
How the Dutch created a casual biking culture - jseliger
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/8/28/17789510/bike-cycling-netherlands-dutch-infrastructure
======
Rainymood
As a Dutch person I am pleasantly surprised by this article, it gets basically
everything right. One thing though is that our geography works well with
biking. I visited the US recently and you can drive for 30 minutes in a car
and you are still in LA, if you drive for 30 minutes in the Netherlands you're
in a completely different city. Everything is just closer and hence more bike-
able.

As a dutch person I would absolutely NOT want to ride a bike in the US, it's
simply too dangerous. There are so many cars that are not looking out for
cyclists. For example, I _never_ saw my Uber/Lyft driver peek over his
shoulder. In the Netherlands we fail our driving exam if we forget this even
once. Another example is the insane speed cars fly past the "share the
road"-bikelanes. It's crazy. I would feel really unsafe on a bike in the US.

~~~
bluejekyll
> As a dutch person I would absolutely NOT want to ride a bike in the US, it's
> simply too dangerous.

I understand this perspective, but as a counter to this, if no one bikes in
the US then this won't change. I ride all over San Francisco. In the last 18
years of me living here things have gotten better and better for the cyclist,
but there are still many areas that can be improved. I encourage you to
support local organizations, like the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which
can pressure local governments to make changes that improve safety for all
cyclists.

For too long in the US we've designed our roads with the idea that cars have
some right to the road that others do not. We're finally starting to rectify
that in cities across the country, and it's only getting better.

~~~
neivin
You would also fail your driver's test in SF if you don't check for bikers
when making a right turn. However, this isn't the case if you do your test
elsewhere. SF has pretty good bike infrastructure and awareness.

I just did my driving test in the city, and this was drilled into my head by
my instructor.

~~~
u801e
> You would also fail your driver's test in SF if you don't check for bikers
> when making a right turn.

Infrastructure shouldn't be designed in a way to cause these types of turning
conflicts. The general rule of the road is that vehicles on the right make
right turns. Vehicles on the left make left turns, and vehicles in the middle
proceed straight through the intersection.

Turning conflicts, like what you're describing, are a significant hazard to
cyclists. Cars need to check for traffic[1] on their right, move to the right,
and then make their right turn. Cyclists need to pass right turning traffic on
the left.

[1] Cyclists are traffic.

~~~
SECProto
By that measure, we shouldn't have crosswalks at intersections, and walkers
should walk into the street, past the right turn lane, to avoid turning
conflict.

~~~
joncrocks
In most countries in Europe (certainly in the UK, and other places I have
visited), pedestrians have a separate crossing phase to the rest of traffic.

The US is unusual in expecting pedestrians to cross while traffic is also
trying to negotiate an intersection.

~~~
gambiting
In some EU countries(Poland) pedestrians have a green light to go, even though
cars turning right also have a green light - cars are expected to watch out
for pedestrians crossing, even when they have a green light to go.

I live in UK and the part of the traffic codex that seems to be unknown to
literally all British drivers is the one that says "pedestrians have priority
over cars making a turn" \- so if you are crossing a road near an intersection
and a car is making a turn into that road you are just crossing, you have
absolute priority even in the absence of a designated crossing - but drivers
get really upset and honk and wave as if you are in their way.

[https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-
road-...](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-
road-159-to-203#rule170)

"watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they
have started to cross they have priority, so give way"

~~~
nothrabannosir
_> part of the traffic codex that seems to be unknown to literally all British
drivers is the one that says "pedestrians have priority over cars making a
turn"_

They have a very efficient system for reminding fellow road users, though. Two
fingers in the air slightly apart, a pedestrian’s walking legs upside down,
indicating the priority reversal.

People are generally very receptive to this, because it is quintessentially
British to understand you have to live together harmoniously to get ahead in
life.

~~~
teddyh
Please don’t spread dangerous misinformation, even as a joke.

Note to non-UK-residents: The described gesture is, in fact, a very rude
insulting gesture:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign#As_an_insult](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign#As_an_insult)

~~~
watermanio
> dangerous misinformation

Oh come on, making a V sign is not dangerous. Most likely, someone shouts an
original insult to you.

~~~
glenneroo
I've been followed home and threatened in the US for giving a driver who was
tailgating the middle finger. Are you saying that in the UK this would never
happen? I certainly wouldn't risk provoking random strangers, especially those
who are not following traffic codex.

~~~
Plasmoid2000ad
Very unlikely. Fuels costs are way too high for anyone in the UK to consider
diverting from their regular commute.

------
cr1895
It wasn’t always this way.

There’s an interesting clip from a documentary in 1972 about the neighborhood
De Pijp in Amsterdam, when it was still very much a car-centric city. At the
time children in the area protested how dangerous the streets had become and
how they lacked safe areas to play.

[https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/amsterdam-
chil...](https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/amsterdam-children-
fighting-cars-in-1972/)

Compared to the situation now, it’s vastly improved. Fortunately the car did
not win and the city did not destroy itself with a highway through the middle.

Edit

Here’s another (recent) documentary you might find interesting:

[https://vimeo.com/123480693](https://vimeo.com/123480693)

~~~
nextos
It was the same with Denmark. And especially Copenhagen. They went from a very
car-centric society to a remarkably bike-centric one. Despite bad weather. All
due to the Oil Crisis. Unlike other governments in the rest of EU, it seems
that both the Dutch and the Danes understood a change was needed.

I've read urbanism brochures from the 1960s, when the Technical University was
getting moved from central Copenhagen to a suburb (Lyngby), and it's
remarkable how car-centric the design was. An old airport, where the runway
was converted into a huge parking lot, and commuting by car was carefully
considered to weight all decisions.

~~~
madmoose
Copenhagen's history with bikes goes far back, here's some newsreels from the
20s and 30s:
[https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2014/05/-/9014/](https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2014/05/-/9014/)

------
wjnc
A main one not pointed out: cars are always (extreme negligence would be the
tipping point) liable for crashes with cyclists and pedestrians. That's quite
supportive for keeping an eye out for possible danger. To support that
liability insurance is obligatory for motorists.

The one on left vs. right really is not even close to an issue. I would guess
most MPs of most parties cycle to work. There is literally not a (native)
child that doesn't bike by 7. We even have courses for newcomers to learn how
to cycle.

~~~
cr1895
There’s something to be said about which parties favor encouraging or
discouraging car use in cities or restrictions of motorized vehicles on the
cycle paths (which the interview also did not really cover).

But you’re right...no one is discouraging biking.

~~~
kazen44
Also, road design in the netherlands is specifically designed to seperate cars
and bikes as much as possible. ( a crash between bikes is far less dangerous
compared to a car-bike crash).

If that is not possible, they design roads in a way which forces people to
slow down to "safe" speeds. (50km/h or lower usually).

~~~
masklinn
That is mentioned in the article, full separation is required on any road
where the speed limit exceeds 30km/h (~20mph).

------
neals
It isn't all fun and games. I had to ride the bike to school for 5 years. Over
in the neighbouring city. A 45 minute ride. Alone. Through wind, rain, wind
and wind. And rain. That's also part of the culture, because it's safe and ok
to send kids, 12 years old, on their own, in the dark over unlit forest roads.
Through the wind. Also wind. Saves on bus fare. Which is also typically Dutch.

I don't own a bike any more.

~~~
Symbiote
I would have loved that kind of independence at age 12, but with the fear of
traffic, paedophiles, kidnappers and whatever, I wasn't even allowed to walk
to the end of the road unsupervised.

~~~
ams6110
That's too bad. When I was 12 (late 1970s, Midwest US) I rode my bike all over
the place. No mobile phone either. I'm sure there were as many pedophiles and
kidnappers then as now, but I never encountered any. I think the risk of a
totally random stranger doing anything is very overblown. And traffic was
certainly less aware of bikes. You learned to pay attention to cars.

~~~
__d
When I was 12 (late 70s, Australia) I rode my bike all over the place. Rode to
and from school, about 25 minutes each way. And through the forest at the edge
of town -- we'd disappear for hours there, riding as far as the next town (1
hour downhill :-)

We knew where the dodgy guy hung out near the public toilets in the park, and
avoided him (the teacher at school was a different matter).

I think ... people were less alienated from society then. It seems different
now.

------
Elte
> The Dutch use bikes as a tool to feed their transit system: 50 percent of
> all trips that take place on the transit system in the Netherlands begin
> with a bicycle ride.

This is why I'm still waiting for Google Maps and the likes to include an "I
have a bike and am willing to use it to get to the closest train/metro/bus
station" option.

~~~
eythian
That'd be so handy. Especially when going somewhere where the connection is by
train or whatever and half an hour of biking at the ends is no problem.

------
dstick
Don’t believe the lies! All the pictures in this article show a sunny city
with happy cyclists. Apart from the last 2 months this is demonstrably false
since everyone who lives in the Netherlands knows that if starts to rain the
second you get outside to grab your bike and a strong headwind will follow you
relentlessly, even when you make a 180 turn.

Those are the facts. Don’t believe this propaganda.

~~~
rocgf
No offence, but you're strawmaning heavily here.

I mean sure, you're right, the weather in the Netherlands is as nice as those
picture only for a couple of months per year, but that's not the point of the
article, nor does it prove/disprove anything.

The Dutch cycle year round, and while it is true that traffic in the summer is
like double, cycling is still the main form of transportation for a
significant portion of the population.

~~~
Vinnl
I'm quite sure the post was tongue-in-cheek. The point was basically that
Dutch weather isn't great, disguised as a complain of propaganda.

------
phil248
I was amazed at how mellow everyone in Amsterdam seemed while riding their
bikes.

In US cities, most cyclist act like they're in a race. They must run every
stop sign, charge down every hill, graze every pedestrian... in downtown
Amsterdam most people were going at a leisurely pace and if you get in their
way, they just ding a little bell at you.

~~~
merpnderp
I was turning left to park at lunch and a bicyclist blew through two stop
signs at ~45mph and almost t-boned me. I had wrongly assumed he'd stop at the
two stops signs and I had plenty of time. Luckily he happily pulled into
oncoming traffic to swerve around me.

I'm sure in the near future he'll be donating organs to some lucky recipient.

~~~
Karrot_Kream
This is so inaccurate, it's almost laughable. The max speed in sprints during
the Tour de France [1] is 43.5mph. Unless you encountered a Tour de France
rider, I doubt the cyclist blew through at ~45mph.

1: [http://slocyclist.com/whats-the-average-speed-of-tour-de-
fra...](http://slocyclist.com/whats-the-average-speed-of-tour-de-france-
riders-in-mph/)

~~~
gamegoblin
If the cyclist had just descended a steep hill, being in the realm of 45mph is
not at all unbelievable. I hit 35mph coasting down a very small hill on my
commute every day.

~~~
stefan_
Except drag increases quadratically so going 35 -> 45 mph is a much higher
increase in energy than the numbers would suggest.

No, I'm going to go with "person who never travels under his own power has no
concept of human speeds".

~~~
adrianN
I've hit 70km/h going downhill with some tail wind.

------
tlb
Another way in which biking in (some parts of) the US isn't casual: pretty
much every biker you see in Silicon Valley has bike shorts, a jersey
advertising a race or energy drink, clip-in shoes and is riding at VO₂ max. I
feel out of place tooling around in street clothes.

~~~
kazen44
This is suchs a strange concept to me as a dutchman.

Americans seem to think biking is mainly a sport instead of a mode of
transportation.

Most dutch people ride on bicycles which are either A) in a constant semi-
broken state (students are notorious for this) or B) riding a luxery city bike
(usually high income families).

~~~
rorykoehler
You only have to drive across the border to Germany to find full-kit alpine
hikers (poles and all) walking their leisurely stroll in their local park.
This reflects essentially the same attitude as what the GP described.

~~~
adrianN
Maybe it's different in west Germany, but I've never seen anyone wearing
hiking gear in a park.

~~~
rorykoehler
It was a slight exaggeration... but only slight. When I was visiting my bro in
Freiburg I was amazed at the number of full-kit w __ __*s walking up and down
the relatively flat paved path that hugged the Dreisam river. Half of them
were practically dragging the poles behind them too.

------
lucb1e
> Dutch design manual classifies roads depending on the speed of the cars
> traveling in them. If there’s any major difference in speed, then full
> separation is required

> What is the speed threshold?

> Anything where cars are traveling faster than 30 kph. So, what’s that, 19
> mph?

As a Dutchman, this is so obviously wrong that it makes me doubt everything
factual in the book they wrote. 50 roads without physical separation are the
default, and 60 roads are often back roads where there is not enough traffic
to warrant the space (=money) required for a separated cycling lane so those
typically also have no physical barriers.

I guess the limit is 70km/h, as I can't off the top of my head think of any
70-80 road where cyclists don't have separate infrastructure, though I'm sure
one can find an exception.

I was very surprised to learn that in Germany, they have no trouble with
having people drive without even an indicated bike lane (I'd feel unsafe
driving on a 50 road if people drive 50, there is no space left over, and
there is no bike lane outlined) on 100km/h roads.

> Cycle tracks are all paved with this easily identified red pavement, an
> inch-thick top coat of dyed red asphalt

Inch-thick? 2.6cm? Have they even been to the country at all? Never have I
ever seen the red paint so thick that you'd notice it when driving onto it,
I'm fairly certain that doesn't exist anywhere in the country. The only
tactile paint we have is the white lines on the sides of highways, which I
assume is to wake dozers up.

~~~
lenlorijn
That's because they're talking about a "Dutch design manual". Not a law. So
obviously local governments won't implement this if it is prohibitively
expensive. It's just a suggestion.

'inch-thick top coat', they're talking about a top coat, not just the paint.
To make sure the paint doesn't wear after a couple of months the entire top
part of the cycling path is red asphalt. Though I doubt it is 2,6cm everywhere
as it differs per municipality. But its definitely thicker than a coat of
paint most of the time.

------
dopamean
My wife and I were in Amsterdam a few weeks ago for a music festival and we
were blown away by how easy it was to get around on a bike. I don't have much
to add to what's in the article just to say that I was shocked by how
comfortable riding a bike in Amsterdam is. I live in Austin, TX and would
never in a million years ride to work here. There is so little infrastructure
to make regular bicycle riding less risky.

~~~
GijsjanB
Amsterdam is one of the worst cities to bike in (on a Dutch scale). It only
get's better in other cities!

~~~
elboru
I didn’t know that, I’ve only been to Amsterdam, what is different in other
cities?

~~~
rogihee
Less tourists on bikes that are the most dangerous cyclists around, every
Dutch person knows :-)

~~~
lucb1e
Dutch person checking in, can confirm. I had to stop my Syrian classmate from
crossing the bike paths without looking in, you guessed it, Amsterdam!

------
brightball
Oddly enough I’m in Dordrecht, NL right now on a work trip and it’s bike
heaven here. Bike lanes the size of car lanes. Bike depos next to the train
station that are a block long. Everywhere you go there’s close to 50 bikes
parked outside.

It’s a great place to visit. Lots of nice people and history.

------
dgut
The thing about NL is that it's totally flat and a tiny piece of land. The
biking culture is a result of their geography, not anything else. For example,
in Norway, where biking infrastructure is quite decent and people are
generally positive about biking/being environmentally responsible, biking is
simply impossible in most cases because of the larger hilly landmass and the
cold snowy winters.

~~~
adrianN
Yeah I'm sure five decades of deliberate city planning have nothing to do with
it. Berlin is also perfectly flat, quite dense and has a nice climate and yet
in the Netherlands three times as many people commute by bike.

------
sxp62000
The Netherlands are (is?) also very flat. If you go up a tower with a viewing
area in one of the bigger cities, you'll see what I mean. You can see really
far in the horizon! Maybe it's just easier to bike there so more people do it?

~~~
Afton
E-bikes are flattening terrain. Source: I live in Seattle, am an avid biker,
and those Lime e-bikes are _everywhere_. People who wouldn't dream of biking
because of the hills are now out on casual errands with those things.

~~~
antisthenes
Unfortunately I don't get the economics of lime ebikes.

You pay $6/hr to ride one, which, assuming a very generous average speed of
14.5mph (the maximum of the bike), is an end user cost of $0.41 per mile
minimum.

It costs me ~$0.35 per mile to drive a car. I also don't have to bother with
any apps or worry about the battery being charged, both of which are
inconveniences.

Also, just to set the record straight, I own an e-bike as well, and my cost to
ride (assuming a 500*30 mile battery endurance) is 4 cents per mile, about
1/10x of what I'd pay for a limebike.

There is an upfront cost, yes, but you're also getting a much better quality
bike than what you would get with a lime bike (which seems to be an almost-
bottom-of-the-barrell chinese made ebike)

~~~
neivin
You completely ignored all the other costs of owning a car: insurance,
parking, maintenance.

You're paying much, much more than $0.35/mile my friend.

~~~
ams6110
How do you know? Perhaps he has an old car that he maintains himself, parks in
free lots, and only carries liability coverage so insurance is cheaper.

------
pasta
I once drove my bike through The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France and
Belgium.

They all have bike lanes (well France sometimes have them) but what is
different is that most bike lanes in The Netherlands are separated from other
lanes. So you are and feel mutch safer.

So I believe that bike lanes are not enough. They should be realy separated
from other trafic.

~~~
PascLeRasc
The other thing is that Europe doesn't have nearly as many huge SUVs as
America. Helps a ton with visibility, driver awareness, braking speed, and
less momentum in collisions.

~~~
HarryHirsch
_huge SUVs_

Oh yes, those huge things (trucks, too) with dark tinted windows are the pox
on wheels. On a motorbike you sit higher and can look over regular passenger
cars, and you can see all the road in front of you. But if you ride behind one
of these antisocial fuck-you-I've-got-mine hulks you can't see the road, and
it's life-threatening.

~~~
ajmurmann
Even being in a car these damn things are a problem. I would prefer a refund
sedan as my next car, but because your visibility gets negatively impact when
sitting in a low cat like that with all the SUVs around you, it will likely
have to be a higher car like a Rav4 again.

------
2T1Qka0rEiPr
I love this, but I wonder if cycling in The Netherlands is similar to my
experience in Germany.

I would classify myself as a "wielrenner". In Berlin for example, whilst the
cycling infrastructure is also generally good as a cyclist you're practically
forced to use these really thin cycle paths full of "fietser"s (to continue
the Dutch terminology). That, in combination with generally very bumpy paths,
can make getting from A-B quickly highly frustrating. However, cycling on the
road is a nightmare. In some situations its forbidden altogether, and
generally drivers are really aggressive about your mere presence even when
they're perfectly capable of driving around you. Coming from the UK, I'd
actually rather drive on the road with the knowledge that I'm a first-class
citizen of said road, and be able to cycle at my own pace.

~~~
masklinn
> I love this, but I wonder if cycling in The Netherlands is similar to my
> experience in Germany.

It's likely a better experience, and at any rate it's significantly safer:
[https://twitter.com/greenpeace_de/status/1034350589696716800](https://twitter.com/greenpeace_de/status/1034350589696716800)

(I don't speak german but using google translate it looks like yellow is
accident risk, light green is proportion of cyclists and dark green is
cycling-related spending)

------
Vinnl
Relevant: what Seattle can learn from Dutch street design:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0GA901oGe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0GA901oGe4)

A presentation with a ton of examples of small infrastructural touches that
make it safer to cycle in the Netherlands.

------
DoreenMichele
_the bike alone doesn’t replace the private automobile, and neither does
public transit, but when you combine the two, that’s when the magic happens.
Then the car becomes redundant in cities._

I love the picture of a guy moving a bed on an oversized and strange (to my
eyes) three wheeler.

~~~
the-dude
'Bakfiets'. Bike with a 'bak', which would be a container?

They are mostly rentals. I think IKEA rents out bakfietsen too.

~~~
GijsjanB
The one 'bakfiets' in the picture may be a rental, but I know a lot of people
owning one. All my friends and myself included own one. When I bring the kids
to school in the 'bakfiets'. There is a 'bakfiets' traffic jam. It's also
great for groceries and going to the beach!

~~~
Vinnl
Those are not the wide ones like in the picture though - almost nobody owns
those.

------
novaRom
Visiting San Francisco and San Jose every year, I don't see many improvements.
US is for cars right now how it looks like. Uber, Light Train, renting a car,
but no options to just take a bike from hotel to a conference site.

~~~
s0rce
Bike shares (docked and dockless) are growing in the bay area. I know many
non-cyclists use them daily for their last mile commute from the train. You
could probably use these in SF to go from a hotel to a conference venue. Also,
numerous large SV companies have their own campus bikes as well.

------
codr4
From having spent quite some time in Amsterdam, I would say that you're safer
on a bike than on foot. When a biker rings the bell on you in Amsterdam it's
not a heads up or suggestion to get out of the way like in the rest of the
world; it's quite possibly the last thing you will ever hear. From my
experience, they go fast and expect you to move out of the way. Or you could
try to not walk in bike lanes, I guess; not that I had much luck identifying
them.

~~~
Fritsdehacker
I lived in Amsterdam for more than ten years and recently moved to a smaller
city. Amsterdam really has it's own bike "culture". Cyclist in the rest of
Holland are far more forgiving to pedestrians and other traffic in general in
my experience. I have no trouble cycling in Amsterdam, but I do have to pay a
lot more attention than normally.

~~~
rorykoehler
The over abundance of naive tourists blocking the way probably destroyed any
goodwill Amsterdammers may have had.

------
jschulenklopper
> But the biggest education — while it’s not mandatory throughout the country,
> it’s done by most schools — is students around grade four or five, in the 10
> and 11 age range, start taking cycling skills courses.

Having been raised in The Netherlands, and being educated from kindergarten
till university, and having three kids older than 11 years... I've never heard
about a _cycling skill course_ in Dutch schools. Sure, there a classes (part
of primary school education) about traffic rules, but children learn to cycle
in their play time. I guess 75% of kids know how to drive a bicycle before
they're 6 years old.

> Between the ages of 11 and 12 they have to take a written exam to show that
> they understand the rules of the road. They also do a practical exam.

Indeed, these exist. But the only training for that practical exam that I'm
aware of is that the teacher is biking the route (it is known in advance) once
with the kids, like a week before that "fietsexamen".

Oh, and nowadays that exam is part of Fietsexamen Nederland (related to Veilig
Verkeer Nederland?), not the Fietsersbond.

------
Scott_Sanderson
The US mostly has different land use laws than the Netherlands. For example,
minimum parking requirements and minimum setbacks from property lines
basically require sprawl. You get more bang for buck on bike infrastructure
when a neighborhood in denser than what is usually allowed in the US. There is
usually stiff resistance to changing the US zoning rules.

------
1709345
maybe biking adds to the fact that not much obesity in NL compared to the US?

~~~
Avalaxy
Yea and WAY less sugar in our food.

------
gameswithgo
From a bike racing perspective their bike culture seems anything but casual!
They are often the hardest of the hard.

------
limaoscarjuliet
Easy - they have no hills.

~~~
twoWhlsGud
Hills end. Wind doesn't. (Source - memories of biking upwind against the air
coming off the North Sea.)

I'll take Seattle hills over Dutch headwinds any day...

~~~
lucb1e
From the few months living in Amsterdam (30km from sea, 1km from a huge lake)
for studies, the difference between this and my home 150km inlands is huge.
The kind of wind we get maybe four times a year is a bi-weekly occurrence in
Amsterdam. Super annoying to have to bike to school, even if it's normally
only like 7 minutes, against yet another feels-like-huge-storm wind.

------
WouterZ
Do helmets help in full on collision - yes they do.

[https://youtu.be/ivQHuU-Ykws](https://youtu.be/ivQHuU-Ykws)

------
erikb
By having flat roads and the fact that bikes are cheaper than cars? I honestly
don't think one needs to do much to create a biking culture. Maybe some
investment and biking lanes separated from roads are needed.

~~~
GijsjanB
Adding bike lanes to existing infrastructure may not be as simple as it seams.
Then there's culture. Kids in The Netherlands learn to ride bicycles when
really small. My son is 5, cycling to and from school. My daughter is 2 years
old, cycling around the house. That's important for a life long appreciation
of the clean, cheap and healthy bike.

~~~
erikb
Yes and so do all kids in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark,
China, etc.

------
jodrellblank
Cities designed for bikes and bicyclists, are still not cities designed for
humans.

[https://newworldeconomics.com/the-problem-with-
bicycles/](https://newworldeconomics.com/the-problem-with-bicycles/)

Bikes are expensive personal transportation, compared to not owning any, they
take up space in every home with muddy, oily mechanisms, they take up a lot of
space in bicycle parks outside every desirable destination serving to push
everything further apart for humans on foot, they don't mesh well with
pedestrians (in a collision with a pedestrian and a fast moving metal bike,
the pedestrian loses), they require equipment you might need to carry (locks,
helmets, other), they need ongoing maintenance, they don't go well with nice
clothes and tend to require places to change, carrying a change of clothes, or
even showers, after any but short journeys in mellow weather.

~~~
Scarblac
Dutch-style bicycles go perfectly well with nice clothes, the oil is inside
the chain compartment and they don't really become very muddy inside the city.

Yes of course walking is better but not everything people want to do is within
easy walking distance, and bikes are preferable to huge infrastructure for
public transport within a city.

~~~
jodrellblank
Not everything is, but most daily things should be. And when things aren't,
there can be public transport, bike hire, taxi hire, car hire. But they
shouldn't be the default, the city shouldn't be designed around them, designed
for them, they shouldn't be necessary.

 _bikes are preferable to huge infrastructure for public transport within a
city_

preferable to whom?

Everyone pooling their resources should make for way way better solutions than
everyone solving the same problems individually over and over.

~~~
KozmoNau7
A lot of my shopping can be done within walking distance, and I do that. I'll
only bring my bike if I need to bring more stuff home than I can carry, as a
bike dramatically increases your load-transporting capacity, compared to
walking.

However, if I need to go to the hardware store ~5km away, I would have to take
a long walk of about an hour, or take a ride on two busses taking a total of
~30-40 minutes each way, or I could simply jump on my bike and be there in ~15
minutes.

Yes, we should absolutely pool our resources as much as possible, but _not
everyone is going the same place at the same time_.

