Bikes and Dikes: Building a Bicycle Culture

While it has been refreshing to watch New York City create new trails for cyclists over the past few years, nothing comes close to the commitment the Dutch have to bicycle culture. It will take more than a few extra lines on the pavement to transform our city’s transportation mentality.

As I recently toured The Netherlands, I learned how the Dutch reclaimed land from the sea with an impressive system of dikes. I was even more impressed by the extensive system of dedicated bicycle paths running through the towns and alongside the highways–and by the number of people using them. The environmental and social message is clear: cars must give priority to bicycles and pedestrians. In what other country would plows remove the snow from bike lanes and sidewalks before clearing the rest of the road?

Separate pedestrian and bicycle pathways at Kinderdijk.

While my neighbors fought to keep our new bike lane on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, Zwolle residents can cruise over the highway on a bridge built exclusively for cyclists. (Westenholterbrug bicycle bridge, Zwolle)

Examples of dedicated bike pathways (highlighted in red): on the upper right, a separate circle for bikes at a traffic rotary, at the bottom, the Westenholterbrug.

There is a towering garage in Amsterdam dedicated to bicycles, and even in the little town of Zwolle, where I stayed, the train station overflowed with upright cruisers, or Oma Fiets. Perched on one street corner, I observed: bikers in high heels, in flip flops, or even barefoot, carrying crates and shopping bags; riding sidesaddle, listening to headphones, smoking with one hand and talking on the phone with the other; a bike made to carry a wheelchair, an elderly couple holding hands, a man with two babies on his handlebars, girls in formal dresses, men in business suits, and a 5-year old with no training wheels!

Bike lanes on heavily trafficked roads in Zwolle are usually painted red, separated visually from vehicle traffic, and include their own system of priority traffic signals. Many businesses provide bike storage facilities, showers, and some even keep a fleet of bikes to lend to employees for business-related use.

Because bikers in The Netherlands generally have the right of way, drivers are keenly aware of their presence–but the cyclists share responsibility for their safety by using hand signals to alert drivers of their intentions.

Official bicycle parking near the Zwolle train station.

Riding an Oma Fiets in the Netherlands is so easy that riders rarely use helmets, or even two hands.

Cyclists in Zwolle are comfortable carrying all kinds of cargo.

Cultural, environmental, economic, and legislative factors all contribute to the widespread use of bicycles in the Netherlands. The flat terrain, temperate climate, and high population density are only part of the story.

The Dutch government creates incentives for bicycle-use financially, and by mandating infrastructure and traffic laws. The government imposes strict environmental regulations and heavy taxes on car use, charging a whopping 19% sales tax in addition to a luxury tax, or Belasting van Personenauto’s en Motorrijwielen (BPM). The BPM is based on the net value of the vehicle, but is adjusted according to the environmental grade, soot and CO2 emissions, and total weight of the vehicle. That is why, despite the fact the Dutch are exceptionally tall, their cars are all exceptionally tiny.

The New York City government is making a huge push to encourage bicycle use by providing bike lanes and storage racks across the five boroughs. Recently the City identified approximately 45 miles of additional greenway projects and on-street connections that will significantly enhance the quality of life and environment for New Yorkers, and link under-served communities to waterfronts and recreational destinations. But in order for these endeavors to be successful, we must first embrace the creation of a bicycle culture, commit to it, and sustain it.

The city is creating a space for a bike culture, and we must support the new infrastructure with our behavior, whether as pedestrians, drivers, or cyclists. We may not have the sophisticated systems developed by the Dutch just yet, but maybe someday I will be able to ride from Brooklyn to Union Square during rush hour without fearing for my life. I can only hope that as more architects, planners, and businesses make way for cyclists, eventually taxpayers and taxi drivers will follow suit.

Dutch children learn to ride bikes at a very early age, apparently without the use of training wheels.