Bergen is a city on the West coast fjords of Norway, surrounded by mountains. And they just built the best bicycle tunnel in the world.
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References & Further Reading
See Inside the World’s Longest Purpose-Built Cycling Tunnel
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-longest-purpose-built-cycling-tunnel-just-opened-in-norway-180982029/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Don’t forget your headlamp: The Snoqualmie Tunnel is over 2 miles of total darkness
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/dont-forget-your-headlamp-the-snoqualmie-tunnel-is-over-2-miles-of-total-darkness/
Bergen Historical Photos:
Opphaver: Øivind H. Berger, Fotoregistrering av Bergen. Ø.H. Berger. Rettighetsforvalter: Bergen Byarkiv. Delingslisens: cc by. Originalbilde: digitalarkivet.no (https://nye.digitalarkivet.no:/source/279931/photo/66acd182-97eb-4f2e-9d38-df7492f01f25).
Opphaver: Ukjent, Bergen kommune. Reguleringsvesenet. Rettighetsforvalter: Bergen Byarkiv. Delingslisens: cc by. Originalbilde: digitalarkivet.no (https://nye.digitalarkivet.no:/source/280137/photo/95295f63-aa33-4122-9e5f-c4bee0515342).
Author : Øivind H. Berger, Photo registration of Bergen. Ø.H. Berger . Rights manager : Bergen City Archives . Sharing license: cc by ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ) . Original image: digitalarkivet.no ( https://nye.digitalarkivet.no:/search/photo ) .
Opphaver: Ukjent, Bergen kommune. Reguleringsvesenet. Rettighetsforvalter: Bergen Byarkiv. Delingslisens: cc by. Originalbilde: digitalarkivet.no (https://nye.digitalarkivet.no:/source/280154/photo/27ae5f1d-8bab-4034-a6da-ad353694911c).
Opphaver: Knud Knudsen, Schou, Einar Oscar, arkitekt. Rettighetsforvalter: Bergen Byarkiv. Delingslisens: cc by. Originalbilde: digitalarkivet.no (https://nye.digitalarkivet.no:/source/280012/photo/a17749f1-f7e0-40ec-af21-0cec61d9481e).
Opphaver: Bergen kommune. Havneingeniøren, . Rettighetsforvalter: Bergen Byarkiv. Delingslisens: cc by. Originalbilde: digitalarkivet.no (https://nye.digitalarkivet.no:/source/280132/photo/d3493f95-3b09-4107-91fa-93d1318f3c1f).
Heritage Impact Assessment of the planned Bybanen Light-Rail Extension on the World Heritage Property Bryggen / Bergen
https://www.michaelkloos.de/en/projects/heritage-impact-assessments/bybanen-light-rail-extension-bryggen/
Bybanestriden fortsetter etter ny rapport
https://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/X8gBRg/naa-kommer-rapporten-som-kan-avgjoere-striden-om-bryggen
The overwhelming majority of this video was filmed on location by Not Just Bikes, though a few scenes use stock footage from Getty Images
No generative AI or AI voices were used in the making of this video
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:51 How the tunnel came to be
2:00 “Architectural psychologist” is a thing?!
2:33 Season-themed rest stops & safety features
4:02 Lots of thoughtful elements all come together
6:04 The centre is the best part
6:45 This tunnel is popular!
7:52 Sorry Yanks, but the Snoqualmie tunnel doesn’t count
9:03 Surrounding bicycle infrastructure
9:55 Acoustic bikes & bikeshare
11:14 The LRT line that made this possible
13:35 Before you start making excuses about oil …
15:01 Buses in Bergen
15:57 The insane parking garage
16:30 Trains in Bergen
17:32 The original LRT line
18:22 Damage done by car-centric development
19:24 Future LRT plans and “historic preservation”
21:51 Designing for humans makes cities feel alive
22:37 Historic streets
23:24 The funicular and terrible weather
24:20 Concluding thoughts
25:05 How to support this channel (Nebula)
49 Comments
There are already a bunch of Canadians making excuses, "urhm, akshually Bergen doesn't get as much snow as my Canadian city."
Ok. How about Oulu, in Finland? A city with the population density of London, Ontario, and more snow than any major Canadian city, yet over 80% of the population cycles:
https://youtu.be/Uhx-26GfCBU
The fact is that Scandinavians make great cities, while Canadians make excuses.
"acoustic bikes" (fallz over ded)
Looks like a dream for us Inline skaters.
I want to point out that the snowy conditions shown at 23:23 happens like once or twice a year with snow on the ground probably totalling less than 2 weeks at the worst, Bergen really isn't that snowy or cold but what it is, is very rainy indeed.
Even the small-ass northern Norway city I live in with especially brutal winters still has frequent bus services and decent biking infrastructure, the US and Canada has no excuse other than "we bow to the car companies and oppose everything that weakens their reign"
Salzburg is the same in terms of electric buses. Also not as many cars or traffic in many EU countries compared to the US.
Um, that toy tunnel for taxis is more like a literal deathtrap.
Oh hey, how fun! someone else who calls non-electric bikes "acoustic bikes"! Just thought that was neat 🙂
It might sound silly, but seeing thoughtful, considerate projects that are both useful and beautiful is moving to me, almost gets me teary eyed. Perhaps it's grief for a glimpse into a world that could be, but isn't.
soooo good
wow, the nebula ad really jumscared me.
That is a cool use for something that would normally sit empty 99.9% of the time.
As a Norwegian I can confirm that Norway is sunny, warm, flat and dont need rainjackets. If you are a norwegian ….
Love this. We need these all over the place
3:17 "these benches——-", what benches? You mean the one block of stone?
… and for those in Canada wondering, Berging is at about the same lattitude as Whitehorse in the Northwest Territories
The hill part in Bergen came as a surprise to me since Berg means mountain in Germany.
I suddenly want to go on a vacation to visit a nice tunnel.
Oh my goodness I would love to have you visit Singapore and see what you think of our little red dot!
Yes, Norway has oil, but countries likes Luxembourg uses twice as much on rail per inhabitants.
9:42 The reason we can't build bike lanes in Ontario is because of Doug Ford.
9:15 Even with those clear markings people apparently still don't understand which part is for walking/running and which part is for cycling 🙂
That Boring Company burn singed my eyebrows.
Ooh! iDeal support! That's always nice. Another Dutch idea that really should become a global standard.
That cyclist at 4:26 exiting the tunnel, then turning around to go back through the tunnel again, initially struck me as an oddity, but if he's not the only one, yeah, that's a sign of an extraordinarily nice tunnel. So many tunnels are kinda creepy. Some are okay, but it's rare for a tunnel to be nicer than outside the tunnel. But why? Our houses are nice to be in. Why should a tunnel be different?
If it was not for the oil and gas, the argument would be: "No, it can only be done in a small community."
I heard this argument up front when discussing the Danish health care system compared to the American health care system.
I think I'm going to try to increase my biking this summer to lose some weight. Then, maybe, buy a fat tire bike to try biking in Minnesota's winter!
4:26 that biker turning around to chase after the jogger?! "Hey! This is our tunnel" lol jk
The Peak Tram in Hong Kong also stops midway in several spots….
The tram (5€) may be a good reason for not taking your car to the airport. Parking there for one week is 1100 to 1200 NOK (around 100 €). 😊 At least, that's today's price 😅
The funiculars in Naples (funiculì funiculà ! look up the song) have multiple spots and are definetely part of the transit system of the city. So many people use them for transportation reasons, tourists are a minority
"hey bro we're gonna go hang out in the tunnel and discuss sustainable urban infrastructure later if you wanna join"
I AM SO JEALOUS DAMNNN WOOOOOOOW.
Signed: a cyclist from Montreal
At least half of the road (the east part), passing on Mont-Royal, will only be accessible by bike and foot in the upcoming years…! I really hope, that one day, we will have this type of infrastructure, let's say, to pass under some the highways or connecting to the other cities around (Laval or Longueil).
5:19 My tropical mind can't comprehend 7 degree as good temperature for running and cycling. That's freezing for me. lol Norwegian are built different.
Can we get units with temperatures please
"Acoustic bikes"
0:06 no it's pronounced bææææærgen
Plan that would benefit the vast majority of voters: exists
Right-wing politicians: Allow us to introduce ourselves
I’ve ridden through the tunnel in Washington State before. 🙂 I need to do more bicycling in Europe though.
Wooooow 😮
Just it's under roof must be amazing in a nordic city like that! What a dream.
Make Bike Tunnel Great Again MBTGA
this is ridiculously good engineering. what a 1st world country actually looks like
Seattle has a bike tunnel going through Mt. Baker built under similar pretense, when they did the i90 expansion in the 80's. Its uhhhh…. not as nice, though the graffiti is quite amusing lol.
9:58 dude Bergen gets like 200 days off rain a year.
I lived there for a few months during the winter months over ten years ago and I swear even when it showed it rained.
Very nice summary of my home town!
I wouldn't get my hopes up about them making these streets pedestrian friendly any time soon. As of now, they are even on about removing the cobalt stone streets, because they are more "expensive" to maintain than asphalt. LMAO.
god, those stations are absolutely beautiful. a place built for occupying, not merely passing through
excuse me, but Montreal has biking infrastructures and protected bike path. the car owners hates it, but we riders love it. it's not the best, but efforst has been put there… and we broke a snowfall record last month so there, no excuses .
Wait. A tunnel without any stupid graffiti tags?
Its always amazing to see how different Norway uses its oil money compared to the UAE. They just think ahead, while also giving space to people, bikes an some cars.
I wouldnt bike in the cold but theres no bad weather in a tunnel, its nice that some extra costs and RGB made this tunnel so much more useful.