wonderful video! 🙂 Thank you!
Wont happen in my lifetime in USA: I think I’ll move!
Cycling in Kuala Lumpur is like being treated as a terrorist, juat riding on the sidewalks and bicycle lane, was getting horn at by buses, chased away by security guards of shopping malls that guard their walkway/pathways.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada is on the way to making this dream happen….but North American car owners are aggressively addicted to commuting the vast distances they have to travel….in their cars. And then there's Winter to consolidate their belief it can't be done. But even that won't deter our fabulous Mayor Valérie Plante from pursuing this dream one hundred thousand cyclist share with her….and she now has the bike paths cleared regularly all winter long. We're closing in on the mark ! The PROVOS and their White Bicycle have come a LONG way !
Such a nonsense. Plan for all people. A lot of people need their cars. Not everybody is a greenish leftist.
Unfortunately, the reality about cycling in Utrecht is not as good as this video suggests.
Let me first clarify that I am a cyclist. I work in the center of Utrecht and go there by bike from a suburb. When I go shopping or out in Utrecht I go by bike or public transport (bus). So I am all in favor of a good cycling infrastructure. But I see too many videos depicting Utrecht as some cyclist heaven, which it is not.
First of all, safety. Utrecht has become an extremely dangerous city for walking and cycling. There are just way too many cyclists going through the historical center where there is simply not enough capacity. People get hurt or are afraid to walk or cycle there.
De council has banned bikes from some parts of the city center for safety reasons (which proofs the point), but that is only a small part and the rest remains a safety hazard.
The large bicycle parking at the station was designed before the rise of the e-bikes, resulting in e-bikes not fitting in the racks and being too heavy to get to the 2nd level racks. Consequence is that there is almost never a usable space for your e-bike unless you are a weightlifter and can raise your bike to the 2nd level.
Security is another issue. The municipal bicycle parking is OK in that it has a system that checks that you leave with the same bike as you came in with. Not so in the large parking at the station, where you can bring any rusty old thing inside and leave with a brand new bike, as long as you can show your public transport pass; no check if it is really your bike. Next to there not being enough spaces this is another reason to avoid the large parking for your expensive e-bike.
The municipal parking’s are good and I use them a lot, but there is an overcapacity of parking’s in a very small area. Outside that area (which means most of the center) there are no guarded bicycle parking’s. And leaving a new e-bike out on the street is asking for it to be stolen.
Good production but ruined, for me, by the annoying background so-called music. "You can hear how quiet it is" said the lady but all I heard was an awful soundtrack. Next time be brave and try leaving out the backgroud music clutter?