The Hindu Business Line : The city that moves on two wheels

The popularity of the cycle comes from the Netherlands’ penchant for the principles of traffic separation while planning its towns and cities. Major issues are comfort, convenience and safety at intersections of bicycle pathways along vehicular routes. But Amsterdam seems to have managed well.

Amsterdammers take the cycle very seriously. Besides doing wonders for people’s fitness levels and reducing air and noise pollution, the two-wheeler also sustains an economy around it.

J. Srinivasan

Amsterdam moves on two wheels. From the man-on-the street to the mayor, professionals to professors, children to grandmothers everyone rides a bike. The city’s chief mode of transport, the cycle is the people’s obsession.

It is as common to see an Armani-suited city businessman jump off a designer cycle to go into his office as it is for formally-attired women to pedal away elegantly into the night after an evening at the opera.

The common sound on the streets of Amsterdam is the trundling of cycles rather than the hiss of the tyre on the tar. Sure there are cars but crowding the parking lots are the cycles.

But, then, Amsterdam was not designed for cars. The 17th-century inner city, criss-crossed by canals and narrow streets, was built for pedestrians. There is barely space for cars to drive around, leave alone to park. With a flat terrain and the core city no more than five square kilometres, the Dutch cultural capital is ideal for the cycle.

Little wonder then, that almost half of all traffic in Amsterdam is pedal-powered, far more than in any other northern European city. Or that the 750,000 people who live in Amsterdam own no fewer than 600,000 bicycles.

There was the fascination for cars, of course, but it is the slow and steady bike that has emerged the winner.

The city council gave the bike a much-needed push by developing an extensive network of safe and easy cycle tracks traversing the city. The numbers speak volumes:

Number of cycles: 600000-plus

Bicycle paths: 400 km

Two-way bicycle paths: 250 km

Single-way cycle paths: 150 km

Cycle shops: 150

Guarded municipal cycle sheds: 25

The popularity of the cycle comes from the Netherlands’ penchant for the principles of traffic separation while planning its towns and cities.

All major urban agglomerations have core pedestrian areas and an extensive system of separate bikeways. There are also separate signals for the bikes, though they are obeyed more in violation.

The pedestrian zones are off-limits for cyclists, but the authorities generally look the other way as long as there is no pedestrian discomfort or accidents.

Mixed modes

Such mixing of transport modes is worth a study as it can solve many planning problems. But the major issues are comfort, convenience and safety at intersections of bicycle pathways along vehicular routes.

But Amsterdam seems to have managed well, in no small measure due to the indulgence for the cycle that is such an integral part of the city’s life. When you bike in Amsterdam, everyone makes way — cars, busses mammoth trucks, and even trams.

This is especially important as the separated bicycle pathways take space on the street, usually the width of a traffic lane in each direction.

This means a dramatic reduction in the space for vehicles, if not their elimination from the street.

And with the rise in the number of both cars and bikes, will the city be able to cope?

But that has not stopped the action in the biking lane. And it is so infectious that even tourists cannot but give in to the temptation and quickly rent a bike from the numerous shops that dot the city.

With a helmet unnecessary (at least no one wears them in Amsterdam) you can just hop onto a bike and feel as young as you want to … raising yourself on the pedals or weaving in and out of the crowd.

A convenient way to get around, the bike also provides visitors with an excellent experience of the city.

There are even guided cycle tours, or cyclists can take one of the special bike routes to view sights.

Economy around it

Besides doing wonders for the people’s fitness levels and reducing air and noise pollution, the cycle also sustains an economy around it.

Apart from stores selling cycles and accessories, there are the many repair shops and all the street markets have stalls hawking a mind-boggling variety of lamps, bells and locks. The generally genial policeman may not mind your cycling after smoking hashish (in small quantities it is legal in Amsterdam and is sold over the counter at most coffee-shops) but will slap a stiff fine if your cycle’s front or rear lamp is not burning. And the locks are to be seen to be believed. The Amsterdammer takes his cycle very seriously. So much so that all cycles have “papers”, like other vehicles, and bikes cannot be just bought or sold on the street. Each sale is required to be registered.

Indeed, the importance Amsterdam attaches to the bicycle is obvious in its appointment of a dedicated bicycle co-ordinator who manages the bicycle policy.

The co-ordinator is the contact person for the government, the provincial authorities and the local councils, besides being a consultant to the Cyclists’ Association and a general information point.

(The author is a Business Line Deputy Editor on sabbatical in Amsterdam.)