There are no traffic lights, simply the rules of the road. When crossing the sidewalk, the priority is always the pedestrian. In the roundabout the priority is always the one who is already there. The tram respects the priority of the sidewalk but not that of the roundabout, where it has priority. It's easy when you're born with it.
@@karinland8533 it helps that most people in The Netherlands grow up with cycling (you might even want to call it: growing up on the bicycle). a lot of children cycle to school and it often starts from the time the children go to elementary school (4 or 5 years old). they start by cycling next to their parent, but later on they cycle to school alone or with other kids that live nearby. so by the time Dutch people reach adulthood and get their drivers license, they already have over a decade of experience with being part of traffic. and they know how cyclists think, because they are cyclists themselves.
@@neuralwarp we have roundabouts in the UK with through traffic in the middle. The cyclists are technically going around the roundabout, there’s just a tram line going through the middle
Fun facts, dogs in Europe often actually know how to use crossings. I have several videos from my dash cam with dogs stopping at crossings and waiting for cars to go by before crossing road. They observe humans and learn. It will obviously not happen in USA as they have nothing to learn from.
Depends on the dog of course, but yeah, if they are taught to stop, they will. Our previous dog learned to sit before crossing and go when we gave him the okay. Our current dog is a bit less calm, so he won't sit down, but he will look at us until we give him the go ahead.
My Jack Russel knows when crossing roads he knows when all people stop that means we shouldn’t cross because it’s red when everyone moving so that means we can cross it’s green. Clever little brat that one
Not only dogs are traffic aware: my college and I witnessed a heron waiting at the red pedestrian light.. when it flipped to green he/she slowly walked over on the zebracrossing.. we were wetting ourselves laughing while he/she gave us a dainty look as if it was a completely normal situation and we shouldn’t act silly… it was hilarious!
This is just how it should be, everywhere, in my opinion. Efficient, respectful, effortless. I love how quiet it is too, with all of the bikes. Love from Sweden.
Agreed. But i am from France, and do you have any idea how many bikes are stolen every year here? More and more of us try using bikes, but we have a massive scum problem. And so, it is around 500 000 to 600 000 bikes that are stolen every year here. In cities in particular, because this is where scum comes together the most. The so-called "suburb problem". Paris is the worst, obviously. I am so angry. I have been wanting to switch to using a bike, but i can't !
@@hypatian9093 Post disappeared. To sum it up. You underestimate the problem. They would steal anything, even only the wheels. Anything. What is more, considering the numbers i gave you, you should understand why buying second hand bikes may actually make the problem worse.
@@nox8730 to add to hypatian's reply: most houses in The Netherlands have a shed (or another type of storage place) as part of their house. (or just a simple shed in the yard). so most people have a lockable place at their house where they can store the bike. so having your bike stolen from your house isn't really that big of a problem. if people are going to break into your house they will have better things to steal than a bike (or 3). at work most places have an area (might even be a lockable storage) for employees to store their bikes. and thieves aren't really going to walk onto the property of a business and try to steal the bikes there. that leaves places you might visit between work and being at home. those are the places where your bike might get stolen. but a lot of cities (and the number is growing so that's good news) offer options of parking your bike in a place where someone guards them, and those garages are often free. and if you're going out at night (to a pub or something like that) you want to take your "crappy bike" and not your "normal" or "leisure" bike. so if it get's stolen you're only losing a piece of crap that's worth a max €100. nice anecdote: i once left my key in my bicycle (so it was unlocked), so the whole day i was at school my bike was standing at the train station unlocked and anyone walking by could have nicked it. but when i came back (after being away for 9 hours) it was still where i left it.
@@nox8730 The same is happening in the Netherlands. However, they tend to steal the fancier bikes, and leave the crappier ones behind. Another factor is the locks we use in the Netherlands. They are steal chains covered in a plastic tube, big enough so you can put on the frame, not just the wheels. And still bike theft is a problem.
Even though I come from a country where there is a lot of cycling, I am still very impressed. We love our Dutch neighbors for this and much else. Love from Germany!
yeah in germany there could be done a shitload more work in cities to not have them car-centric designed. but somehow anyone cries like a bitch if they even lose a second or penny of themself.
I lived in Munic for a short while, and i don't remember ever having a hard time commuting by bike (from Brudermühlstrasse to the Altstadt and back) - i remember it as easy as where i live now, Copenhagen. Viele grüsse aus norden =)
@@satakrionkryptomortis thing is quite a few cities across Germany lack parallel alternative roads you could move vehicle traffic to and limit it elsewhere. You're right, more could be done, however the actions which are done often don't make that much sense and actually makes situation for some other road users, like buses and emergency vehicles, even worse
Also, you can't make high density cities for cars: You need a place for all that parking. At best you can make very expensive medium density cities for cars. Cars are more suited for smaller villages and towns where the unavoidable relationship between radius and circumference means you can have most parking at the edges instead of between destinations. Nothing wrong with parking, just make sure it isn't between destinations for other modes of transport.
@@bramvanduijn8086 You can make (relatively) high density cities for cars. It's just that it's costly, as it requires multi-layered structure (underground and multi-floor garages everywhere), and not efficient, as the roads wouldn't be very wide. You can make completely dense cities 'for cars'...if you build all of the buildings above the roads (which would, in practice, mean building the entire road network underground). But again, this is financially not viable and cannot be in any way, shape or form done for existing cities. Also, it will NOT work with the roads above ground, since their width still would need to fit between the buildings, and this is #1 reason why car-heavy cities are not dense.
@@kikixchannel If we're going to add a dimension, then we need to take that into account when calculating density, so it would be people / (surface * number of layers) instead of people / surface. So even your multilayered city would at best reach medium density. It is hard to correctly estimate how much space it takes to add a car. Parking alone adds about 5-20% of surface to a home (Depending on cars/person/home surface), but roads are the bigger culprit. I find this one harder to estimate, but it is more than parking since moving cars require more space and you have to design for maximum theoretical usage if you don't want permanent gridlock. So let's say 10-30%. That means 15-50% of a city's surface would be spent on cars. There's very little chance you're getting high density out of that.
Don't forget, most people in the Netherlands are/have been cyclists. By riding a bike you have eye contact with others in traffic, be it pedestrians, tram drivers or otherwise.
Also, quite important, all that bicycling around the area makes for great exercise and burning calories. It's evening so you can't tell very well but you won't see many 'American-sized' people there. Also also, because they mind their nutrition, Dutch people are some of the tallest in the world. And direct, expect the Dutch to be direct. That's going to be a wild surprise when you're not used to it 🙂
netherland is flat. an the ducth r penny fuckers so they r biking. becuase its cheap. but nobody else in europe. italians use mopeds or used.. becuase they was poor to have a car. but normal people usa a car or public trasport.
Also, the idea of a "cyclist" doesn't really exist in Europe. People who have a lot of cycling gear and take long trips on roads or over difficult terrain will be called cyclists, however me taking my bike to go to class, to work or to the lake 5 kilometers away would not be specified as such. There's not really a war between motorists and cyclists here like I have observed it to be in NA.
The "Wagon bikes" are cargo bikes, usually with a box on the front, known as 'Bakfietsen' or box bikes. They are used for carrying children, pets, adults, books, barbecues, other bikes, shopping, groceries, hardware, large pieces of timber and anything else that we can get to stay in them... My personal record is 13 kids in/on a two wheeled Bakfiets...
@@metricstormtrooper to me, when I visited a while back, the kind of loads people would carry in a 3-wheeler was impressive enough; the fact that some people were able to do the same in a 2-wheeler simply blew my mind, as they made it look effortless despite the absolutely wild dynamics involved (especially with kids / pets that won't keep still). Massive respect to all
@@gnomoblu8015You can carry everything on a bicycle, and I mean that literally. I can f.i. carry all my groceries for the entire week on my bicycle. That is not to boast because everybody does that here in the Netherlands. I also have carried the parts of a bookcase home on my bicycle. Tbh I walked with my bicycle at that time.
Dutch infrastructure is built in such way it requires you to pay attention and not zone out and speed. Roads are narrower, there's traffic calming, there's mixed use where sensible. And that form of infrastructure conditions you to pay more attention. It took us 40 years to get to the point where every Dutch person is used to use the roads based on eye contact. Tips: 1) Don't stop and stand in the middle of the red paths; those are bicycle paths and Dutch people on bikes don't slow down. 2) Use your eyes, make eye contact in traffic...but not randomly outside of traffic; that's a bit weird and creepy. 3) Know where you're going or get to the side and out of the way if you're not sure and need to figure ot out. 4) Don't turn right on red; it's prohibited. Red means in all cases "Stop!" 5) Try to do your first ride in a park; it will still be busy, but you don't have to pay attention to cars and trams. 6) The bells you hear are trams who want you out of the way. They won't stop for you. 7) Don't cycle on tram tracks; your bicycle tyre fits perfectly in it and you might get stuck. 8) Walk on pavements/sidewalks (grey), not on bicycle paths (red). 9) Book an hotel outside of Amsterdam; it's really easy to get to Amsterdam by public transport and it's cheaper. And oh yeah... 10) Get a week chip card for public transport at Schiphol. You can buy them at the yellow machines.
@@ArjenHaaymanif you can’t read Dutch, it’s safer to just remember „no turning/moving on red“. I’m German, understand/can read some Dutch and I would just wait at the side of the lane to be sure I’m allowed to go instead of trusting my barely there Dutch.
#2) You can make eye contact when you are not in a city. In Friesland and f.i. in the village/small town where I live, you greet everybody, whether they are walking or on a bicycle.
A good tip, look at white painted the triangles on the street in the Netherlands. They are called "shark teeth" If the triangles (teeth) are pointed toward you you have to stop for traffic on the road you're crossing or merging into. If the flat part is toward you , the traffic has to stop for you. (although its always important to check anyway , and if in doubt, wait )
"looking at your phone" Fine for 'handheld' calling For cyclists who ride with a phone in their hand, the fine is €160, excluding administration costs. For motorists, the fine is €420 and for mopeds, light-moped riders or disabled vehicles equipped with a motor, who drive with a telephone in their hand, the fine is €290, excluding administration costs.
Yes. Lots of socialist fines. The socialists will tell you exactly what you can and can't do and how you must live according to their rules. And at every opportunity, they will steal and confiscate your money from you, to impoverish you and ensure that you are ever more dependent on the socialist state and the socialists who control it. Welcome to European socialism and total loss of financial sovereignty and personal freedom.
And you don't even have to be using it. Merely holding it in your hand while participating in traffic is enough to get fined. Long story short: Just don't do it. If you need to check your phone park in a safe location first.
Note, how many obese people did you see, None. Healthy, fit and on average tall people. I have traveled around the World in my life, I'm a Londoner. If I ever wanted to move to another country and city my choice would be The Netherlands and Amsterdam. The people are friendly and everyone speaks English. You can walk and cycle everywhere in the city. The people and the culture are great.
@@larswilms8275compared to many people in the USA you’re not fat. I visited the USA twenty years ago and was disgusted by the number of obese people I saw (even in well off neighborhoods). I last visited the Netherlands (for more than a shopping trip - we do these about once a month) a couple of years ago, and there were not nearly as many obese people there. Some people looked like they had a little bit more around the waist, but that’s it.
@@jennyh4025 Bad to compare to the USA. That guy is definitely not healthy and overweight unless he has tons of muscles. It's just that Americans are so abnormally fat as a society that their standards for being fat are way way higher. Every country is slim compared to them
Hi.. I am from Denmark and this is very normal to me... It is pretty much how it looks like in a big city here aswell... We normally pay attention to each other in the traffic and to where everybody is going... to make everybody's trip as comfortable as possible.. and that be if you are in a car, on a bicycle or walking..
I noticed when I visited Copenhagen that you are very good and clear with other bikers or cars with your hand signals, even signalling for stopping. I think you have achieved a very good norm here. In Sweden people are quite bad at giving signals.
Saw a couple of tourist in Copenhagen wander right into the bike path without looking while the famous Danish commuters bike hoard hit them at the usual top speed, mass carnage
🎵Bicycle... 🎵Bicycle... 🎵Bicycle... 🎶I want to ride my bicycle 🎵I want to ride my bike 🎶I want to ride my bicycle 🎵I want to ride my bike everywhere I Iike Yeah✊👸 Greetings from northern Germany ♥️ 🇩🇪
It's called civilization, and I'm pessimistic if the USA will ever achieve it. It will not be possible as long as the vast majority of Americans do not know that there are much better ways of living than theirs.
True, but then America is SO much bigger than any European country [I don't include Russia], so getting about is harder. They could have gone for some high speed railway and reduce the air travel a bit! No excuse not to ride bikes in flat cities though. The Americans do tend to be lazy and go for comfort though.
@@anglosaxon5874 As is their life model, bicycles are useless, they only serve for children to have fun in those ghostly suburbs where they live far from the real world. Things would change a lot if they had shops nearby, schools, hospitals, common recreational areas, sports and cultural activities... But it doesn't seem like any of this interests them. The only thing that seems to interest them when choosing a house is its communication with the nearest highway. It's a mentality problem, and most Americans are happy with things being the way they are.
What does an average American know about how things can be improved compared to their own country?. The most an average American knows is to put each other and themselves in great debt based on their greedy and gluttonous And lazy behavior. Lazy in the sense. That they actually have to get up to grab something and/or do something themselves. Healthcare system that is far too expensive for most normal people. As a result, many people end up in debt for life. Even if they have two or three jobs, they still have difficulty making ends meet. To give just one of many examples And filling their snacks with far too much artificial color, artificial fragrance and artificial flavors that have long been proven in Europe to be carcinogenic.
The flow of non 4-way stops Remember, there is NO right on red. You yield at the triangles on the street and otherwise give traffic from the right priority. Did you notice that cars and bikes have the same speed.
3:50 That's exactly the point. The intersection could never handle that many people in cars. The intersections would have to be made larger for cars. This would make distances longer for each person. This would lead to even more car traffic. Which would require even larger intersections. You're in a vicious circle
Old European cities are compact more by necessity than choice. Centuries ago, walking would have been the only mode of transport for all but the very rich.
@@takatamiyagawa5688 Plenty of European cities were partially demolished for cars, but they noticed how much more children were now dying in traffic and how much lower property tax income is if you demolish half of the property (among many other downsides), and removed the car lanes again. This de-laning process is still ongoing.
@schnelma605 This is exactly the reason this intersection IS designed like this. Not because of the lack of cars, but to make Dann sure it stays like that.
@@takatamiyagawa5688 Only a small minority of cities are actually that old, in practically all bigger cities it's only the small city center. 90% of it is by choice and proper urban planning.
@@bramvanduijn8086 Indeed but they also can go a bit overboard with it. I sometimes wonder if they keep reality in mind when they come up with certain ideas to ban cars from cities. We still have to live in them.
You hit the nail on the head with the word “civil”. This is how civilised people behave. You can tell so much about a country by the way people behave. Shoot this same footage in Detroit or Chicago and you immediately notice that one country has completely failed.
It is the design of the streets. In the Dutch design people have to pay attention. Being hit by a tram or car can have serious consequences. Also other collisions can potentially have harmful consequences but are normally not as severe but any collision is an inconvenience.
even linguistically " the country with no official correct name" - , so its citizens need to use the refering word of the continent where its located on for themselves is failed
the majority of europeans do not have english as their first language. Writing text on traffic signs in all the major european languages makes it very complicated to understand.
some countries have text, some don't - including Canada. As a tendency countries that do not have English or Spanish ("Ceda el paso") as primary language go without text.
I guess he won’t recognize the yield signs at all. Haaientanden are not common in the US. Those are European. And I think the Netherlands (and Denmark?) is the only country where shark teeth even apply without the priority sign. I was just checking the comments to see if anyone had already explained this.
@@erik5374 yepp, Germany does have it in some locations but unfortunately not in every location. People haven't learned yet how efficient it would be if we copied our Dutch neighbors in this regard. You really are innovators in that regard. Kudos for that. Greetz from a German in Hamburg.👍
@@erik5374 sometimes roundabouts in the US use them as well. But yes, the Dutch way of putting them everywhere, often multiple ones in a row is very special.
One of the main factors is the communication - not necessarily verbal, but body language, eye contact, reading the person, have they seen you, etc. In America everyone (obvs hyperbolic exaggeration) is sitting in there 3 ton SUV, 7 ft off the road, tinted windows, oblivious to the rest of the world. That separation is always going to lead to carelessness and lack of courtesy to other road users. Glad you picked up on the efficiency of transporting more people around quickly by getting them *out* of the car though. I wish cities in the UK were like this. Enjoy your trip to Amsterdam.
In Geneva the loudest ones are scooters and motorbikes, because lots of them modify to be as noisy as possible. They are louder than construction trucks and I hate it. I ride myself and I do not see the appeal of modifying my bike to be obnoxious for everyone.
@@woedendstewadpier4922 - I suffer from the same problem here where I live. I'm close to a high school where there are many students who ride 125cc bikes and it feels like there's not a single one of them that doesn't have a louder than stock pipe.
I’m exited to hear that you’re going to explore the Netherlands this summer. My first tip: book an accommodation outside of Amsterdam close to a train station. Connections are great and Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague and Utrecht can all be reached within an hour. If you want to go of the beaten track, you should consider Groningen. It’s a medium sized city in the north (200.000), with a lot of history and a very bustling nightlife with no closing times (25% students). The city center is practically car free and everything can be reached on foot or by bicycle. It has an international vibe due to the large university, but without an abundance of tourists like in the big cities. The EU declared it the 2nd most livable city in Europe in 2023. You could combine this with a trip to Schiermonnikoog, one of the most beautiful and peaceful islands of the country (completely car free). It has one village, a lot of dunes, cyclepaths and the widest beaches of Europe. It’s great to spend one or two days at in summertime.
Agreed! For getting to know / see / experience the most of Netherlands it's better *not* to focus on just Amsterdam but take some other cities, preferrably in the provinces and/ or near to the coast (Groningen, Haarlem, Utrecht, 's Hertogenbosch, Nijmegen, Middelburg will do too) .. And like Carolina suggested -> when biking one over our quiet islands - or trying to - you won't hurt anything or anyone but yourself, when making biking/traffic errors ;-) // other Waddeneilanden like Terschelling or Ameland or Zeeland will be perfect too - plenty to choose when here! cheers @MoreJPs
French here, a few things I can spot : - there are "give way"/"yield" signs (triangle pointing downwards) where the roads cross the tramway rails (meaning you need to give priority to the tramway), - a portion of the streets are bike only (it is a roundabout only for bikes, not for cars), - most people didn't seem to respect the rule that you need to give way to pedestrians waiting to cross a road (almost nobody respects it even here). The only thing that really surprises me is the calmness of it all, we do not have such a prevalent use of bikes here. It does help make traffic flow more seamlessly, but outside of times with high density traffic (such as beginning/end of workdays) it usually flows smoothly. For the height, signs are usually at a standard height, so it might be possible to check it using only the video (and math). Anyway, hope you have a great trip !
To comment on the part of not respecting the pedestrian crossing: stopping and starting on a bike is annoying, so many pedestrians will let cyclists by, even if the cyclist needs to give way. Especially on busy intersections like this. It is definitely the case cyclists will not give way no matter what, but those are real douchebags. Cars will respect the crossings and other laws the vast majority of the time, as Dutch law makes the car the guilty party in an accident with a "weaker" party (cyclist, pedestrian, scooters, motorbikes, etc.). Unless it can be proven the other party was acting recklessly. Shifting this responsibility means drivers are much more aware, usually. There are stupid people everywhere, including in the Netherlands. What stands out to me in French traffic is that scooters and motorcyclists can be mental. They can be pretty bad here, but France is really on another level for me.
About the pedestrians: you are looking at it in the wrong way. We do have the rule that if a pedestrian is waiting to cross the road, the bikes should stop, yes. But its all about the flow. The traffic has to keep flowing, and that means sometimes its better for a bike to go first. Pedestrians know it, bikers know it, so its hardly ever any problem. When there is time, most people will allow them to go first, as you can see at 05:33 (handgesture of the cyclist) and at 08:55 (head gesture). So its not about respecting the rule, its more about understanding that the flow is more important. Its give and take 👍
@@Yvolve _"stopping and starting on a bike is annoying, so many pedestrians will let cyclists by"_ It is my own personal experience that pedestrians do not let cyclists by because it is annoying for the cyclist to stop and go. They let them by because a lot of cyclists in Amsterdam can be huge a**holes that don't care for pedestrian crossings at all :). Yes, stop and go can be really annoying. But there's rules in place to make clear who needs to do what so every person in traffic knows exactly what to expect. A pedestrian crossing is not a suggestion. _"It is definitely the case cyclists will not give way no matter what"_ Ah thanks. this is the kind of nuance I was looking for :). _"Dutch law makes the car the guilty party in an accident with a "weaker" party"_ The guilty party is still the party that didn't obey the rules. However, the driver of the car is held responsible if a weaker party is involved. IMO this ruling sometimes leads to unwanted results. Living in Amsterdam, I use my bike very regularly of course. Every now and then I need to use my car however. You may share the same experience that some cyclists do not give a sh*t about traffic rules as they know the car driver is held responsible anyway.
@@brucelansberg5485 I'm talking about when people signal they let you past. That happens to me very often, and I always stop when I need to and I'm not given priority. Cyclists will not give way when they have right of way. If you're in a car, use your eyes. That's what the law is for. The weaker party is still responsible if they act dangerously. Get a dash cam if you want proof. You don't understand the law it seems. You have a gift for cherry picking comments and deciding what I meant by that fraction of a longer comment. Well done.
The people of the Netherlands belong to the most chilled in Europe. This helps a lot to maintain such a good traffic flow. In Scandinavia it almost the same. Here in Germany it works pretty well too, but not as good as in the Netherlands. Those guys have the most advanced traffic concepts and we are now trying to implement the more and more over here too.
Even decades ago we were an example of smooth intersection traffic flow. Engeneers from over the world came over to learn how to do it. How to set the traffic lights on complicated intersections etc.
I don’t think it has anything to do with how chill anybody is. Actually, I think Germans are more polite and generous in traffic. It is mostly how streets and intersections are designed.
It looks so cool and smooth to me especially because they are not even trying to look like that, everyone is just minding their own business. Also I noticed that in this environment every motorbike stands out with its disturbing noise and every car looks a bit disturbingly out of place. The tram is loud too but to me it kind of blends in with the whole scenery, like a natural and peaceful giant in an ecosystem. Admiring and envious greetings from Germany, the neighbouring country who refuses to just do what we know the Netherlands do better.
Well, me as German am amazed how you react to all this what we Europeans consider as usual and don't even pay attention for, because we are so used to all of our every day life. But to put it more into perspective tho: This is what rules are for and what rules do when the major society is following em. In 'Merica rules are considered as constrictive and there you have it. The US is what it is because of a huge lack of rules we have in Europe and we the people are following and respecting them. But the "american freedom" sees all those rules as a constriction for individuals. American individualism vs European solidarity and taking care of each other and respecting each other. In the US: "Me first, you after". In the US the majority isn't following the rules and a minority is following em. In Europe: "Treat me like you wanna be treated." In the US you also know this phrase, but the vast majority doesn't live and respect it. The majority is following the rules and a minority isn't. It's kinda simple as that, but you can also go more in depth of course. This is a huge topic Americans are afraid of debating it in a civilized way, and if they do - oh hell let us Europeans take the Pop Corn n watch em while they are yelling at each other. It's so sad n disappointing... Keep going, i like your reactions.
Our European "solidarity and taking care of each other" is true only if you compare us to America, and some other countries like China, India, otherwise we are very individualistic society compared to the rest of the world. I've seen it everywhere during my travels
@@justnadaaa8434 Yeah, kinda right. It ain't as simple as that. We respect each other more than the US in its own, although we are separate countries, even with that grain of nationalism. All in all we are, let's call it "more civilized". Those societies that are more individualistic, we can see where that leads those societies - to division n separation. But is getting too political now...
It's the difference between 'freedom to...' and ' freedom from...' In the USA you are more free to drive fast in cities. In Europe we are more free from dangerous traffic.
Make no mistake, the Dutch are not stupid; note that the busy junction will function perfectly, even if there were a power cut, and the vast majority are producing virtually no pollution. Yes, the native Dutch are often very tall, you will be amazed at their height when simply walking off your plane through Schiphol Airport! They are famous for their old-established, very, very safe world class airline, geo-engineering, seafaring and lighting/electrical engineering. I, as a Scot. also like them although shocked at the amount of sprayed-on graffiti, even in a 'nice' area of town. I found them kind, cultured, down-to earth and open-minded. Put it this way I've been to The Netherlands five times but France once!
You forget a very important one. Water-management. Without our more than excellent water management, the Netherlands would not exist. Just check out the Deltaworks, the afsluitdijk and the project Room for rivers. There are some excellent YT video's about deltawerken and the afsluitdijk. Very impressive. The Dutch water- managers have been involved in different international projects. Advising New Orleans after Catrina. The constructed levies held with the next hurricane. They have constructed islands. I think it was for Dubai and many other big international projects.
The psychology behind this intersection is that becaause of the lack of traffic lights, everybody needs to pay attention. Far less accidents happen because everybody pays attention. An increasing phenomenon in the Netherlands.
The slower speeds also help. Nobody trying to "catch a green" with 60 or more. Also means that when accidents happen (and they do), they are far less severe.
I think this wouldnt work with traffic lights because in the time you have to wait for a light to turn green you have more people waiting then can fit on the section after the traffic light and i also think the reason why they pay attention because most of the time people follow the traffic rules but you always have some one that doesnt and mostly for those people you have to watch out
@@markpalmer8083 1,353 people per mi2 is the density of civilians here in the Netherlands a car driven capitol city just would halt and pollute everything. It's a necessity for the Dutch to have many cyclists.. Thus we made as much infrastructure as possible over time to accomodate cyclists by seperating them from car traffic. Don't be fooled there are large car roads around the city encircling it. But Gas is so expensive here that people do their daily shopping just on bikes. But that's again only possible because the Netherlands doesn't have zoning laws for commercial buildings thus they are mixed in right between homes. or very near ones.
@@markpalmer8083 Let's choose the most practical medium of transit - that might even be a horse, depending on the situation. But why use a car if you don't have to, don't want to? Every route, every journey that is not made by car, but (like in this video) by tram or bike, makes the city more liveable for everyone. And life becomes easier, especially for those who are travelling by car. If there are only 10% fewer cars on the road, everything is faster and less stressful for car drivers. btw: you're a troll.
ps Those cargobike you’ve mentioned are indeed used to pickup children from school or daycare. The location you’re looking at is probably the crossing between ‘Weteringschans’ and ‘ Spiegelgracht and is directly in front of Rijksmusuem. (Van Gogh Musuem and the American embassy are close by)
@@Sapharone Nobody said that cargobikes are used exclusively to transport children. Cargobikes are also used to transport cargo, but what's the point of pointing out something that blatantly obvious?
@@Kari.F. Voor jou is het misschien heel logisch, maar voor buitenlanders misschien niet. Daarnaast was het voor een gedeelte een lol-opmerking. Nergens voor nodig om zo geirriteerd te reageren.
May I suggest that when you visit a city you use a go-pro camera so that you can really pay attention to everything and everyone around you. That way you can be fully present and alert at these intersections. I am eagerly awaiting your first visit to the Netherlands. 😊
It is almost mesmerising to watch. Also, the car to bike ratio seems to have been turned on its head here as compared to most other major world cities, which makes for more attentiveness and courtesy. Absolutely amazing. Great reaction wee man!
_"Also, the car to bike ratio seems to have been turned on its head here"_ The street we're seeing in the video used to be one with a lot of car traffic. the municipality has decided to create a so called "knip" in this street. It means that cars ar no longer able to drive straight ahead and are forced to take a right turn which is only helpful if you need to be in that specific area. Don't be mistaken, there are still some car centric roads in the city (which are increasingly becoming impossible to navigate by car).
@@takatamiyagawa5688 There are a lot of pedestrians in this video, about one third of how many cyclists there are. (This is a street with relatively low amounts of pedestrians.) Public transit moves a lot more people than you'd think as well, those trams are going to be mostly full so assume 100-150 people for each tram. That's easily more than half of the number of cyclists in this video. I didn't count so this is just an estimate, but I would guess there are about 40% cyclists, 45% trams , 14% pedestrians, and 1% cars.
@@bramvanduijn8086 If a road carries one bus with 60 passengers, and 60 cars with one passenger each, is that 50%:50% multimodal? Is the road serving buses and cars equally, or is it mostly serving cars?
Hi Joel! I'm so excited that you are (finally!) planning to visit Amsterdam and the Netherlands this summer! I live in London, but Amsterdam is my favourite foreign city (and the Netherlands probably my favourite foreign country), and I think of it as my second home. I first visited Amsterdam in 1990, and instantly fell in love with the place. I try to visit friends there at least once a year at Christmas (when it is particularly pretty and festive), but Amsterdam in the summer is also a wonderful place. I'm hoping to visit there this summer myself. Amsterdam is an amazing city - so picturesque, atmospheric, walkable, easy-going and chilled, and the people are lovely (once you understand that their famously plain-speaking directness is not meant to be rude). But your video is very timely, and you should take careful note of it. One of the greatest hazards any first-time visitor to Amsterdam encounters is the business of merely crossing the street, or even just using pavements! The busier main streets such as Rokin, Ceintuurbaan or Stadhouderskade [see footnote] can be SIX lanes of traffic, with cycle lanes on the outsides, then a lane on each side for vehicular traffic, and then two tramlanes in the centre (typically). Licenced minicabs can also use the tramlanes, and 'blue-plate' mopeds (up to a certain engine size, so speed-limited) can use the bike lanes (although I seem to recall that law might have been changed recently). And there are increasing numbers of electric scooters, of course. So basically there is lots of traffic of different types coming at you from all directions, and NONE of it is going to give way to you. The trams WILL NOT STOP, so it is important that you know when you are walking on a tramlane (the tramtracks are a giveaway...) and always LISTEN OUT for their distinctive clanging bells warning people to get out of the way - which you must do immediately. And cyclists WILL NOT STOP for you unless they actually collide with you! Few Dutch bikes have bells, so the first time you know there is a cyclist coming up behind you is when they swear at you loudly in Dutch! And you really do have to be aware of where you are walking at all times, and NEVER walk on a cycle lane because that is virtually a CARDINAL SIN in the Netherlands and you will incur the wrath of any cyclists whose progress you impede or cause to divert around you. And always remember this Golden Rule: in Amsterdam, CYCLISTS ALWAYS HAVE RIGHT OF WAY over all other traffic - INCLUDING PEDESTRIANS. Even motor vehicles on main roads must give way to cyclists emerging from side streets. The only reason trams do not also routinely stop for cyclists is because they are too heavy and unmaneouverable to stop and start easily (and if a cyclist forced an entire tram full of passengers to screech to a halt they'd probably be publicly shamed as a bit of a selfish asshole). The safest way to cross any busy road is to find a pedestrian-controlled crossing, push the button and WAIT. You don't usually have to wait too long, and many of the lights are radar-controlled, rather than on a fixed timer, and so they will respond to changing traffic situations and if people are waiting to cross and there is no other traffic in the vicinity they will show you a green light very quickly. HOWEVER, at light-controlled crossings be aware that even if vehicular traffic is halted by a red light, that might not apply to the bikes currently approaching on the bike lane you are about to cross, so you still need to wait until they are also halted by a red light before you can cross. And be especially alert to bikes coming around corners at junctions; they might not be able to see you until they are almost upon you, and will turn the air blue with insults if you cause them to swerve... But all of this aside, I really do hope you have a great time in Amsterdam, and I'm sure you will. If it turns out that our visits are going to coincide (I haven't decided my dates yet), then it would be a huge pleasure and a privilege for me to show you around and give you some tips on where to go and what to do there! I've been following your channel for a long time and really enjoy your content, so it would be awesome to meet you in person. So if you could give advanced warning of your travel dates on this channel, or even DM me if you'd like to meet up, that would be very cool 🙂 Cheers, Steve P.S. Re your question, at 9:45 in the video, about the types of bikes you are seeing: The answer is yes - this is a type of bike is known as a 'bakfiets' - literally, a container bike ('fiets', pr. 'feets', is Dutch for 'bike'). Dutch bikes can come in a wide variety of designs, and bakfiets are very popular - especially for people with young children or dogs, as they can be used to transport both, which is a very common sight. You will also see a lot of people riding two-to-a-bike (i.e. two-up), with the passenger either sat straddling the rear luggage rack, or 'side-saddle' on the luggage rack(something I don't recommend, as luggage racks aren't really designed for sitting on and can be quite uncomfortable - not that the Dutch seem to notice), and sometimes even on the handlebars! It amazes me that I've never seen this lead to accidents, but the Dutch are all casually expert cyclists and master these skills of two-upping on bikes at an early age. P.P.S. Re your comment at 10:50, yes - the Dutch are officially the tallest people in the world (on average, of course). I'm around 5'9". which is average for the UK, but I've been in bars and parties in Amsterdam where I feel like the shortest person there and I have to look up to everyone else. Footnote: the location switched to at 3:10 in the video is at the junction of Museumbrug and Weteringschans, looking towards the Rijksmuseum on Stadhouderskade from across the canal (which can't be clearly seen, but it's just on the far side of the isolated house on the right).
Sorry i laughed a bit when you told about not walking on the bicycle lane and not hearing the cyclists untill they start screaming at you in dutch...its true though im dutch and while i am one of the cyclist with a bell on my bike in general if you dont hold to the rules people will yell at you..reason i laughed is because when i read it i thought yeah not really a reason to yell for something so small...on the other hand once you let the small rules slip it will get worse and worse...any way im glad to hear you enjoy going to the netherlands always nice to hear👍🏻
What surprises me the most, as a Swede, is how many there are that doesn't have any lights on their bikes. Here you have to have a bright light at the front, a red light at the back, and reflectors to the sides, as well as back and front.
@@Shokkwavez Exactly - led lights are great. No more loud and "power-sapping" dynamos, no more light bulbs that break, no more thin, fragile cables. Instead, you have reliable bright light that really illuminates the path ahead of you and also works when you're waiting at a junction or pushing your bike.
Regarding people paying a lot of attention to traffic, it is pretty simple: In a car, you have this (false?) feeling of safety, while when walking or riding a bike you really have to be careful. Otherwise you can end up with a pretty serious injury.
Yes, is you don't pay attention in this traffic you pay the price pretty fast. If you are on a bike and not move with the flow, some other biker will crash into you for sure. If you are lucky they expertly swerve around you shouting a load of terrible disaeses at you. If you are in a car and you hit a bike you will have to pay for the damages, unless you can prove its 100% the bikers fault. That is next to impossible.
It works, because there are NO lights and people have to think! The sign with the triangle upside down means „yield“ or „give way“, so traffic has to stop and let the tram pass. But the tram obviously had to give way to the pedestrians on the zebra crossing. The other regulation is „who comes from the right goes first“ (except there is a „give way“ sign).
Part of it is also that everyone in traffic have responsibilities, not "rights". You can't run over someone just because you're "right". But note that there are two types of crossings when pedestrians "interact" with trams (at least here in Tampere) -- crosswalks where the tram yields, and pedestrian/cyclist crossings where pedestrians/cyclists yield.
There are still a lot of petrol cars!!Electric cars arent ideal..Expensive and tires are short lived because off the weight off the car.And the price off electric is still high!
@@Bramfly you are just a linguistic bridge between German and English, you do not know to which you belong to linguisticaly XD so you smashed these two languages together and say its a own XD
@@red_dolphin468 actually Dutch and modern German come from the same "ancestor" language. but through the centuries both have changed a lot. Frisian, a dialect spoken in the Province of Friesland in the North of The Netherlands is actually pretty close to that "ancestor" language. English used to be pretty close to, but due to the influence of Scandinavian and French invasions the English language has diverted a lot more than the other Germanic languages. so it would be more accurate to say that the English language has a bit of an identity crisis, because the English language is somewhere between French and German/Dutch.
I understand that tires are the main source of noise instead of the engine at higher speeds, so moving faster than 30 km/h makes electric cars as loud as combustion cars.
I got involved in the sport of ultra-distance cycling for this exact reason. If you're riding 10+ hours a day you get to eat whatever you want. Biggest issue I have is not managing to eat enough. 🍕🚴🍍
This works because it's a traffic calmed roundabout. And all trafic is slow. Pedestrians 5-7km/h, cyclists 15-20km/h, moped/e-bike 20-25km/h, tram and cars (around) 30km/h. This is also why pedestrians have priority on all crossings here, other than that all traffic is slow and within 15km/h of each other. And then just let the traffic "flow".
I think, it does work better with bikes and pedestrians because the space required for both modes is about the same as our natural bodily perception. So it's easier for our lizardbrains to get navigate and estimate the movement and space requirements of everybody else. Also, this is possible, because the speed is low. I'd say, all is about 20kph tops. So everyone is able to quickly stop in case it is necessary. It's less overwhelming. And, except for the tram, those are light weight encounters, so even in case of an accident, it's way less lethal. That also helps with lessening the stress level.
You mentioned people paying attention. Don't rely on it, but cycling in the Netherlands is an amazing experience. I've taken my bike across to the Netherlands from the UK 7 or 8 times now, and I'm still fascinated by the experience. Whether walking, cycling or driving, junctions in a strange place can be confusing, while everyone else knows exactly what to do. I've made the mistake of stopping at a junction to get my bearings and the traffic has just stopped waiting, but I've learned to trust the shark's teeth. If the little triangles are pointing toward you, stop. If they don't, keep pedalling, close your eyes and ignore the ruddy great articulated lorry bearing down on you.
Well, don't close your eyes. Try to make eye contact with the lorry driver and when in doubt, stop and get of your bike. Preferably, do this before you pass the shark teeth. However, when the infrastructure is such that bikes are in front of cars at an intersection, you can trust the shark teeth.
Indeed. You always have to make sure the driver sees you but when you know they do you can trust them to yield. That's why speeds are always low at intersections so people have time to make eye contact. It only takes a fraction of a second but it works really well.
I don't know how it works in the Netherlands, but in Germany you get a "cycling license" in elementary school. In the 3rd or 4th grade, taught by police officers who explain the traffic rules. At the end everyone has to take a test to show whether they have understood the rules. You shouldn't forget that in Europe we have real driving schools with courses. In addition, there are all the remaining requirements such as first aid courses and eye tests. That and the fact that we have so many rules and stick to them (more or less) make the difference. It would be interesting to see your reaction to the requirements and the whole driving license process.
Hi Denise, here in the Netherlands you are thought by your parents how to ride a bike with training wheels a couple years after you've learned to walk but several years later in elementary school the students do get another course by Veilig Verkeer Nederland which involves learning the rules more intimately, going out with the whole class on your bikes and often it involves the parents again as guardians/supervisors and at the end you receive a paper for participation that you can hang in your room.
We had that in Norway too for ages ago in the 1970 or some all had to take the bysicle card on the school issued by the police but i don't think we have that anymore for some strenge reason.
@@ShokkwavezAlso many parent will make their children traffic ready starting on a young age. The parent will cycle on the traffick side next to the child and cycle for example to soccer practice, teaching the traffic rules along the way. If the parent trust it enough the child can go independently.
U also have to keep in mind that we are getting raised with bikes in mind and that there are alot of laws like how its illegal to look at your phone in the car and on the bike couse it can(and has) couse accidents. Of course its not just Amsterdam thats like this, the entire country is built with bike and pedestrians in mind and cars 3rd, its the total opposite of the US. The other things is that EU cars are ALOT more silent the the big US trucks, its come to the point where u just don't hear them approach anymore so u have to look around if something is coming. And when u come to the Netherlands, i strongly recommend u avoid tourist areas, especially for food and such since they really jack up the prices there.
True. As soon as we are able to SIT we are planted in a baby seat and cyled around town by our parents and by the time we're 6 or 7 we can cycle ourselves
I live in Amsterdam and go through this intersection quite often. You have signs on the ground to indicate where you're supposed to go depending on whether you want to turn or go straight. Also, when you want to cross the street, be it bike or car, the tram is always first. The line of little triangles on the ground tells you to yield. Also, technically, pedestrians have the right of way when crossing, but in reality, bikes always come first, and pedestrians stop to let them pass (that's how you can spot tourists, because they usually forget about that). So you just need to be aware of the rules, follow the signs and be aware of your surroundings, and you should be good to go. Also, one thing that's important when biking in Amsterdam is anticipating. By that I mean you should know when to turn, that way you bike a bit on the left/middle of the lane, so people can still pass on your right and you don't have any trouble turning because of someone trying to overtake you.
Amsterdam is very stressful in a car because you've got the pedestrians, the bicycles, the bikes, the tramways, the cars, the underground subways, the rings, the crowds of tourists, the river shuttles on the canals, etc... Your eyes and ears have to be everywhere when you're not used to it. But the traffic lights are well done. And everyone is respecting it. Be careful because they just ride fast their bicycles. You better use the public transports as everybody else or just walk if you visit the city-center. Very practical. I like the Netherlands. They are smart, kind, discreet, modern people. Culturally europeans but their highways and their modernity often makes me think of the USA. I love how they transport their kids in the front of their bicycles! We don't have that in France. They love traveling to France too. In France, we are champions of roundabouts...
I’m from London UK. I visited the Netherlands 🇳🇱 in late 2022. I had the best time ever. Amsterdam central was busy with a lot of tourists. I noticed a lot of cyclists. The traffic is really organised. I noticed people weren’t glued to their phones. They walk and cycle a lot. Rotterdam I enjoyed more away from seeing my fellow British tourists. I’m sure you’d enjoy the Netherlands 🇳🇱
That is nonsense. Pedestrians do not generally have priority, and the rules for cars, bicycles, and buses are the same. The priority on this intersection is given by road markings. Absent any signs or road markings the rules are to: always yield to trams, blind(!) pedestrians and emergency vehicles; yield to all vehicles (including bicycles) coming from the right of you; when turning: yield to all traffic (including pedestrians) going straight on the same road; when turning left: yield to vehicles (including bicycles) from the opposite direction that are turning right (i.e. a short turn has priority over a long turn).
I love the Netherlands, it’s a long trip from Oz (25hrs to get there), but I’ve done it twice so far. Wonderful Country, awesome People, would move there in a heartbeat.
A few years ago the town planners in the Netherlands removed the signs, road markings, and kerbs. They left it for the people to look out for each other. They found that removing the kerbs and road markings actually slowed traffic, and people figured the rest out.
The USA has a lot to learn in general when it comes to living in cities, the stats are even worse if considering gun fatalities, Netherlands 75 per year Florida 2660 per year The USA has a lot to learn about living together in harmony.
People stop for trams for 2 reasons: 1. The triangular markings on the road at the intersection are called "haaientanden", lit. "shark teeth". They indicate that you're one of the parties at an intersection that will have to wait and grant passage to whoever has priority over you in the traffic hierarchy in that moment. 2. Trams are considered priority vehicles because they transport a lot of people at once and can't stop as quickly or easily as cars, busses, and (motor)cyclists can, so it's usually near the top of the traffic hierarchy.
As someone from Amsterdam, I realize that it will be very difficult for American cities to achieve this. We grow up with this. As cyclists here, we also have unwritten rules, and codes, so to speak, when cycling. For example, we can see from someone's cycling position whether someone wants to go left or right. Hard to explain.
You just grow up reading the body language. I’m pretty sure, that you can also spot a tourist or someone, who is new to the area from just their body language on the bike without actively trying to read them.
and also kids at school get traffic education to , most of them already Got a bike so they learn the rules of the road to keep everybody safe in traffic.
From the videos I have seen of school bus laws in the US, kids are almost encouraged to not have any idea of road safety. The law about not passing a stationary school bus means the kids can get off the bus and cross the road without looking.
But i did notice, especially in the second camera view, that most cyclist do not stop when there are pedestrians waiting at the zebra path. Unless there is a traffic light outside of our view they have to stop when there are pedestrians who want to cross, but you see several pedeatrians who have to wait till there is either enough room between the cyclist, or till a cyclist lets them go first. Like the man who makes the nice hand gesture 'you can go', actually he has to come to a full stop and let them go first anyway. You see also that the pedestrians walk very fast to cross, even though they are at a zebra where that should not be necessary: they have priority and are allowed to go first anyway.
I'm loving how stunned you are. It's so normal for us that we can't imagine anything else. While we do have our problems sometimes (merging can be fun), we love our flow. Btw, the arm pointing out at 6:08 is actually meant to show direction. Although people skip it sometimes or do only a fast short version, it's something you're supposed to do on your bicycle. However we do have a common type of waving to tell someone to go ahead (which we also love doing) I always do it with my left hand and it resembles trying to brush water off a table with the palm of my hand (goes left to right). Saying thank you is a simple holding a single hand up (and sometimes we add a nod) We love being polite. Something I once had was that I nearly had an accident because we both wanted to let the other go first until my bicycle was going so slow I was losing balance. I also once nearly bumbed into someone because we both sidestepped twice in the same direction. If it happens once I now just stand still, but it stays funny. (especially when you're both laughing) At 9:30 you talk about a train, but that's just a tram. Trams make that noice to warn you. Like the horn of a car. And yes, that are kids in there! And we love to have them although it can be very annoying to share the road with them. (kids sometimes don't sit still) Btw, the only cyclists we seem to universally dislike are race cyclists. My mother nearly got into an accident with one who didn't bother looking (it would have been a head on with both on bicycles) and a friend of ours injured her arm when one decided to ignore traffic laws (she was walking). They are thus disliked because they often ignore traffic laws and go very fast, to the point where you got barely any reaction time. Ironically the two I knew where otherwise good people. But as I never joined them on a ride, I have no idea how good they are in traffic.
I remember reading once that an area of Holland had all traffic lights and road signs covered up as an experiment and during that time all traffic flowed completely fine no accidents and journey times were reduced by a massive amount of time.
I live in London - Jaywalking is not illegal here so everybody just finds their space and kind of weaves in and out of traffic in a slow, Brownian motion style movement. This has become so much second nature to me that I have long stopped thinking about it. First time I was in LA I found myself on Sunset Blvd and thought to cross the street. So I just stepped into the lane, watching oncoming traffic, expecting it to flow around me. Instead, everything stopped. 4 lanes of traffic. Standstill. I was super-embarrassed. Lesson: Different countries, different rules… 😂
The simple rule here: people in the roundabout and pedestrians on the zebra crossings have priority. The only sign is the yield sign at the tram tracks. No signs, no traffic lights, nothing. Just one simple rule. Works.
As you can tell (if you actually look at the video), people don't really follow the rules. The Dutch are known rule-breakers. The rules and adherence to them doesn't matter much. What's unsafe is heavy vehicles, high speed and bad infrastructure. Check the statistics for yourself.
@@bjorsam6979 _"What's unsafe is heavy vehicles, high speed and bad infrastructure."_ May I add to that ignoring pedestrian crossings while people are waiting to pass?
With my electric bike I'm faster then any car in my city. I don't have red lights, can take shortcuts , can take the F35 (a bike highway that allows the fastest electric bicycle), I can charge it up for free. (cars will have to pay for charging). My only tip is don't wear huge over the ear headphones, you'll end up under a car because in some situations you do have to yield to them, often displayed by 'shark teeth' on the road. (the white triangles)
The Netherlands has done some experiments with intersections without traffic ligths. It turned out to be much safer because everybody has to pay attention. It also dramatically increases efficiency since there are barely forced stops. Most of the times people keep moving.
This is we Dutch people call traffic participation. Every participant in traffic, has a certain responsibility to keep things safe and keep the traffic flowing as much as possible.
There were no lights at that first part of the video. The shark-teeth and pedestrian crossing stripes on the floor do all the work. Walkers first then the trams finally the bikes and cars that cross. That is the same for most of the video and the Netherlands. Have a great stay when you are here!
Visit Rotterdam when you get to the Netherlands. Totally different city architecture wise, because it was flattened during world war 2. You have a lot more modern and tall buildings (only city with buildings taller than 150m), mixed with old waterways. It was the biggest port in the world for over 40 years, until 2004.
1. put your phone away 2. pay attention to other traffic 3. 'smallest and sofest' traffic'ers always have the right of way 4. eye-contact 5. it's a round-a-bout, the traffic flows better Looks like any major city in the north of Europe/Scandinavia Havde a great trip! hello from Denmark 🌸
Make sure to hire bikes for a day or more to experience this yourself! We used 'Yellow Bike' near Amsterdam Centraal Train Station. The ferries from (behind) the station to Amsterdam-North is also free and runs often! And book any museums you want to visit NOW, they sell out weeks or even months in advance!! I'd also visit Rotterdam, it's another big city but quite a contrast from Amsterdam (Amsterdam more historic, Rotterdam more modern). Amsterdam also has the A'DAM tower and there's a 360 degree lookout and a swing on the rooftop!
when you rent a bike, please make sure you know the rules of the road. In Amsterdam, I try to avoid people on rental bikes because they often are unpredictable. In the rest of the Netherlands there are less tourists cycling, so people do not expect you to be unpredictable.
I have always wondered why we Italians also use the car to go to the bathroom, while the Dutch, although they have a much less hot climate than ours, are so wonderfully eco-friendly. Much esteem from Italy.
It really helps having flat land for bicycles in this number. Hence why so many ride them in the Netherlands. Always loved visiting Amsterdam. Went there a lot in the 90's when I lived and worked in Germany before coming back to England.
Actually, we ride our bikes because it's often more convenient than taking the car. This has to do with how infrastructure is built and less with hills. In the south of the country are way more (higher) hills; we still cycle a lot there.
This is such a lame excuse: " because the Netherlands is flat" We ride them because it is easy. Our city are compact, so we don't have to drive for miles, with a car, to do our daily shoppings or even get some milk. Most of your cities are flat too, but not designed for bikes or pedestrians.
@@anglosaxon5874 What you're saying is, because the Netherlands is flat, it is easier ti ride a bike, therefor many of them ride bikes. I suggest you do some research and find out, why and what the real reason is for the Dutch to ride their bikes so many. And it's not because it is flat. But you all use that lame excuse. Dutchies also ride a bike in the rain, storm, winter or snow. Do you think that is easy, even on flat terrain ?
Don’t only go to Amsterdam though.. go Haarlem, go Den Haag, go Rotterdam, go Utrecht, go Deventer, even visit the islands Terschelling/Ameland (everyone goes Texel but thats like any polder tbh). The whole west of the Netherlands is coastline but pls avoid scheveningen.. just an extremely busy beachclub. Groningen also nice, Enschede, Zwolle also nice.
Im originally from France and this is fascinating to me too 😂 I mean, the environment is familiar to me as a European. You can see this in France too. But the Netherland just makes it way better that everyone else
I pass this intersection twice a day. Usually during the busier times too. As it is in the video is pretty typical for those times of day. Rush hour is from like 8 to 9 am and 4 to 6 pm or so I really, really don't get what's so amazing about it, but I find it interesting that you do. Cargo bikes can carry groceries, furniture, work supplies, pet and/or children. If they're covered more likely to be children, or pets.
Hi Joel, the new thing you will encouter when visiting the Netherlands are so callad “phat bikes” These are e-bikes that look like mopeds. The are a trend and driven by teenagers. ps the dark redish building in background is the Rijksmuseum with Rembrandts Nightwatch painting
You’re staring at this as if it was an ant hill - fascinating, yet hard to comprehend. But it’s just cooperative human behavior guided by sensible urban design. Like, that’s literally it. The amount of your awe says sooo much about the american psyche…
Accidents with bikes are almost always low speed and quite harmless The only time they are not is when its a motorvehicle vs bicycle accident.. and then your helmet is going to be of little help
@@KurtFrederiksen Yeah, but there are only few cases where the helmet prevents a major injury and no other injuries occur. Most serious or fatal accidents happen in a way (dooring or being overlooked by turning lorries) that a helmet might have reduced head injuries, but would not have changed the overall severity of the injuries. If you look at the number and type of injuries, elbow and wrist protectors would make a lot more sense - just like for skaters.
@@KurtFrederiksen but those studies are EU wide. because of how the Dutch infrastructure is build and how the people behave in Dutch traffic it wouldn't be crazy to assume that those statistics are different in The Netherlands. also the mostly used type of bike in The Netherlands makes it that you fall different. it's mostly older people that injure their head, because they don;t have the reaction time to adjust their fall, and thus they just fall down and their head bounces against the ground. and children who are still learning to cycle, they might fall on their head to but that's why you make sure your child wears a helmet until they are 100% proficient in cycling. and older people do have to make the choice themselves. and that's the hard part, old people (especially those on bicycles) are pretty stubborn. (and people with a disability might choose to wear a helmet to) but 98% of the rest of the cyclists in The Netherlands wouldn't really get any benefit from wearing a helmet. and the negatives from wearing a helmet would actually far outweigh the small benefit for those cyclists.
Even for people in these countries, who are not used to cycle in the big cities, this would be caos 😅 But everybody know the rules and will quickly catch up. If you have to pay a lot of money for your licens, and the time it takes to require it, you don’t sit on your phone. You pay attencion so that you wont loose it 😉
In the Netherlands, children receive traffic lessons at primary school. They also have to take a test with their bicycle in traffic and then they receive a traffic diploma. This is very useful because children go to school by bike at an early age.
as a uk citizen i can honestly say amsterdam has the most efficient public transportation system i have ever used trams trains buses are brilliant , just keep your eyes open and your wits about you , above all have a wonderful time you will love it.
Worst thing you can do ist traffic lights. Give priority to the weakest link (pedestrian with the zebra crossing), right before left yield rule and let traffic flow. Lights are only required for dangerous crossings with to many cars and to many lanes. This is a calm city center, no lights needed.
@@kleinshui9082 Roundabouts are best at low and medium speeds and medium car numbers: they keep the flow going, which prevents a lot of choppy interference patterns in downstream traffic. Put these primarily in cities. At low car numbers with low speeds you can just have unsigned intersections. This is a walkable neighbourhood street. At low car numbers with medium or high speeds and high car numbers at any speed you need modal seperation: Bridges and underpasses. Keep those metal death bricks away from people. These should have as few crossings and intersections as possible. Country roads are an example of the first and highways are examples of the latter.
I thought the same: imagine everyone is in a car. But go further: why are Americans be in a car, even short distances. Because they are afraid they will be attacked. This is pathetic. This is a dystopia. And of course: this is sad.
They are mostly in cars because of their very, very, very one dimensional infrastructure aimed at cars only. (Looking at you car lobbyists of the 1940s and 1950s) . And that is also where the perception of danger from other people comes from. How many people do you meet, or look in the eye when you're going 35 or 50 mph on a 3 lane each way stroad? It's a vicious circle. And perhaps one of the main reasons the US is in the state it is in right now.
And still, in other parts of the Netherlands, one does not see the inhabitants of Amsterdam as the most civilized; without traffic lights, when a pedestrian puts one foot on a pedestrian crossing, the cars must stop, and they stop! It’s very nice
Intersections / junctions like this work as they are based on a few simple rules about yielding / give way and who has priority. Once you understand the rules and apply them it makes sense. Its based on the basic design of a roundabout with a couple more traffic controls. You just slow down on approach, look at the flow as you approach so you know when you can go. If you time it right you don't have to stop at all.
![แขกคนแรกร้านแจ๊ส [ซี - เอมมี่] | iJazzKhunJang](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XP6C9kulFfc/mqdefault.jpg)
There are no traffic lights, simply the rules of the road. When crossing the sidewalk, the priority is always the pedestrian. In the roundabout the priority is always the one who is already there. The tram respects the priority of the sidewalk but not that of the roundabout, where it has priority. It's easy when you're born with it.
Born with what ? I guess you mean..grown up with..xyz😊
@@silviahannak3213 yes, sorry, my English is not exactly fluent like this crossing ;)
Rule number one : be aware at the trams. The tram stops only in the stations and at the traffic lights.
This is only possible if you are aware of other people, are educated very well and don’t feel entitled to much
@@karinland8533 it helps that most people in The Netherlands grow up with cycling (you might even want to call it: growing up on the bicycle).
a lot of children cycle to school and it often starts from the time the children go to elementary school (4 or 5 years old). they start by cycling next to their parent, but later on they cycle to school alone or with other kids that live nearby.
so by the time Dutch people reach adulthood and get their drivers license, they already have over a decade of experience with being part of traffic.
and they know how cyclists think, because they are cyclists themselves.
This is why europeans love roundabouts, it's very efficient!
That's not a roundabout, though.
@@neuralwarp it is. its a 4 way intersection with a roundabout and tram lines.
@@neuralwarp we have roundabouts in the UK with through traffic in the middle. The cyclists are technically going around the roundabout, there’s just a tram line going through the middle
@@MrLarsgrenit’s not really a roundabout, the street where the tram runs by has the right of way
@@edipires15 thats why i worded it like i did. its a combo setup.
Fun facts, dogs in Europe often actually know how to use crossings. I have several videos from my dash cam with dogs stopping at crossings and waiting for cars to go by before crossing road. They observe humans and learn. It will obviously not happen in USA as they have nothing to learn from.
Yep our previous dog understood road crossing. Our current cocker spaniel however is an idiot.
@@DestroyTeamAvolitionNo ShitZu will ever learn either... 😅
Depends on the dog of course, but yeah, if they are taught to stop, they will. Our previous dog learned to sit before crossing and go when we gave him the okay. Our current dog is a bit less calm, so he won't sit down, but he will look at us until we give him the go ahead.
My Jack Russel knows when crossing roads he knows when all people stop that means we shouldn’t cross because it’s red when everyone moving so that means we can cross it’s green. Clever little brat that one
Not only dogs are traffic aware: my college and I witnessed a heron waiting at the red pedestrian light.. when it flipped to green he/she slowly walked over on the zebracrossing.. we were wetting ourselves laughing while he/she gave us a dainty look as if it was a completely normal situation and we shouldn’t act silly… it was hilarious!
This is just how it should be, everywhere, in my opinion. Efficient, respectful, effortless.
I love how quiet it is too, with all of the bikes.
Love from Sweden.
Agreed. But i am from France, and do you have any idea how many bikes are stolen every year here? More and more of us try using bikes, but we have a massive scum problem. And so, it is around 500 000 to 600 000 bikes that are stolen every year here. In cities in particular, because this is where scum comes together the most. The so-called "suburb problem". Paris is the worst, obviously. I am so angry. I have been wanting to switch to using a bike, but i can't !
@@nox8730 That's one reason why the Dutch have simple bikes - nothing fancy so not "steal-worthy". And if it does get stolen, it's easy to replace it.
@@hypatian9093 Post disappeared. To sum it up. You underestimate the problem. They would steal anything, even only the wheels. Anything. What is more, considering the numbers i gave you, you should understand why buying second hand bikes may actually make the problem worse.
@@nox8730 to add to hypatian's reply:
most houses in The Netherlands have a shed (or another type of storage place) as part of their house. (or just a simple shed in the yard).
so most people have a lockable place at their house where they can store the bike. so having your bike stolen from your house isn't really that big of a problem.
if people are going to break into your house they will have better things to steal than a bike (or 3).
at work most places have an area (might even be a lockable storage) for employees to store their bikes. and thieves aren't really going to walk onto the property of a business and try to steal the bikes there.
that leaves places you might visit between work and being at home.
those are the places where your bike might get stolen. but a lot of cities (and the number is growing so that's good news) offer options of parking your bike in a place where someone guards them, and those garages are often free.
and if you're going out at night (to a pub or something like that) you want to take your "crappy bike" and not your "normal" or "leisure" bike. so if it get's stolen you're only losing a piece of crap that's worth a max €100.
nice anecdote: i once left my key in my bicycle (so it was unlocked), so the whole day i was at school my bike was standing at the train station unlocked and anyone walking by could have nicked it. but when i came back (after being away for 9 hours) it was still where i left it.
@@nox8730 The same is happening in the Netherlands. However, they tend to steal the fancier bikes, and leave the crappier ones behind.
Another factor is the locks we use in the Netherlands. They are steal chains covered in a plastic tube, big enough so you can put on the frame, not just the wheels.
And still bike theft is a problem.
Even though I come from a country where there is a lot of cycling, I am still very impressed. We love our Dutch neighbors for this and much else.
Love from Germany!
yeah in germany there could be done a shitload more work in cities to not have them car-centric designed. but somehow anyone cries like a bitch if they even lose a second or penny of themself.
I lived in Munic for a short while, and i don't remember ever having a hard time commuting by bike (from Brudermühlstrasse to the Altstadt and back) - i remember it as easy as where i live now, Copenhagen. Viele grüsse aus norden =)
@@satakrionkryptomortis thing is quite a few cities across Germany lack parallel alternative roads you could move vehicle traffic to and limit it elsewhere. You're right, more could be done, however the actions which are done often don't make that much sense and actually makes situation for some other road users, like buses and emergency vehicles, even worse
@@TainDKMunich is becoming more bike friendly of late, wider and more cycle lanes have been brought into the fold…
Greetings from Munich..
I hope you will have a great time in the Netherlands. There are lots of nice places to visit besides Amsterdam
"Imagine everyone in this was in a car"
Exactly. You can make cities for cars, or you can make cities for everyone else; you can't have both.
Also, you can't make high density cities for cars: You need a place for all that parking. At best you can make very expensive medium density cities for cars. Cars are more suited for smaller villages and towns where the unavoidable relationship between radius and circumference means you can have most parking at the edges instead of between destinations. Nothing wrong with parking, just make sure it isn't between destinations for other modes of transport.
@@bramvanduijn8086 Tiefgaragen oder parhaus?
The same truth is: cities for cars are hostile to cars too! While cities for people allow cars to shine as well...in the current state everbody loses.
@@bramvanduijn8086 You can make (relatively) high density cities for cars. It's just that it's costly, as it requires multi-layered structure (underground and multi-floor garages everywhere), and not efficient, as the roads wouldn't be very wide. You can make completely dense cities 'for cars'...if you build all of the buildings above the roads (which would, in practice, mean building the entire road network underground). But again, this is financially not viable and cannot be in any way, shape or form done for existing cities. Also, it will NOT work with the roads above ground, since their width still would need to fit between the buildings, and this is #1 reason why car-heavy cities are not dense.
@@kikixchannel If we're going to add a dimension, then we need to take that into account when calculating density, so it would be people / (surface * number of layers) instead of people / surface. So even your multilayered city would at best reach medium density. It is hard to correctly estimate how much space it takes to add a car. Parking alone adds about 5-20% of surface to a home (Depending on cars/person/home surface), but roads are the bigger culprit. I find this one harder to estimate, but it is more than parking since moving cars require more space and you have to design for maximum theoretical usage if you don't want permanent gridlock. So let's say 10-30%. That means 15-50% of a city's surface would be spent on cars. There's very little chance you're getting high density out of that.
Don't forget, most people in the Netherlands are/have been cyclists. By riding a bike you have eye contact with others in traffic, be it pedestrians, tram drivers or otherwise.
I think the one reason Dutch children aren't born complete with a bike between their legs is because it would hurt the mother.
Also, quite important, all that bicycling around the area makes for great exercise and burning calories. It's evening so you can't tell very well but you won't see many 'American-sized' people there. Also also, because they mind their nutrition, Dutch people are some of the tallest in the world.
And direct, expect the Dutch to be direct. That's going to be a wild surprise when you're not used to it 🙂
netherland is flat. an the ducth r penny fuckers so they r biking. becuase its cheap. but nobody else in europe. italians use mopeds or used.. becuase they was poor to have a car. but normal people usa a car or public trasport.
Also, the idea of a "cyclist" doesn't really exist in Europe. People who have a lot of cycling gear and take long trips on roads or over difficult terrain will be called cyclists, however me taking my bike to go to class, to work or to the lake 5 kilometers away would not be specified as such. There's not really a war between motorists and cyclists here like I have observed it to be in NA.
The "Wagon bikes" are cargo bikes, usually with a box on the front, known as 'Bakfietsen' or box bikes. They are used for carrying children, pets, adults, books, barbecues, other bikes, shopping, groceries, hardware, large pieces of timber and anything else that we can get to stay in them...
My personal record is 13 kids in/on a two wheeled Bakfiets...
RESPECT!
Thirty eight kilos on my electric bakfiets, one bag of chook food and a weeks shopping😁, the extra wheel makes a huge difference to the load capacity.
@@metricstormtrooper to me, when I visited a while back, the kind of loads people would carry in a 3-wheeler was impressive enough; the fact that some people were able to do the same in a 2-wheeler simply blew my mind, as they made it look effortless despite the absolutely wild dynamics involved (especially with kids / pets that won't keep still). Massive respect to all
I am Dutch but I really don't understand how you can hold your balance with kids in the cargo bike. Don't they move?
@@gnomoblu8015You can carry everything on a bicycle, and I mean that literally. I can f.i. carry all my groceries for the entire week on my bicycle. That is not to boast because everybody does that here in the Netherlands.
I also have carried the parts of a bookcase home on my bicycle. Tbh I walked with my bicycle at that time.
Dutch infrastructure is built in such way it requires you to pay attention and not zone out and speed. Roads are narrower, there's traffic calming, there's mixed use where sensible. And that form of infrastructure conditions you to pay more attention. It took us 40 years to get to the point where every Dutch person is used to use the roads based on eye contact.
Tips: 1) Don't stop and stand in the middle of the red paths; those are bicycle paths and Dutch people on bikes don't slow down.
2) Use your eyes, make eye contact in traffic...but not randomly outside of traffic; that's a bit weird and creepy.
3) Know where you're going or get to the side and out of the way if you're not sure and need to figure ot out.
4) Don't turn right on red; it's prohibited. Red means in all cases "Stop!"
5) Try to do your first ride in a park; it will still be busy, but you don't have to pay attention to cars and trams.
6) The bells you hear are trams who want you out of the way. They won't stop for you.
7) Don't cycle on tram tracks; your bicycle tyre fits perfectly in it and you might get stuck.
8) Walk on pavements/sidewalks (grey), not on bicycle paths (red).
9) Book an hotel outside of Amsterdam; it's really easy to get to Amsterdam by public transport and it's cheaper. And oh yeah...
10) Get a week chip card for public transport at Schiphol. You can buy them at the yellow machines.
not entirely true: sometimes turn right on red is allowed for bikes. It will say so on a blue sign (in Dutch)
@@ArjenHaaymanif you can’t read Dutch, it’s safer to just remember „no turning/moving on red“. I’m German, understand/can read some Dutch and I would just wait at the side of the lane to be sure I’m allowed to go instead of trusting my barely there Dutch.
@@ArjenHaayman Those are outdated and very rare though, if not completely gone now. The cycle path just avoids the traffic lights altogether usually.
#2) You can make eye contact when you are not in a city. In Friesland and f.i. in the village/small town where I live, you greet everybody, whether they are walking or on a bicycle.
Where’s the health and safety, no helmets and babies and young children riding up front.
A good tip, look at white painted the triangles on the street in the Netherlands. They are called "shark teeth" If the triangles (teeth) are pointed toward you you have to stop for traffic on the road you're crossing or merging into. If the flat part is toward you , the traffic has to stop for you. (although its always important to check anyway , and if in doubt, wait )
shark teeth are universal traffic signs... you find them all around the world...
There's also a standard yield sign on the side of the road
"looking at your phone"
Fine for 'handheld' calling
For cyclists who ride with a phone in their hand, the fine is €160, excluding administration costs. For motorists, the fine is €420 and for mopeds, light-moped riders or disabled vehicles equipped with a motor, who drive with a telephone in their hand, the fine is €290, excluding administration costs.
Yes. Lots of socialist fines. The socialists will tell you exactly what you can and can't do and how you must live according to their rules. And at every opportunity, they will steal and confiscate your money from you, to impoverish you and ensure that you are ever more dependent on the socialist state and the socialists who control it. Welcome to European socialism and total loss of financial sovereignty and personal freedom.
And you don't even have to be using it. Merely holding it in your hand while participating in traffic is enough to get fined.
Long story short: Just don't do it. If you need to check your phone park in a safe location first.
additionally, the importance of not using your phone while walking or biking is stressed REALLY hard in elementary school
Note, how many obese people did you see, None. Healthy, fit and on average tall people. I have traveled around the World in my life, I'm a Londoner. If I ever wanted to move to another country and city my choice would be The Netherlands and Amsterdam. The people are friendly and everyone speaks English. You can walk and cycle everywhere in the city. The people and the culture are great.
I am 6'6" (195cm) and just over 250 (115kg) pounds. I am considered unhealthy thick
@@larswilms8275compared to many people in the USA you’re not fat. I visited the USA twenty years ago and was disgusted by the number of obese people I saw (even in well off neighborhoods).
I last visited the Netherlands (for more than a shopping trip - we do these about once a month) a couple of years ago, and there were not nearly as many obese people there. Some people looked like they had a little bit more around the waist, but that’s it.
they're in the cars lol
@@jennyh4025 Bad to compare to the USA. That guy is definitely not healthy and overweight unless he has tons of muscles. It's just that Americans are so abnormally fat as a society that their standards for being fat are way way higher. Every country is slim compared to them
About 50% of the populatio is too heavy actually (including kids) 😞
Hi.. I am from Denmark and this is very normal to me... It is pretty much how it looks like in a big city here aswell... We normally pay attention to each other in the traffic and to where everybody is going... to make everybody's trip as comfortable as possible.. and that be if you are in a car, on a bicycle or walking..
I noticed when I visited Copenhagen that you are very good and clear with other bikers or cars with your hand signals, even signalling for stopping. I think you have achieved a very good norm here. In Sweden people are quite bad at giving signals.
As an Italian I envy you very much.
Saw a couple of tourist in Copenhagen wander right into the bike path without looking while the famous Danish commuters bike hoard hit them at the usual top speed, mass carnage
@@georgelynch6139 Yes do not walk on the bicycle path.. hahaha. 🙂🙂
🎵Bicycle...
🎵Bicycle...
🎵Bicycle...
🎶I want to ride my bicycle
🎵I want to ride my bike
🎶I want to ride my bicycle
🎵I want to ride my bike everywhere I Iike
Yeah✊👸
Greetings from northern Germany ♥️ 🇩🇪
The car song is "The road to hell" by Chris Rea. This is really telling.
now, THAT was a video! 😉
It's called civilization, and I'm pessimistic if the USA will ever achieve it. It will not be possible as long as the vast majority of Americans do not know that there are much better ways of living than theirs.
Well said!
True, but then America is SO much bigger than any European country [I don't include Russia], so getting about is harder.
They could have gone for some high speed railway and reduce the air travel a bit!
No excuse not to ride bikes in flat cities though. The Americans do tend to be lazy and go for comfort though.
@@anglosaxon5874 As is their life model, bicycles are useless, they only serve for children to have fun in those ghostly suburbs where they live far from the real world. Things would change a lot if they had shops nearby, schools, hospitals, common recreational areas, sports and cultural activities... But it doesn't seem like any of this interests them. The only thing that seems to interest them when choosing a house is its communication with the nearest highway. It's a mentality problem, and most Americans are happy with things being the way they are.
@@taranvainas Yeah they definately build their cities wrong.
What does an average American know about how things can be improved compared to their own country?.
The most an average American knows is to put each other and themselves in great debt based on their greedy and gluttonous And lazy behavior.
Lazy in the sense.
That they actually have to get up to grab something and/or do something themselves.
Healthcare system that is far too expensive for most normal people.
As a result, many people end up in debt for life.
Even if they have two or three jobs, they still have difficulty making ends meet.
To give just one of many examples
And filling their snacks with far too much artificial color,
artificial fragrance
and artificial flavors
that have long been proven in Europe to be carcinogenic.
Almost zero pollution and cars paying respect to bikes. So nice to see
The flow of non 4-way stops
Remember, there is NO right on red.
You yield at the triangles on the street and otherwise give traffic from the right priority.
Did you notice that cars and bikes have the same speed.
3:50 That's exactly the point. The intersection could never handle that many people in cars. The intersections would have to be made larger for cars. This would make distances longer for each person. This would lead to even more car traffic. Which would require even larger intersections. You're in a vicious circle
Old European cities are compact more by necessity than choice. Centuries ago, walking would have been the only mode of transport for all but the very rich.
@@takatamiyagawa5688 Plenty of European cities were partially demolished for cars, but they noticed how much more children were now dying in traffic and how much lower property tax income is if you demolish half of the property (among many other downsides), and removed the car lanes again. This de-laning process is still ongoing.
@schnelma605
This is exactly the reason this intersection IS designed like this. Not because of the lack of cars, but to make Dann sure it stays like that.
@@takatamiyagawa5688 Only a small minority of cities are actually that old, in practically all bigger cities it's only the small city center. 90% of it is by choice and proper urban planning.
@@bramvanduijn8086 Indeed but they also can go a bit overboard with it. I sometimes wonder if they keep reality in mind when they come up with certain ideas to ban cars from cities. We still have to live in them.
You hit the nail on the head with the word “civil”. This is how civilised people behave. You can tell so much about a country by the way people behave. Shoot this same footage in Detroit or Chicago and you immediately notice that one country has completely failed.
Right right, it's the country.
It is the design of the streets. In the Dutch design people have to pay attention. Being hit by a tram or car can have serious consequences. Also other collisions can potentially have harmful consequences but are normally not as severe but any collision is an inconvenience.
even linguistically " the country with no official correct name" - , so its citizens need to use the refering word of the continent where its located on for themselves is failed
@@clownworld3913 It's the decisions made by the country.
@@clownworld3913 Capture footage of an intersection in Japan and you will find the same level of cooperation, respect, and societal cohesion.
did you noticed, the EU yield sign got no yield written on it....Europeans dont need an explanation what it means!
the majority of europeans do not have english as their first language. Writing text on traffic signs in all the major european languages makes it very complicated to understand.
some countries have text, some don't - including Canada. As a tendency countries that do not have English or Spanish ("Ceda el paso") as primary language go without text.
I guess he won’t recognize the yield signs at all. Haaientanden are not common in the US. Those are European. And I think the Netherlands (and Denmark?) is the only country where shark teeth even apply without the priority sign.
I was just checking the comments to see if anyone had already explained this.
@@erik5374 yepp, Germany does have it in some locations but unfortunately not in every location. People haven't learned yet how efficient it would be if we copied our Dutch neighbors in this regard. You really are innovators in that regard. Kudos for that. Greetz from a German in Hamburg.👍
@@erik5374 sometimes roundabouts in the US use them as well. But yes, the Dutch way of putting them everywhere, often multiple ones in a row is very special.
One of the main factors is the communication - not necessarily verbal, but body language, eye contact, reading the person, have they seen you, etc.
In America everyone (obvs hyperbolic exaggeration) is sitting in there 3 ton SUV, 7 ft off the road, tinted windows, oblivious to the rest of the world. That separation is always going to lead to carelessness and lack of courtesy to other road users.
Glad you picked up on the efficiency of transporting more people around quickly by getting them *out* of the car though.
I wish cities in the UK were like this.
Enjoy your trip to Amsterdam.
6:55 - It's quiet not just because of the bikes, it's mostly because of the absense of vehicles with loud pipes attached to V8 engines.
In Geneva the loudest ones are scooters and motorbikes, because lots of them modify to be as noisy as possible. They are louder than construction trucks and I hate it. I ride myself and I do not see the appeal of modifying my bike to be obnoxious for everyone.
@@woedendstewadpier4922 - I suffer from the same problem here where I live. I'm close to a high school where there are many students who ride 125cc bikes and it feels like there's not a single one of them that doesn't have a louder than stock pipe.
Also, in America the car drivers would be leaning on their horns
The one thing I would recommend not to do,,,,, don’t go about wearing headphones.
Its absolutely no problem at all to wear headphones. Many do. As long as you pay attention to your surroundings its completely fine (and legal).
@@weetjijwel050 true, but in a foreign country, in foreign traffic it’s not a wise choice.
@@hamster4618 Yup, but we talking about the Netherlands here 😉
@@weetjijwel050 yup, which is a foreign country to the guy presenting this vid, stating he wants to visit it.
@@hamster4618 First the 'foreign country' is NOT the Netherlands, yet now it is? Whatever suits you, mate 😉
I’m exited to hear that you’re going to explore the Netherlands this summer. My first tip: book an accommodation outside of Amsterdam close to a train station. Connections are great and Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague and Utrecht can all be reached within an hour. If you want to go of the beaten track, you should consider Groningen. It’s a medium sized city in the north (200.000), with a lot of history and a very bustling nightlife with no closing times (25% students). The city center is practically car free and everything can be reached on foot or by bicycle. It has an international vibe due to the large university, but without an abundance of tourists like in the big cities. The EU declared it the 2nd most livable city in Europe in 2023. You could combine this with a trip to Schiermonnikoog, one of the most beautiful and peaceful islands of the country (completely car free). It has one village, a lot of dunes, cyclepaths and the widest beaches of Europe. It’s great to spend one or two days at in summertime.
Agreed! For getting to know / see / experience the most of Netherlands it's better *not* to focus on just Amsterdam but take some other cities, preferrably in the provinces and/ or near to the coast (Groningen, Haarlem, Utrecht, 's Hertogenbosch, Nijmegen, Middelburg will do too) .. And like Carolina suggested -> when biking one over our quiet islands - or trying to - you won't hurt anything or anyone but yourself, when making biking/traffic errors ;-) // other Waddeneilanden like Terschelling or Ameland or Zeeland will be perfect too - plenty to choose when here! cheers @MoreJPs
French here, a few things I can spot :
- there are "give way"/"yield" signs (triangle pointing downwards) where the roads cross the tramway rails (meaning you need to give priority to the tramway),
- a portion of the streets are bike only (it is a roundabout only for bikes, not for cars),
- most people didn't seem to respect the rule that you need to give way to pedestrians waiting to cross a road (almost nobody respects it even here).
The only thing that really surprises me is the calmness of it all, we do not have such a prevalent use of bikes here. It does help make traffic flow more seamlessly, but outside of times with high density traffic (such as beginning/end of workdays) it usually flows smoothly.
For the height, signs are usually at a standard height, so it might be possible to check it using only the video (and math).
Anyway, hope you have a great trip !
To comment on the part of not respecting the pedestrian crossing: stopping and starting on a bike is annoying, so many pedestrians will let cyclists by, even if the cyclist needs to give way. Especially on busy intersections like this. It is definitely the case cyclists will not give way no matter what, but those are real douchebags.
Cars will respect the crossings and other laws the vast majority of the time, as Dutch law makes the car the guilty party in an accident with a "weaker" party (cyclist, pedestrian, scooters, motorbikes, etc.). Unless it can be proven the other party was acting recklessly. Shifting this responsibility means drivers are much more aware, usually. There are stupid people everywhere, including in the Netherlands.
What stands out to me in French traffic is that scooters and motorcyclists can be mental. They can be pretty bad here, but France is really on another level for me.
About the pedestrians: you are looking at it in the wrong way. We do have the rule that if a pedestrian is waiting to cross the road, the bikes should stop, yes. But its all about the flow. The traffic has to keep flowing, and that means sometimes its better for a bike to go first. Pedestrians know it, bikers know it, so its hardly ever any problem. When there is time, most people will allow them to go first, as you can see at 05:33 (handgesture of the cyclist) and at 08:55 (head gesture). So its not about respecting the rule, its more about understanding that the flow is more important. Its give and take 👍
@@Yvolve _"stopping and starting on a bike is annoying, so many pedestrians will let cyclists by"_
It is my own personal experience that pedestrians do not let cyclists by because it is annoying for the cyclist to stop and go. They let them by because a lot of cyclists in Amsterdam can be huge a**holes that don't care for pedestrian crossings at all :). Yes, stop and go can be really annoying. But there's rules in place to make clear who needs to do what so every person in traffic knows exactly what to expect. A pedestrian crossing is not a suggestion.
_"It is definitely the case cyclists will not give way no matter what"_
Ah thanks. this is the kind of nuance I was looking for :).
_"Dutch law makes the car the guilty party in an accident with a "weaker" party"_
The guilty party is still the party that didn't obey the rules. However, the driver of the car is held responsible if a weaker party is involved. IMO this ruling sometimes leads to unwanted results. Living in Amsterdam, I use my bike very regularly of course. Every now and then I need to use my car however. You may share the same experience that some cyclists do not give a sh*t about traffic rules as they know the car driver is held responsible anyway.
@@brucelansberg5485 I'm talking about when people signal they let you past. That happens to me very often, and I always stop when I need to and I'm not given priority.
Cyclists will not give way when they have right of way.
If you're in a car, use your eyes. That's what the law is for. The weaker party is still responsible if they act dangerously. Get a dash cam if you want proof. You don't understand the law it seems.
You have a gift for cherry picking comments and deciding what I meant by that fraction of a longer comment. Well done.
In the NEDERLANDS,,, you will be able to look folks in the eye ✌✌✌✌❤
I heard the Dutch are the tallest people on Earth? So how can you look them in the eye?
@@hurtigheinz3790 unless you are a dwarf, it will work out if you just slighlty look upwards
@@hurtigheinz3790 they will be looking down on you.😀
@@hurtigheinz3790😂😂😂😂😂
Yes you surely can but dont look too long it might get a bit too creepy😋😅
The people of the Netherlands belong to the most chilled in Europe. This helps a lot to maintain such a good traffic flow. In Scandinavia it almost the same. Here in Germany it works pretty well too, but not as good as in the Netherlands. Those guys have the most advanced traffic concepts and we are now trying to implement the more and more over here too.
Even decades ago we were an example of smooth intersection traffic flow. Engeneers from over the world came over to learn how to do it. How to set the traffic lights on complicated intersections etc.
I don’t think it has anything to do with how chill anybody is. Actually, I think Germans are more polite and generous in traffic. It is mostly how streets and intersections are designed.
@@allthatchas You should drive here in Berlin, not much politeness can be found here. 😂😂😂
@allthatchas probably also how most drivers and pedestrians also are cyclists.
It looks so cool and smooth to me especially because they are not even trying to look like that, everyone is just minding their own business.
Also I noticed that in this environment every motorbike stands out with its disturbing noise and every car looks a bit disturbingly out of place. The tram is loud too but to me it kind of blends in with the whole scenery, like a natural and peaceful giant in an ecosystem.
Admiring and envious greetings from Germany, the neighbouring country who refuses to just do what we know the Netherlands do better.
now imagine, how this must look for Americans, for whom yield signs and less than 90% car traffic are already rocket science…
Well, me as German am amazed how you react to all this what we Europeans consider as usual and don't even pay attention for, because we are so used to all of our every day life. But to put it more into perspective tho:
This is what rules are for and what rules do when the major society is following em. In 'Merica rules are considered as constrictive and there you have it. The US is what it is because of a huge lack of rules we have in Europe and we the people are following and respecting them. But the "american freedom" sees all those rules as a constriction for individuals. American individualism vs European solidarity and taking care of each other and respecting each other.
In the US: "Me first, you after". In the US the majority isn't following the rules and a minority is following em.
In Europe: "Treat me like you wanna be treated." In the US you also know this phrase, but the vast majority doesn't live and respect it. The majority is following the rules and a minority isn't.
It's kinda simple as that, but you can also go more in depth of course. This is a huge topic Americans are afraid of debating it in a civilized way, and if they do - oh hell let us Europeans take the Pop Corn n watch em while they are yelling at each other. It's so sad n disappointing...
Keep going, i like your reactions.
Our European "solidarity and taking care of each other" is true only if you compare us to America, and some other countries like China, India, otherwise we are very individualistic society compared to the rest of the world. I've seen it everywhere during my travels
@@justnadaaa8434 Yeah, kinda right. It ain't as simple as that. We respect each other more than the US in its own, although we are separate countries, even with that grain of nationalism. All in all we are, let's call it "more civilized". Those societies that are more individualistic, we can see where that leads those societies - to division n separation. But is getting too political now...
I find the American gentleman discombobulation to European traffic flow amusing.
It's the difference between 'freedom to...' and ' freedom from...' In the USA you are more free to drive fast in cities. In Europe we are more free from dangerous traffic.
As a German I have to say: no other european country is even close to the level of perfection of dutch infrastructure. They are 10-20 years ahead
Make no mistake, the Dutch are not stupid; note that the busy junction will function perfectly, even if there were a power cut, and the vast majority are producing virtually no pollution. Yes, the native Dutch are often very tall, you will be amazed at their height when simply walking off your plane through Schiphol Airport! They are famous for their old-established, very, very safe world class airline, geo-engineering, seafaring and lighting/electrical engineering. I, as a Scot. also like them although shocked at the amount of sprayed-on graffiti, even in a 'nice' area of town. I found them kind, cultured, down-to earth and open-minded. Put it this way I've been to The Netherlands five times but France once!
You forget a very important one. Water-management. Without our more than excellent water management, the Netherlands would not exist. Just check out the Deltaworks, the afsluitdijk and the project Room for rivers. There are some excellent YT video's about deltawerken and the afsluitdijk. Very impressive.
The Dutch water- managers have been involved in different international projects. Advising New Orleans after Catrina. The constructed levies held with the next hurricane. They have constructed islands. I think it was for Dubai and many other big international projects.
@@okkietrooy6841 I did say geo-engineering, but thanks for your much longer listing.
@@willswomble7274 I did put geo-engineering in the big group of engineering. Didn't realize that watermanagement was part of that kind of engineering.
In some places graffiti artists are alowed/is asked to put graffiti to make it look less dull but thats not always the case
The psychology behind this intersection is that becaause of the lack of traffic lights, everybody needs to pay attention. Far less accidents happen because everybody pays attention. An increasing phenomenon in the Netherlands.
The slower speeds also help. Nobody trying to "catch a green" with 60 or more.
Also means that when accidents happen (and they do), they are far less severe.
I think this wouldnt work with traffic lights because in the time you have to wait for a light to turn green you have more people waiting then can fit on the section after the traffic light and i also think the reason why they pay attention because most of the time people follow the traffic rules but you always have some one that doesnt and mostly for those people you have to watch out
I love the fact there are almost no cars and vans and most are using bikes and walking the air must be very nice there, not full of petrol fumes
Yeah, it is
Yes. No cars and vans. No evil machines. Just bikes. Why don't we get the horses back as well and go back to live in the pre-industrial revolution?
@@markpalmer8083 1,353 people per mi2 is the density of civilians here in the Netherlands a car driven capitol city just would halt and pollute everything. It's a necessity for the Dutch to have many cyclists.. Thus we made as much infrastructure as possible over time to accomodate cyclists by seperating them from car traffic. Don't be fooled there are large car roads around the city encircling it. But Gas is so expensive here that people do their daily shopping just on bikes. But that's again only possible because the Netherlands doesn't have zoning laws for commercial buildings thus they are mixed in right between homes. or very near ones.
@@markpalmer8083 Let's choose the most practical medium of transit - that might even be a horse, depending on the situation. But why use a car if you don't have to, don't want to?
Every route, every journey that is not made by car, but (like in this video) by tram or bike, makes the city more liveable for everyone. And life becomes easier, especially for those who are travelling by car. If there are only 10% fewer cars on the road, everything is faster and less stressful for car drivers.
btw: you're a troll.
@@markpalmer8083 North-American spotted!
ps Those cargobike you’ve mentioned are indeed used to pickup children from school or daycare. The location you’re looking at is probably the crossing between ‘Weteringschans’ and ‘ Spiegelgracht and is directly in front of Rijksmusuem. (Van Gogh Musuem and the American embassy are close by)
American embassy is not in Amsterdam. It's in Wassenaar.
And cargobikes don't only carry children....just like bikes don't only carry people.
@@Sapharone Nobody said that cargobikes are used exclusively to transport children. Cargobikes are also used to transport cargo, but what's the point of pointing out something that blatantly obvious?
@@Be-Es---___ probably a consulaat in a'dam
@@Kari.F. Voor jou is het misschien heel logisch, maar voor buitenlanders misschien niet.
Daarnaast was het voor een gedeelte een lol-opmerking. Nergens voor nodig om zo geirriteerd te reageren.
May I suggest that when you visit a city you use a go-pro camera so that you can really pay attention to everything and everyone around you. That way you can be fully present and alert at these intersections. I am eagerly awaiting your first visit to the Netherlands. 😊
It is almost mesmerising to watch. Also, the car to bike ratio seems to have been turned on its head here as compared to most other major world cities, which makes for more attentiveness and courtesy. Absolutely amazing. Great reaction wee man!
_"Also, the car to bike ratio seems to have been turned on its head here"_
The street we're seeing in the video used to be one with a lot of car traffic. the municipality has decided to create a so called "knip" in this street. It means that cars ar no longer able to drive straight ahead and are forced to take a right turn which is only helpful if you need to be in that specific area. Don't be mistaken, there are still some car centric roads in the city (which are increasingly becoming impossible to navigate by car).
The Dutch are on average the tallest people in the EU. ~6'1" is the current average for males and ~5'6" is the average female. They are huge 😃
Multi-modal throughput. Stunning efficiency, compared to most urban settings in North America.
Percentage of bikes is probably similar to percentage of cars in America, so not a ton more multi-modal, at least here.
@@takatamiyagawa5688 There are a lot of pedestrians in this video, about one third of how many cyclists there are. (This is a street with relatively low amounts of pedestrians.) Public transit moves a lot more people than you'd think as well, those trams are going to be mostly full so assume 100-150 people for each tram. That's easily more than half of the number of cyclists in this video. I didn't count so this is just an estimate, but I would guess there are about 40% cyclists, 45% trams , 14% pedestrians, and 1% cars.
@@bramvanduijn8086 If a road carries one bus with 60 passengers, and 60 cars with one passenger each, is that 50%:50% multimodal? Is the road serving buses and cars equally, or is it mostly serving cars?
Hi Joel!
I'm so excited that you are (finally!) planning to visit Amsterdam and the Netherlands this summer! I live in London, but Amsterdam is my favourite foreign city (and the Netherlands probably my favourite foreign country), and I think of it as my second home.
I first visited Amsterdam in 1990, and instantly fell in love with the place. I try to visit friends there at least once a year at Christmas (when it is particularly pretty and festive), but Amsterdam in the summer is also a wonderful place. I'm hoping to visit there this summer myself. Amsterdam is an amazing city - so picturesque, atmospheric, walkable, easy-going and chilled, and the people are lovely (once you understand that their famously plain-speaking directness is not meant to be rude).
But your video is very timely, and you should take careful note of it. One of the greatest hazards any first-time visitor to Amsterdam encounters is the business of merely crossing the street, or even just using pavements! The busier main streets such as Rokin, Ceintuurbaan or Stadhouderskade [see footnote] can be SIX lanes of traffic, with cycle lanes on the outsides, then a lane on each side for vehicular traffic, and then two tramlanes in the centre (typically). Licenced minicabs can also use the tramlanes, and 'blue-plate' mopeds (up to a certain engine size, so speed-limited) can use the bike lanes (although I seem to recall that law might have been changed recently). And there are increasing numbers of electric scooters, of course.
So basically there is lots of traffic of different types coming at you from all directions, and NONE of it is going to give way to you.
The trams WILL NOT STOP, so it is important that you know when you are walking on a tramlane (the tramtracks are a giveaway...) and always LISTEN OUT for their distinctive clanging bells warning people to get out of the way - which you must do immediately.
And cyclists WILL NOT STOP for you unless they actually collide with you! Few Dutch bikes have bells, so the first time you know there is a cyclist coming up behind you is when they swear at you loudly in Dutch! And you really do have to be aware of where you are walking at all times, and NEVER walk on a cycle lane because that is virtually a CARDINAL SIN in the Netherlands and you will incur the wrath of any cyclists whose progress you impede or cause to divert around you.
And always remember this Golden Rule: in Amsterdam, CYCLISTS ALWAYS HAVE RIGHT OF WAY over all other traffic - INCLUDING PEDESTRIANS. Even motor vehicles on main roads must give way to cyclists emerging from side streets. The only reason trams do not also routinely stop for cyclists is because they are too heavy and unmaneouverable to stop and start easily (and if a cyclist forced an entire tram full of passengers to screech to a halt they'd probably be publicly shamed as a bit of a selfish asshole).
The safest way to cross any busy road is to find a pedestrian-controlled crossing, push the button and WAIT. You don't usually have to wait too long, and many of the lights are radar-controlled, rather than on a fixed timer, and so they will respond to changing traffic situations and if people are waiting to cross and there is no other traffic in the vicinity they will show you a green light very quickly. HOWEVER, at light-controlled crossings be aware that even if vehicular traffic is halted by a red light, that might not apply to the bikes currently approaching on the bike lane you are about to cross, so you still need to wait until they are also halted by a red light before you can cross. And be especially alert to bikes coming around corners at junctions; they might not be able to see you until they are almost upon you, and will turn the air blue with insults if you cause them to swerve...
But all of this aside, I really do hope you have a great time in Amsterdam, and I'm sure you will. If it turns out that our visits are going to coincide (I haven't decided my dates yet), then it would be a huge pleasure and a privilege for me to show you around and give you some tips on where to go and what to do there! I've been following your channel for a long time and really enjoy your content, so it would be awesome to meet you in person. So if you could give advanced warning of your travel dates on this channel, or even DM me if you'd like to meet up, that would be very cool 🙂
Cheers,
Steve
P.S. Re your question, at 9:45 in the video, about the types of bikes you are seeing: The answer is yes - this is a type of bike is known as a 'bakfiets' - literally, a container bike ('fiets', pr. 'feets', is Dutch for 'bike'). Dutch bikes can come in a wide variety of designs, and bakfiets are very popular - especially for people with young children or dogs, as they can be used to transport both, which is a very common sight. You will also see a lot of people riding two-to-a-bike (i.e. two-up), with the passenger either sat straddling the rear luggage rack, or 'side-saddle' on the luggage rack(something I don't recommend, as luggage racks aren't really designed for sitting on and can be quite uncomfortable - not that the Dutch seem to notice), and sometimes even on the handlebars! It amazes me that I've never seen this lead to accidents, but the Dutch are all casually expert cyclists and master these skills of two-upping on bikes at an early age.
P.P.S. Re your comment at 10:50, yes - the Dutch are officially the tallest people in the world (on average, of course). I'm around 5'9". which is average for the UK, but I've been in bars and parties in Amsterdam where I feel like the shortest person there and I have to look up to everyone else.
Footnote: the location switched to at 3:10 in the video is at the junction of Museumbrug and Weteringschans, looking towards the Rijksmuseum on Stadhouderskade from across the canal (which can't be clearly seen, but it's just on the far side of the isolated house on the right).
Sorry i laughed a bit when you told about not walking on the bicycle lane and not hearing the cyclists untill they start screaming at you in dutch...its true though im dutch and while i am one of the cyclist with a bell on my bike in general if you dont hold to the rules people will yell at you..reason i laughed is because when i read it i thought yeah not really a reason to yell for something so small...on the other hand once you let the small rules slip it will get worse and worse...any way im glad to hear you enjoy going to the netherlands always nice to hear👍🏻
What surprises me the most, as a Swede, is how many there are that doesn't have any lights on their bikes.
Here you have to have a bright light at the front, a red light at the back, and reflectors to the sides, as well as back and front.
Here you're supposed to as well, but due to budget cuts there's not enough police around to actually enforce those rules.
In the Netherlands it is the same. We are just rule breakers.
It's getting better now led lights are a thing. My old bike had glowbulbs and they broke a lot due to vibrations
det är det samme här i Nederland, men här we ses Amsterdam...lol Amsterdam anarchie
@@Shokkwavez Exactly - led lights are great. No more loud and "power-sapping" dynamos, no more light bulbs that break, no more thin, fragile cables. Instead, you have reliable bright light that really illuminates the path ahead of you and also works when you're waiting at a junction or pushing your bike.
Regarding people paying a lot of attention to traffic, it is pretty simple: In a car, you have this (false?) feeling of safety, while when walking or riding a bike you really have to be careful. Otherwise you can end up with a pretty serious injury.
Yes, is you don't pay attention in this traffic you pay the price pretty fast.
If you are on a bike and not move with the flow, some other biker will crash into you for sure.
If you are lucky they expertly swerve around you shouting a load of terrible disaeses at you.
If you are in a car and you hit a bike you will have to pay for the damages, unless you can prove its 100% the bikers fault.
That is next to impossible.
It works, because there are NO lights and people have to think! The sign with the triangle upside down means „yield“ or „give way“, so traffic has to stop and let the tram pass. But the tram obviously had to give way to the pedestrians on the zebra crossing. The other regulation is „who comes from the right goes first“ (except there is a „give way“ sign).
In Belgium, trams always have advantage , even to pedestrians on a zebra crossing.
Part of it is also that everyone in traffic have responsibilities, not "rights". You can't run over someone just because you're "right".
But note that there are two types of crossings when pedestrians "interact" with trams (at least here in Tampere) -- crosswalks where the tram yields, and pedestrian/cyclist crossings where pedestrians/cyclists yield.
too funny JP watching this video, eh looks like a hypnotized rabbit ;-)
Lmao 😂
😂😅
yes, he had his "eyes on sticks" you could say hahaha
You didn’t even mention that the cars are also electric…. and quiet 🤫. You are gonna have a blast!! The Dutch also speak great English!
There are still a lot of petrol cars!!Electric cars arent ideal..Expensive and tires are short lived because off the weight off the car.And the price off electric is still high!
Best non native English speakers in the world we are.
@@Bramfly you are just a linguistic bridge between German and English, you do not know to which you belong to linguisticaly XD so you smashed these two languages together and say its a own XD
@@red_dolphin468 actually Dutch and modern German come from the same "ancestor" language. but through the centuries both have changed a lot.
Frisian, a dialect spoken in the Province of Friesland in the North of The Netherlands is actually pretty close to that "ancestor" language.
English used to be pretty close to, but due to the influence of Scandinavian and French invasions the English language has diverted a lot more than the other Germanic languages.
so it would be more accurate to say that the English language has a bit of an identity crisis, because the English language is somewhere between French and German/Dutch.
I understand that tires are the main source of noise instead of the engine at higher speeds, so moving faster than 30 km/h makes electric cars as loud as combustion cars.
For U.S. Wievers: Just contemplate the number of doughnuts you can down with IMPUNITY because of the extra exercise gained on a bicycle!
Not much actually. A doughnut might be the equivalent to about 5 km of cycling. Cycling is very efficient, and it does not take much energy.
@@SiqueScarface true :D - but the argument is still valid compared to Oversized Obese Country no. 1 : the US
I got involved in the sport of ultra-distance cycling for this exact reason. If you're riding 10+ hours a day you get to eat whatever you want. Biggest issue I have is not managing to eat enough. 🍕🚴🍍
This works because it's a traffic calmed roundabout. And all trafic is slow. Pedestrians 5-7km/h, cyclists 15-20km/h, moped/e-bike 20-25km/h, tram and cars (around) 30km/h. This is also why pedestrians have priority on all crossings here, other than that all traffic is slow and within 15km/h of each other. And then just let the traffic "flow".
I think, it does work better with bikes and pedestrians because the space required for both modes is about the same as our natural bodily perception. So it's easier for our lizardbrains to get navigate and estimate the movement and space requirements of everybody else.
Also, this is possible, because the speed is low. I'd say, all is about 20kph tops. So everyone is able to quickly stop in case it is necessary. It's less overwhelming.
And, except for the tram, those are light weight encounters, so even in case of an accident, it's way less lethal. That also helps with lessening the stress level.
You mentioned people paying attention. Don't rely on it, but cycling in the Netherlands is an amazing experience. I've taken my bike across to the Netherlands from the UK 7 or 8 times now, and I'm still fascinated by the experience. Whether walking, cycling or driving, junctions in a strange place can be confusing, while everyone else knows exactly what to do. I've made the mistake of stopping at a junction to get my bearings and the traffic has just stopped waiting, but I've learned to trust the shark's teeth. If the little triangles are pointing toward you, stop. If they don't, keep pedalling, close your eyes and ignore the ruddy great articulated lorry bearing down on you.
Well, don't close your eyes. Try to make eye contact with the lorry driver and when in doubt, stop and get of your bike. Preferably, do this before you pass the shark teeth.
However, when the infrastructure is such that bikes are in front of cars at an intersection, you can trust the shark teeth.
Indeed. You always have to make sure the driver sees you but when you know they do you can trust them to yield. That's why speeds are always low at intersections so people have time to make eye contact. It only takes a fraction of a second but it works really well.
@@Sapharone OK! Closing my eyes was a bit of British sarcasm. It just takes a bit of getting used to.
I don't know how it works in the Netherlands, but in Germany you get a "cycling license" in elementary school. In the 3rd or 4th grade, taught by police officers who explain the traffic rules. At the end everyone has to take a test to show whether they have understood the rules.
You shouldn't forget that in Europe we have real driving schools with courses. In addition, there are all the remaining requirements such as first aid courses and eye tests.
That and the fact that we have so many rules and stick to them (more or less) make the difference.
It would be interesting to see your reaction to the requirements and the whole driving license process.
In the Netherlands we have traffic lessons and then a traffic exam on your bike also. About the same grade in school I think.
Hi Denise, here in the Netherlands you are thought by your parents how to ride a bike with training wheels a couple years after you've learned to walk but several years later in elementary school the students do get another course by Veilig Verkeer Nederland which involves learning the rules more intimately, going out with the whole class on your bikes and often it involves the parents again as guardians/supervisors and at the end you receive a paper for participation that you can hang in your room.
Typical Germans, telling everyone exactly what they must and must not do and how to do it.
We had that in Norway too for ages ago in the 1970 or some all had to take the bysicle card on the school issued by the police but i don't think we have that anymore for some strenge reason.
@@ShokkwavezAlso many parent will make their children traffic ready starting on a young age. The parent will cycle on the traffick side next to the child and cycle for example to soccer practice, teaching the traffic rules along the way. If the parent trust it enough the child can go independently.
U also have to keep in mind that we are getting raised with bikes in mind and that there are alot of laws like how its illegal to look at your phone in the car and on the bike couse it can(and has) couse accidents.
Of course its not just Amsterdam thats like this, the entire country is built with bike and pedestrians in mind and cars 3rd, its the total opposite of the US.
The other things is that EU cars are ALOT more silent the the big US trucks, its come to the point where u just don't hear them approach anymore so u have to look around if something is coming.
And when u come to the Netherlands, i strongly recommend u avoid tourist areas, especially for food and such since they really jack up the prices there.
True. As soon as we are able to SIT we are planted in a baby seat and cyled around town by our parents and by the time we're 6 or 7 we can cycle ourselves
Fun fact, when you are not in a giant car, it's so much easier to just look around and adjust speed
I live in Amsterdam and go through this intersection quite often. You have signs on the ground to indicate where you're supposed to go depending on whether you want to turn or go straight. Also, when you want to cross the street, be it bike or car, the tram is always first. The line of little triangles on the ground tells you to yield. Also, technically, pedestrians have the right of way when crossing, but in reality, bikes always come first, and pedestrians stop to let them pass (that's how you can spot tourists, because they usually forget about that). So you just need to be aware of the rules, follow the signs and be aware of your surroundings, and you should be good to go. Also, one thing that's important when biking in Amsterdam is anticipating. By that I mean you should know when to turn, that way you bike a bit on the left/middle of the lane, so people can still pass on your right and you don't have any trouble turning because of someone trying to overtake you.
You are a beautiful person. Thank you for your reflections
If you want to see busy cycle traffic, come to the Vredenburg in Utrecht during rush hour ...
Amsterdam is very stressful in a car because you've got the pedestrians, the bicycles, the bikes, the tramways, the cars, the underground subways, the rings, the crowds of tourists, the river shuttles on the canals, etc... Your eyes and ears have to be everywhere when you're not used to it. But the traffic lights are well done. And everyone is respecting it. Be careful because they just ride fast their bicycles.
You better use the public transports as everybody else or just walk if you visit the city-center. Very practical.
I like the Netherlands. They are smart, kind, discreet, modern people. Culturally europeans but their highways and their modernity often makes me think of the USA. I love how they transport their kids in the front of their bicycles! We don't have that in France. They love traveling to France too.
In France, we are champions of roundabouts...
Respect, for every road user
I’m from London UK. I visited the Netherlands 🇳🇱 in late 2022. I had the best time ever. Amsterdam central was busy with a lot of tourists. I noticed a lot of cyclists. The traffic is really organised. I noticed people weren’t glued to their phones. They walk and cycle a lot. Rotterdam I enjoyed more away from seeing my fellow British tourists. I’m sure you’d enjoy the Netherlands 🇳🇱
No lights. Unless otherwise signposted the priority is: public transit, pedestrians, cycles, motor vehicles, in that order.
But foreign visitors be aware of the bicycles....
No, pedestrians on the zebra crossing have priority over public transit :)
That is nonsense. Pedestrians do not generally have priority, and the rules for cars, bicycles, and buses are the same. The priority on this intersection is given by road markings. Absent any signs or road markings the rules are to:
always yield to trams, blind(!) pedestrians and emergency vehicles;
yield to all vehicles (including bicycles) coming from the right of you;
when turning: yield to all traffic (including pedestrians) going straight on the same road;
when turning left: yield to vehicles (including bicycles) from the opposite direction that are turning right (i.e. a short turn has priority over a long turn).
I love the Netherlands, it’s a long trip from Oz (25hrs to get there), but I’ve done it twice so far. Wonderful Country, awesome People, would move there in a heartbeat.
The oil companies wouldn't allow this in the US, it's a pity because the US has a huge amount of potential to do things better.
A few years ago the town planners in the Netherlands removed the signs, road markings, and kerbs. They left it for the people to look out for each other. They found that removing the kerbs and road markings actually slowed traffic, and people figured the rest out.
Hi Joel, make sure you visit Rotterdam as well. Fantastic architechture and wonderful people (I would say that as I live there ;)
I would suggest Maastricht ss well, though that's a 2,5 hour train trip away from Amsterdam.
@@Sapharone To US people 2,5 hrs is nothing. We're the ones that go '2,5 uur? Zo ver!!' 🤣
Fatal traffic accidents in the Netherlands per year 750 (18 million citizens).
Fatal traffic accidents in Florida per year 3500 (22 million citizens).
The USA has a lot to learn in general when it comes to living in cities, the stats are even worse if considering gun fatalities,
Netherlands 75 per year
Florida 2660 per year
The USA has a lot to learn about living together in harmony.
People stop for trams for 2 reasons:
1. The triangular markings on the road at the intersection are called "haaientanden", lit. "shark teeth". They indicate that you're one of the parties at an intersection that will have to wait and grant passage to whoever has priority over you in the traffic hierarchy in that moment.
2. Trams are considered priority vehicles because they transport a lot of people at once and can't stop as quickly or easily as cars, busses, and (motor)cyclists can, so it's usually near the top of the traffic hierarchy.
People stop for trams because they're ff'ing big and chances are you'll die when they run you over.
no lights my man just controled chaos
As someone from Amsterdam, I realize that it will be very difficult for American cities to achieve this. We grow up with this. As cyclists here, we also have unwritten rules, and codes, so to speak, when cycling. For example, we can see from someone's cycling position whether someone wants to go left or right. Hard to explain.
You just grow up reading the body language. I’m pretty sure, that you can also spot a tourist or someone, who is new to the area from just their body language on the bike without actively trying to read them.
and also kids at school get traffic education to , most of them already Got a bike so they learn the rules of the road to keep everybody safe in traffic.
Yes that is what all schools should have traffic education from stage 2 or 3 at the school to they are done with the school!
From the videos I have seen of school bus laws in the US, kids are almost encouraged to not have any idea of road safety.
The law about not passing a stationary school bus means the kids can get off the bus and cross the road without looking.
But i did notice, especially in the second camera view, that most cyclist do not stop when there are pedestrians waiting at the zebra path. Unless there is a traffic light outside of our view they have to stop when there are pedestrians who want to cross, but you see several pedeatrians who have to wait till there is either enough room between the cyclist, or till a cyclist lets them go first. Like the man who makes the nice hand gesture 'you can go', actually he has to come to a full stop and let them go first anyway.
You see also that the pedestrians walk very fast to cross, even though they are at a zebra where that should not be necessary: they have priority and are allowed to go first anyway.
Yep, perfect doesn't exist. Still, it works.
@@bramvanduijn8086 _"Still, it works."_
Not if you're the pedestrian :).
I'm loving how stunned you are. It's so normal for us that we can't imagine anything else.
While we do have our problems sometimes (merging can be fun), we love our flow.
Btw, the arm pointing out at 6:08 is actually meant to show direction.
Although people skip it sometimes or do only a fast short version, it's something you're supposed to do on your bicycle.
However we do have a common type of waving to tell someone to go ahead (which we also love doing) I always do it with my left hand and it resembles trying to brush water off a table with the palm of my hand (goes left to right). Saying thank you is a simple holding a single hand up (and sometimes we add a nod)
We love being polite.
Something I once had was that I nearly had an accident because we both wanted to let the other go first until my bicycle was going so slow I was losing balance.
I also once nearly bumbed into someone because we both sidestepped twice in the same direction. If it happens once I now just stand still, but it stays funny. (especially when you're both laughing)
At 9:30 you talk about a train, but that's just a tram. Trams make that noice to warn you. Like the horn of a car.
And yes, that are kids in there! And we love to have them although it can be very annoying to share the road with them. (kids sometimes don't sit still)
Btw, the only cyclists we seem to universally dislike are race cyclists.
My mother nearly got into an accident with one who didn't bother looking (it would have been a head on with both on bicycles) and a friend of ours injured her arm when one decided to ignore traffic laws (she was walking). They are thus disliked because they often ignore traffic laws and go very fast, to the point where you got barely any reaction time.
Ironically the two I knew where otherwise good people. But as I never joined them on a ride, I have no idea how good they are in traffic.
Haha, that intersection makes quite a good ASMR. 😁
WTF?
@@willswomble7274 To me. It's subjective. Sucking microphones, for example, is 🤮 to me.
I agree it does! I could watch that for hours!
You don't NEED lights one reason why roundabouts are so good
I remember reading once that an area of Holland had all traffic lights and road signs covered up as an experiment and during that time all traffic flowed completely fine no accidents and journey times were reduced by a massive amount of time.
I live in London - Jaywalking is not illegal here so everybody just finds their space and kind of weaves in and out of traffic in a slow, Brownian motion style movement. This has become so much second nature to me that I have long stopped thinking about it.
First time I was in LA I found myself on Sunset Blvd and thought to cross the street. So I just stepped into the lane, watching oncoming traffic, expecting it to flow around me. Instead, everything stopped. 4 lanes of traffic. Standstill. I was super-embarrassed. Lesson: Different countries, different rules… 😂
An example of what can be achieved when everyone follows the rules! Ie the positive result of regulation.
And respect for it!
The simple rule here: people in the roundabout and pedestrians on the zebra crossings have priority. The only sign is the yield sign at the tram tracks. No signs, no traffic lights, nothing. Just one simple rule. Works.
As you can tell (if you actually look at the video), people don't really follow the rules. The Dutch are known rule-breakers.
The rules and adherence to them doesn't matter much. What's unsafe is heavy vehicles, high speed and bad infrastructure. Check the statistics for yourself.
@@bjorsam6979 _"What's unsafe is heavy vehicles, high speed and bad infrastructure."_
May I add to that ignoring pedestrian crossings while people are waiting to pass?
With my electric bike I'm faster then any car in my city. I don't have red lights, can take shortcuts , can take the F35 (a bike highway that allows the fastest electric bicycle), I can charge it up for free. (cars will have to pay for charging). My only tip is don't wear huge over the ear headphones, you'll end up under a car because in some situations you do have to yield to them, often displayed by 'shark teeth' on the road. (the white triangles)
The Netherlands has done some experiments with intersections without traffic ligths. It turned out to be much safer because everybody has to pay attention. It also dramatically increases efficiency since there are barely forced stops. Most of the times people keep moving.
This is we Dutch people call traffic participation.
Every participant in traffic, has a certain responsibility to keep things safe and keep the traffic flowing as much as possible.
There were no lights at that first part of the video. The shark-teeth and pedestrian crossing stripes on the floor do all the work. Walkers first then the trams finally the bikes and cars that cross. That is the same for most of the video and the Netherlands. Have a great stay when you are here!
Visit Rotterdam when you get to the Netherlands. Totally different city architecture wise, because it was flattened during world war 2. You have a lot more modern and tall buildings (only city with buildings taller than 150m), mixed with old waterways.
It was the biggest port in the world for over 40 years, until 2004.
1. put your phone away
2. pay attention to other traffic
3. 'smallest and sofest' traffic'ers always have the right of way
4. eye-contact
5. it's a round-a-bout, the traffic flows better
Looks like any major city in the north of Europe/Scandinavia
Havde a great trip!
hello from Denmark 🌸
As a Swede, I love the Netherlands. We too have a civilized traffic culture most times. 👍❤
Make sure to hire bikes for a day or more to experience this yourself! We used 'Yellow Bike' near Amsterdam Centraal Train Station. The ferries from (behind) the station to Amsterdam-North is also free and runs often! And book any museums you want to visit NOW, they sell out weeks or even months in advance!! I'd also visit Rotterdam, it's another big city but quite a contrast from Amsterdam (Amsterdam more historic, Rotterdam more modern). Amsterdam also has the A'DAM tower and there's a 360 degree lookout and a swing on the rooftop!
when you rent a bike, please make sure you know the rules of the road. In Amsterdam, I try to avoid people on rental bikes because they often are unpredictable. In the rest of the Netherlands there are less tourists cycling, so people do not expect you to be unpredictable.
when in Rotterdam visit the Markt Hall it is a foodies paradise
I have always wondered why we Italians also use the car to go to the bathroom, while the Dutch, although they have a much less hot climate than ours, are so wonderfully eco-friendly. Much esteem from Italy.
The Netherlands are definitely on a whole different level though. You don't see this is the rest of Europe
It really helps having flat land for bicycles in this number. Hence why so many ride them in the Netherlands.
Always loved visiting Amsterdam. Went there a lot in the 90's when I lived and worked in Germany before coming back to England.
Actually, we ride our bikes because it's often more convenient than taking the car. This has to do with how infrastructure is built and less with hills. In the south of the country are way more (higher) hills; we still cycle a lot there.
@@Sapharone Yeah for local areas, but not in rain and snow and for big shops/large items.
This is such a lame excuse: " because the Netherlands is flat" We ride them because it is easy. Our city are compact, so we don't have to drive for miles, with a car, to do our daily shoppings or even get some milk. Most of your cities are flat too, but not designed for bikes or pedestrians.
@@Fabiansegara1969 Easy = flat! NOT lame.
@@anglosaxon5874 What you're saying is, because the Netherlands is flat, it is easier ti ride a bike, therefor many of them ride bikes. I suggest you do some research and find out, why and what the real reason is for the Dutch to ride their bikes so many. And it's not because it is flat. But you all use that lame excuse. Dutchies also ride a bike in the rain, storm, winter or snow. Do you think that is easy, even on flat terrain ?
Don’t only go to Amsterdam though.. go Haarlem, go Den Haag, go Rotterdam, go Utrecht, go Deventer, even visit the islands Terschelling/Ameland (everyone goes Texel but thats like any polder tbh). The whole west of the Netherlands is coastline but pls avoid scheveningen.. just an extremely busy beachclub. Groningen also nice, Enschede, Zwolle also nice.
Im originally from France and this is fascinating to me too 😂
I mean, the environment is familiar to me as a European. You can see this in France too. But the Netherland just makes it way better that everyone else
I pass this intersection twice a day. Usually during the busier times too. As it is in the video is pretty typical for those times of day.
Rush hour is from like 8 to 9 am and 4 to 6 pm or so
I really, really don't get what's so amazing about it, but I find it interesting that you do.
Cargo bikes can carry groceries, furniture, work supplies, pet and/or children. If they're covered more likely to be children, or pets.
This intersection doesn't have lights
Hi Joel, the new thing you will encouter when visiting the Netherlands are so callad “phat bikes” These are e-bikes that look like mopeds. The are a trend and driven by teenagers. ps the dark redish building in background is the Rijksmuseum with Rembrandts Nightwatch painting
Fat bikes
You’re staring at this as if it was an ant hill - fascinating, yet hard to comprehend. But it’s just cooperative human behavior guided by sensible urban design. Like, that’s literally it. The amount of your awe says sooo much about the american psyche…
It is called cooperation. Everyone cooperates with one another and so it works, no me me me, it is us us us.
WOW! No cyclist is wearing a safety helmet. Must be safe roads.
In NL only people on e-bikes, MTBs, racebikes etc wear helmets. If you're just commuting, nope. Mostly...
@@chipdale490 And since the last couple of years older people are advised to wear a helmet. Mainly on e-bikes but you see this also on normal bikes.
Accidents with bikes are almost always low speed and quite harmless
The only time they are not is when its a motorvehicle vs bicycle accident.. and then your helmet is going to be of little help
@@KurtFrederiksen Yeah, but there are only few cases where the helmet prevents a major injury and no other injuries occur. Most serious or fatal accidents happen in a way (dooring or being overlooked by turning lorries) that a helmet might have reduced head injuries, but would not have changed the overall severity of the injuries. If you look at the number and type of injuries, elbow and wrist protectors would make a lot more sense - just like for skaters.
@@KurtFrederiksen but those studies are EU wide.
because of how the Dutch infrastructure is build and how the people behave in Dutch traffic it wouldn't be crazy to assume that those statistics are different in The Netherlands.
also the mostly used type of bike in The Netherlands makes it that you fall different.
it's mostly older people that injure their head, because they don;t have the reaction time to adjust their fall, and thus they just fall down and their head bounces against the ground.
and children who are still learning to cycle, they might fall on their head to
but that's why you make sure your child wears a helmet until they are 100% proficient in cycling.
and older people do have to make the choice themselves. and that's the hard part, old people (especially those on bicycles) are pretty stubborn.
(and people with a disability might choose to wear a helmet to)
but 98% of the rest of the cyclists in The Netherlands wouldn't really get any benefit from wearing a helmet.
and the negatives from wearing a helmet would actually far outweigh the small benefit for those cyclists.
Even for people in these countries, who are not used to cycle in the big cities, this would be caos 😅
But everybody know the rules and will quickly catch up.
If you have to pay a lot of money for your licens, and the time it takes to require it, you don’t sit on your phone. You pay attencion so that you wont loose it 😉
In the Netherlands, children receive traffic lessons at primary school. They also have to take a test with their bicycle in traffic and then they receive a traffic diploma. This is very useful because children go to school by bike at an early age.
as a uk citizen i can honestly say amsterdam has the most efficient public transportation system i have ever used trams trains buses are brilliant , just keep your eyes open and your wits about you , above all have a wonderful time you will love it.
Worst thing you can do ist traffic lights. Give priority to the weakest link (pedestrian with the zebra crossing), right before left yield rule and let traffic flow.
Lights are only required for dangerous crossings with to many cars and to many lanes. This is a calm city center, no lights needed.
Oh and unless traffic is extremly heavy and onesided, roundabouts are always better then crossings. They just need to fit in the restricted space.
@@kleinshui9082 Roundabouts are best at low and medium speeds and medium car numbers: they keep the flow going, which prevents a lot of choppy interference patterns in downstream traffic. Put these primarily in cities.
At low car numbers with low speeds you can just have unsigned intersections. This is a walkable neighbourhood street.
At low car numbers with medium or high speeds and high car numbers at any speed you need modal seperation: Bridges and underpasses. Keep those metal death bricks away from people. These should have as few crossings and intersections as possible. Country roads are an example of the first and highways are examples of the latter.
I thought the same: imagine everyone is in a car. But go further: why are Americans be in a car, even short distances. Because they are afraid they will be attacked. This is pathetic. This is a dystopia. And of course: this is sad.
There is also not an adequate infrastructure.
They are mostly in cars because of their very, very, very one dimensional infrastructure aimed at cars only. (Looking at you car lobbyists of the 1940s and 1950s) . And that is also where the perception of danger from other people comes from. How many people do you meet, or look in the eye when you're going 35 or 50 mph on a 3 lane each way stroad? It's a vicious circle. And perhaps one of the main reasons the US is in the state it is in right now.
You're missing that urban planning in America tends to put houses, workplaces and recreational areas far enough apart that people won't want to bike.
And still, in other parts of the Netherlands, one does not see the inhabitants of Amsterdam as the most civilized; without traffic lights, when a pedestrian puts one foot on a pedestrian crossing, the cars must stop, and they stop! It’s very nice
Intersections / junctions like this work as they are based on a few simple rules about yielding / give way and who has priority. Once you understand the rules and apply them it makes sense. Its based on the basic design of a roundabout with a couple more traffic controls. You just slow down on approach, look at the flow as you approach so you know when you can go. If you time it right you don't have to stop at all.