The History of Bike Culture in The Netherlands
Early threats to the biking culture
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The rise of cars in the mid-1900s posed the biggest threat to bike society in the Netherlands. Before the Second World War, bikes were the primary mode of transport but after the war, the Netherlands flourished economically from natural gas wealth, and the popularity of the car swept through the nation. Families began trading their bikes for cars and cities began to rebuild the roads to accommodate the growing influx of vehicle traffic. Major highways were built in and out of cities and historic neighborhoods were torn down to build new roads for cars, making travelling by bike increasingly unsafe.
Stop de Kindermoord
With this increase of vehicles, came an increase of traffic deaths and in the 1960s, there were approximately an average of 3200 annual vehicle-related deaths. Of the deaths from vehicle incidents, approximately 500 were children. Not only were there deaths of children inside cars, but reportedly in many big cities with narrow streets, children were run over frequently while playing outside or just walking to and from school. In the 1970s, a new protest group arose to tackle this issue. Stop de Kindermoord, or ‘Stop Child Murder’, was an organization of parents, children and supporters who were protesting the increase of automobiles and who were promoting child-friendly street design. Their solution: protests in favor of more cycle friendly cities. |
Car-Free Sundays
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The need for change to a less vehicle-reliant society went beyond just the need for safety. In the 1970s, the oil crisis also hit the Netherlands, leaving the country less economically stable and in need of reducing oil use without taking away from the population's quality of life. As an initiative to encourage people to start using their cars less, the government implemented ‘Car-Free Sundays’ in 1973, banning the use of private motorized traffic from 3 am to midnight on Sundays. This not only forced people to find other means of transportation on those days, but also showed people that cycling could be a viable means of transport in daily life.
The Change to a more bike-friendly Infrastructure
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In light of the protests for safer roads and a need to reduce oil use, governments began implementing plans to change the infrastructures of cities to be more ‘bike friendly.’ Beginning in The Hague and Tilburg, they began experiments testing the use of cycle routes separate from the roads, and other bicycle-friendly aspects that are similar to the Netherlands streets that we know today. This successful test was soon implemented throughout the country. Soon after, city centers were made car-free, urban highway construction was stopped, and big box stores were banned outside of big cities, encouraging people to come to the city center for their shopping where they now had to find alternative transportation methods. With the increase in bikes and decrease in cars, roads became safer, vehicle-related deaths decreased and the roads began to look like they do today.
Sources
- “How the Dutch Got Their Cycling Infrastructure.” Bicycle Dutch, 20 Oct. 2011, bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/how-the-dutch-got-their-cycling-infrastructure/
- McGraw, Sheila. “The Story of Dutch Cycling.” New Europe, 9 Mar. 2016, citiesintransition.eu/publicatie/cyclists-behaving-badly.
- Ministerie van Algemene Zaken. “Cycling Facts 2018.” Government.nl, Ministerie Van Algemene Zaken, 9 Apr. 2018, www.government.nl/documents/reports/2018/04/01/cycling-facts-2018.
- Pucher, John; Buehler, Ralph “Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany," Transport Reviews, 28:4, 495-528, 2008 DOI: 10.1080/01441640701806612
-- Alyssa