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Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?
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Has anybody mentioned the weather? Galway is the perfect city for making short commuter trips by bicycle but the wind and rain in the west would put off even the hardiest of folk.
Was the weather responsible for the decline in cycling in the Netherlands up to the 1970s, and its subsequent revival? Did the wind and rain get substantially worse in Galway between 1986 and 2006?There is little doubt that a lot more people would cycle in Ireland if the cycling infrastructure was similar to the Netherlands.
The question is really why the infrastructure is so poor here compared to other countries.
Politicians in the past have generally been ant-cycling but they just reflect the views of the population that they serve.
Of importance in this regard are the inter-related phenomena of path dependence, network effects, technological lock-in and institutional inertia, as recognised academically by economists and sociologists and at gut level by politicians.
In broad terms path dependence means that once particular decisions are made or innovations occur, certain outcomes are more likely down the line.
Networks effects (or network externalities) occur when increasing adoption of, for example, a technological innovation brings benefits to individuals using that technology. Telephones and the internet spring to mind. The more people use the technology the more infrastructure is created to service it, which makes using that technology more attractive.
Lock-in means that once a technology has been widely adopted it's costly and troublesome to switch to something new, even if the alternative is more efficient or otherwise preferable. The classic example often used is the QWERTY keyboard. Microsoft Windows might be another. Fossil fuel dependence is the biggest lock-in on the planet, perhaps, and a huge barrier when trying to prevent runaway climate change.
Institutional inertia is just a fancy term for group-think. Why did the civil engineers cross the road? Because that's what they did last year.
A huge technological, infrastructural, political and social apparatus was built up around private motorised transport in the 20th Century, with the result that we have become physically, psychologically and socially dependent on cars.
Car users benefit from being part of the huge drivers' club, and as the network effects increase so do the advantages of being a motorist. Urban areas are developed for vehicular access. Built-up areas spread out, and facilities and services are located in order to be readily accessible by car. For non-drivers it's the opposite. Pedestrians, cyclists and bus users are disadvantaged by the increased distances, general inaccessibility, sheer weight of traffic and the inadequacy of public transport services in conditions of inexorable sprawl. There is a thus strong incentive to join the car-owners' club. As the club increases in size more benefits accrue for the members, which exacerbates the disadvantages for non-members, who then seek to join the club. That's called the cycle of car dependence.
For many politicians it's just a numbers game: how many current voters are motorists, and how many are cyclists? I recall a local politician a few years ago dismissing objections to a highly questionable road "upgrade" because cyclists were a mere 3% of the population. The Councillors voted for this travesty at the time.0 -
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Cycling modal share is around the same in both cities.
could be, but most people in san fran don't own cars and cycle every day, i wonder how many of the cyclists lsited for dublin only cycle 1 or two days.
anyway, even if it's the same, to me it still negates the hills arguments. people are right .holland is flat. but Dublin doesn't have hills. san fran is an example that even if it did, it doesn't put people off. similar numbers, having to cope with these:
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And not a bike in sight
At home, the big arguments are:
1) I prefer driving
2) Not at my age
3) It's slow
4) It's sweaty
5) I'm not having more bikes in the house
And the big one: "It's too dangerous!"
I was quite pleased that my brother, the one who watches the Tour with me but mocks cycling the rest of the time, came back from inter-railing this summer and said they rented bikes to get around parts of Europe and that he now wanted a bike for college. I think this is part of the problem: We were never allowed cycle to school, my one moment of exposure to cycling was a class trip in secondary school where we cycled out to Wicklow and back on whatever mountain bike was kept in the garage. I enjoyed it, but the trip was cancelled after that because it was deemed "dangerous". After that, we always got lifts, car pooled and finally a private bus was organised by several parents in the area. A few people in my school cycled. Out of 600 I would say the number was probably less than 20, and most lived within 2km. No one is given the opportunity or the training to cycle in Dublin, so when you reach college and adulthood, cycling is almost an exotic, esoteric concept. Only poor people cycle, or hippies trying to save the planet. The big thing about turning 17 (at least where I came from) was learning to drive. Once you learn to drive, why bother cycling? It's dangerous!
I'd like to see more organisation at school level, I don't know how really, I'd imagine a large peloton of parents and children could be a little tricky to manage, but maybe the government could organise a "bike to school" program, get parents and kids on bikes together. I'd really love if my parents cycled and had introduced me to it, I'd imagine it's a fantastic thing to share with a child.
The only mention of cycling in School were those "wear high viz and lights" posters.0 -
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DirkVoodoo wrote: »And not a bike in sight
At home, the big arguments are:
1) I prefer driving
2) Not at my age
3) It's slow
4) It's sweaty
5) I'm not having more bikes in the house
And the big one: "It's too dangerous!"
i'd accept any of those excuses over the hills argument any day0 -
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Being a belgian myself I would say first and foremost that all dutch people are cheap skates
and dont want to pay for fuel.
On a serious note, as the countries are side be side I'm going to look at this from the view point that the reasons me and my friends, family, etc cycled when I was living at home are:
1)infrastructure
my 'commute' to school used to be 10km from a town the size of say 'Bantry' to the outskirts of Antwerp city, the entire route has a cycling path!, my gran used to live 25-30km in the other direction - same storey cycle paths all the way, including along dual carriage ways, etc.
2)Habit
There was a bus on my route to school, with a bus stop 50m from my house that would stop outside the school ... very seldom did we take the bus. From a early age parents take their kids cycling along designated (car free) paths. To a kid in Belgium it is 100% normal to jump on the bike and go to school, training, friends, family in the local area. If a parent suggested to their child here that they head to gaa training on their bike I reckon in most cases the kid would have a heart attack.
3)Drivers attitude towards cyclists
Much more positive in Belgium, this might be down to my first point that every one has their space on the road, but I cant remember any close calls with cars/vans/buses I had whilst cycling(for 14-15 years) in Belgium
4) Weather being an issue in Ireland a ridiculous argument, Belgium's weather would be similar to Ireland, a tad hotter in summer, a tad colder in winter - plenty rain there too - and that didn't stop most of the kids in my school from cycling EVERYDAY, no matter what the weather was the bike shed was always full(a few 100 bikes) - Gave many a day trying to keep our bike upright on the way to and from school on icy winter days
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