Indeed. I work in the city of Groningen, but I live in the city of Assen. In the morning I cycle to Assen central station where I can park my bike secured and free for 24hrs. It takes me about 17 minutes to travel by train from Assen to Groningen, and then a 15 minutes stroll to the office where cars have to yield to pedestrians almost everywhere. A food market and a large grocery store is on my route for convenience. I would not like it any other way :) Great video @Streetscapes
One thing you forgot/ decided not to mention is that those intersections in Groningen have rain sensors on them as well, and when it rains the cyclists get a green light more often. Which I think is pretty cool :)
@@kailahmann1823 Doe je dat altijd? Wanneer iemand iets positiefs zegt er meteen iets negatiefs over zeggen? Kun je niet tegen complimenten? Of kreeg je die nooit van je mama en papa?
@@GuusJanssendoe jij dat altijd? Elke comment section binnen schuifelen met je misplaatste superieuriteitscomplex? Tekst heeft geen intonatie dus verdomd knap hoe jij er toch neerbuigende toon aan weet te geven!👍🏻
I have been a traffic engineer in the Netherlands since 1980. I graduated from an institute established for this purpose in 1975. A lot has been achieved in 50 years and I think that you perfectly describe the various solutions with this report. This was a very good general description of what a livable environment should provide.
@@johnfowler4820 I guess we need him more in Guarulhos City (in the state of São Paulo, Brasil) than you in UK lololol, plaese, look at the google maps how are the streets and sidewalkies here, I am really happy to know it is posible to achieve a high standard of quality of life however I became sad because i know it won't happen in my city
16:37 So true, this really works as generally, parents will let their kids roam (“be back when the street lights turn on“) which massively boosts freedom, independence, and confidence.
Clear and understandable explanation of the what and why. The infrastructure here in the Netherlands, or specifically in Groningen isn't perfect, but at least the government is making a great effort and for now continues doing so.
@@streetscaping Yes, but changes will have to be made to keep on being good. Introduction of new vehicles (electric steps, fat bikes, electric bicycles etc) sometimes has to result in changes. The climate changing might result in the need to use other materials etc. Not complaining, just hoping to keep the efforts alive :o).
Loved this video. I'm in the Norwegian Cycling Federation and while I have seen everything you have presented before, this was presented in a relatively terse and comprehensive way. I will distribute this to others as an introduction to how the Netherlands are doing things that we should learn from.
I like the "no street is ever complete". Because that is probably the best mentality that the Dutch have. They are constantly looking at roads and seeing if they can be improved, if there is a problem spot, they will study it to figure out how to fix it, they might not get the right solution the first time, but they also aren't unwilling to change and admit when they made a mistake, instead they just try to fix the mistake. Way too many countries and cities go with the mentality of "This is how it's always been, we can't change it!".
Imagine that all - unnecessary large, filled just a quarter of it - parking spaces were exchanged and replaced with trees, everywhere you could enjoy a lot of forests. 🌳
Groningen's walled inner city, with narrow cobbled streets I imagine, has the privilege of its age over American ones, as its first inhabitants settled here around 3900 BC. Earliest written document being a letter dating back to 1040 AD. Dividing most of downtown into four quarters got implemented 47 years ago, while fully integrating more recent suburbs like De Hunze, Lewenborg and Beijum with fast bike lanes and excellent transit connections. On urban planning America chose different, and now it's too late I'm afraid. Maybe we shouldn't have sold New Amsterdam to the Brits...
@@royvankan2723 Thats one of the craziest parts of American public planning. We have parking lots in the Netherlands, but they always have some places with trees and plants and flowerbeds in between the parking spots and lightposts. It isnt just a dead zone of endless asphalt. Do people over there just not care about nature at all? Dont they feel a sense of misery walking down that boring monotonous massive carpark?
So nice to watch footage of Groningen in a video like this, I live here and I was so used to all this that it took video's on YT to show me it is not so common in the world to have bikelanes or effective public transportation. When I went to my secundary school I had to ride 17 kilometers, and that was quite normal. Only in december and january I was allowed to take the bus. Some of my classmates had to travel even further. I didn't hurt me, I still have strong legs and I think it also builts some character to ride to school in wind and rain. There is no bad weather, there is bad clothing, that sort of thinking.
It's so nice to see a TH-camr checking out other cities than Amsterdam. As someone who lives near Groningen, I never noticed a lot of things you've showed in this video. Sometimes, we take things for granted. This makes me look at things differently and appreciate it more. On the other hand, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in Groningen as well. The bike infrastructure is good, but not fantastic. There are too many traffic lights, some bike lanes are too narrow or overcrowded, and the area around the station is not optimal (but will be improved soon). The bridge near the Groninger Museum is not great for biking either. All in all, still a very good city with a high living standard. I'm sure the city continues to improve the infrastructure.
Awesome video! You packed so much into this, I learnt a ton, even though I've watched basically every NJB video and tons of Bicycle Dutch videos. Not sure if you can sustain this level of quality, but if you can then you'll grow the channel very fast.
TBH, we are still one of the most polluting nations on earth (per capita) obviously not as bad as north americans, but we can't be proud with our score in that regard
Impeccably executed. Brilliant analysis. Thank you for creating such an informative, visually superb video. How fortunate I am to live in glorious, compact, pedestrian/cycle friendly Middelburg.
Been saying for a long time as a driver, you want safe, well maintained, uncongested roads, and low insurance and rego costs. You just can’t get that in an environment that forces everyone to drive and drive a lot. I really wish Australia would just adopt the Dutch street codes like for like.
Subscribed - I used to drive to work from the UK, through The Netherlands to get to my office in Germany in the mid 1980's. I now live in Thailand where driving is very different, due to so many motorbikes on the road. Locally, I have noticed that some traffic lights have been removed at a 3 way junction, this naturally slows the traffic down, so everyone makes an effort to give way or make safe progress through the junction. It's like walking across a pedestrian crossing in Ho Chi Minh City, walk across slowly, allowing bikes to avoid you as you traverse the crossing. It takes time to adjust to new traffic patterns. Best wishes from Bangkok.
I will be watching your channel with great interest, you seem to be capable of describing without moralizing like so many other good and not so good urbanist channels fail to do. While also describing more than just a single particular thing at a time, which greatly increases my sense of all of this belonging to a coherent system rather than an example in vacuum from the rest of reality.
TBF most urban planners and traffic engineers in the world would love to design this way. It's just that in many places, especially in the USA, they're prevented from doing so by ridiculously outdated and completely car centric laws, road design standards, urban planning regulations, minimum parking requirements, NIMBYs, short sighted politicians, etc etc. Minimum parking requirements alone have lead to the bulldozing of most traditional main streets in the USA, all to make room for asphalt parking lots. Just look at photos of most main streets or city centers in the USA from more than 100 years ago, and you'll see very typical row houses and businesses, mixed use centers and buildings, medium density everywhere, walkeable neighbourhoods, cable cars everywhere, etc etc. But it was all bulldozed to make room for the car, and turned into swathes of parking lots with isolated, completely car centric businesses in the center of them. I learnt this in architecture and urban planning classes. But "Not just bikes", "strong towns" and "oh the urbanity" have some great videos on this... Just be warned, it's a dangerous and extensive rabbit hole! And it's kind of depressing to learn just how much was lost and demolished in N-america, all in the name of the holy and almighty car.
Great video. Your introduction was solid and you really reeled me in out of curiosity even though I know the answer. Edit: What a solid video! This is insanely well covered, fantastic work.
I also love how the Dutch use standard, interlocking curbs, tiles, bricks, etc to build out their streets. Makes it much simpler to design and make changes, as was discussed around min 15:00 where tiles are removed and filled with dirt to allow residents to plant. The curbs and ramps for pedestrians, and edges for bikeways, are similarly standard and modular.
Nice to see my daily biking roads and bus and trainstops in this video. A single way on the bike to work is 18km, so on rainy days I take the train and the bus. Both take about 45 minutes, so it is easy to take the bike and take a shower at work.
This! when I drive my car in my Dutch city at rush hour, it;s not a very pleasant experience, because the roads often prioritizes busses and cyclist and I get a LOT of red lights. (and it's very busy) But when I drive the same route an hour later, it's a glorious experience, everything is safe and clear, traffic lights jump to green almost everywhere, and my commute time is almost halved. I now stay at home longer and work at home for a few hours or I just take it easy , go later and stay at my work place a bit longer and I have a great experience. and that is exactly the design idea. to spread the traffic and encourage people to either use other forms of transport or other time tables
Some notes; In the residential areas where cars, bikes, pedestrians and playing children share the same street, with a max speed of 30, cars have the lowest right of way. They have to wait for everyone else. So, if someone is walking down the street, or biking, you have to slow down even more. You dont have any right to start honking and demand people move aside so you can drive faster. The street is for the people living there, and cars are guests. The maximum speed may be 30, but the advised speed is walking pace. A kid could come running out of a driveway or kick a ball across the street at any point. If the max speed is 50 instead of 30, where 50 is the highest possible speed inside urban areas, then cars, bikes and pedestrians are seperated, with marked or seperated bike lines and a kerb for pedestrians. The trees dont just discourage speeding, they also for physical protection for the cyclists if a car has an accident. They will hit the tree. The tree will probably win. The cyclist on the other side of the tree is safe. They also provide wind shade, which is very important in flat land. The bike paths are set back at intersections so the drivers can more easily see cyclists. Instead of having to stop and look left and right at a 90 degree angle, the cyclists will be in their peripheral vision. This significantly reduces accident rates at intersections without lights where cyclists have to cross a car lane. The roads without lines in the middle are specifically designed to be exactly wide enough that 2 cars can barely pass each other, while slowing down, and driving on the bike lanes to the side. Meaning that, if there is a cyclist there, one of the cars has to wait for the other one to pass and only then can overtake the cyclist. Which further slows down traffic and makes things safer for everyone. Buses have special transponders that communicate with the streetlights and get priority over car traffic. They also have their own dedicated street light. So the 30 people in the bus spend less time waiting at intersections than all the people sitting in their cars alone. Parking in cities is very expensive. Some smaller towns may allow 2 hours of free parking next to the shopping mall, but in large cities you will have to pay several euro per hour to park in a partking garage or on street parking. In Amsterdam it can be up to 10 euro per hour. So its cheaper to park outside the city and walk or take the tram to the center. Or just take the train.
Great video, good examples being shown here. I guess we in the Netherlands are so used to all of this great streetdesign and it's positive consequences for our well being, we may think it is the same in the rest of the world, wich of course it isn't. But as we are people who can complain very well, we also tend to keep looking for improvements, where ever possible! Thank you for reminding me, we live in a well structured, well organised society, with indeed the happiest children in the world, gettin their independence by riding a bike on their own as young as 8 or 9 years old!!!
6 or 7 in the countryside . and I was allowed AS A 5 YEAR old to ride my bike around the block in downtown Utrecht (just no street crossings at that age) and this was around 1980 when the city was a lot more dangerous than nowadays
Had the pleasure of doing a cycle tour from Dunkirk to The Hague via Bruge, Antwerp, Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Utrecht was such an incredible experience being able to cycle in comfort even in the countryside. The Dutch and Belgians really know how to do infrastructure well.
@@2penry2 i grew up on the Dutch/Belgian border. If you closed your eyes in the car you coul feel when you crossed the border because the road had turned ' top quality '. Then again, it may be a bumpy ride south of the border but at least they got their cuisine together
13:20 these bright, multi-coloured posts indicate that a school is nearby, cautioning drivers about running kids. They’re not part of the formal signage system, but it’s very common for municipalities to install these.
Perhaps the best thing about the Dutch is that they've shown the way, so all we have to do is copy where they are now instead of trying to "discover" everything. Unfortunately, most agencies feel that they're "different" and can't possibly do that.
You can literally buy our road and intersection design manual for like 40 euro, its available in pdf and printed copy. Millions of euros and decades of research to make one document with the cutting edge best practices, and its updated every year. And then nobody buys it. Sad times.
I would love to see a video of all the bad things with the dutch street designs as i think we can learn a lot about whats not working so well as well as whats working great!
@@streetscapingis that really so? I'd like to more one-way streets. The routes for cars are sometimes to cumbersome. Do pedestrians deserve more thought, or is it fine like this?
@@erikthehalfabee6234 they might be cumbersome for visiting traffic (people that don't know the exact route), if you life in the neighborhood you often use a bike. One way traffic decreases the traffic that tries to sneak through which is a good thing in my opinion. I do sometimes feel the pain when I visit friends and I end up on the wrong side of such a road.
@@klaesregis7487 one way streets on most streets and only the main arteries two way traffic creates much safer and faster intersections. Dutch intersections can be slow and chaotic
Love to see my home town getting some attention, Groningen is an amazing place to live. You had some nice weather too, judging by the flags I guess you were here in early May?
Remember that the Netherlands didn't build this in 1 decade. It takes a long time and isn't finished yet, and never will be. we started in the 70's. So more or less 5 dacades ahead. Start simple and cheap. The low hanging fruit. Not the fancy stuff. That's for later. It's about money well spend. And don't forget culture. We have a bike culture. And sayings like "Your not made of sugar", You can handle it, You won't melt when cyling in the rain. Our parants cycled and our grandparents. Kids start at 6 years old. Teens cycle to school and sports.
Also remember that if the Dutch had stopped cycling until they got proper infrastructure, they wouldn't have gotten it. It's more a case of cycle and they will build it rather than build it and they will come.
@@DenUitvreteri don’t know if that’s entirely true, but it has worked both ways, I suppose. Luckily, cycling was alway’s possible in small villages and the rural areas were car volumes were low. The car was more problematic inside the city’s.( seen from a cyclist perspective) Action groups and protests made the difference in how to move forward. I hope that videos like these will help, give an perspective on alternatives. So that no one will have to risk his life on a bike or by walking, just to prove there is a need for safe infrastructure for them. I hope municipalities will experience, “ if you build it they will come! “ So, don’t risk your life! Get yourselves heard!
@@ronaldvanderhorst4936 Yes, but it's usually people concentrating on the physical infrastructure, while in the Netherlands it startes with the rules and a few traffic signs. Another huge step was also the change in liability law in the early nineties, when infrastructure was not really that great yet. I know legal stuff makes is not begging for video like physical infrastructure is, but still. Another thing that got us this cycling is the competence to negotiate far from great infrastructure. It's all very convenient now, outside roadworks, but cycling in traffic is always about taking care of safety yourself. That's what the Dutch often had to do until the 2000's, and that's what the Parisians have to do since a few years.
@@DenUitvreterthe legal stuff is important, especially in litigious societies like America! What do you remember as key changes that improved conditions outside of a car?
It was funny seeing one shot and thinking "Hey I know that street" and then doing that for most of the video. You're right about the car park in the back of the vismarkt at 17:36 . The municipality has the same opinion and they've bought it to remove car parking. Now they are looking for options on what to do with the space. One of them is making part of it a protected bicycle parking garage. Bikes have become a clutter issue in the city centre and the municipality is trying to remove them from the streets with free bicycle parking garages
There's three places in the city i really wish the municipality to tackle: - Visual markings on Pop Dijkemaweg, so people will permanently drive in the middle, meaning people will actually go 30 rather than 60 - Europaweg (shown in this video with the dedicated buslanes in the middle) is a 50 road, but looks like a 80 road, so people speed continuously. Should be less wide with better markings (and no speed trap please, punish people for your bad design) - Pedestrian crossing on Hereweg with a traffic light. This is a big nono, because there's no intersection there drivers don't notice the traffic lights and people already speed there. Great video btw! Thx for sharing
Every video I see about this subject forgets the most important thing you have to change in America: mixed zoning. We have shops INSIDE the housing zones. Everybody lives close to shops and other facilities. This is the most important thing to change asap.
This video is incredible dishonest.... I mean only sunshine and good weather? Not including, fog, rainfall or an actual downpour? Tsss ;) (just in case anyone stil wondering that was 100% sarcasm). I like the tone and flow of your vid, u talk calmly and seemingly effortlessly flow through your arguments it is very pleasant to listen to, thank you. And of course putting the Netherlands in a good light is always +1 :D
A bicycle path that is set back, timestamp 4:03, has the advantage that drivers turning right don't block the road behind them, when waiting for a cyclist that goes straight ahead. Loading or unloading goods or persons is not considered parking.
This should be an example for some countries in Europe and the rest of the world. Like Belgium, they almost do the same, but they can do better. Especially the bicycle paths. Some of these are in such a horrendous state right now so you can't call it a bicycle path anymore.
I see Belgium as the leading country in competitive road cycling, before the French, Italians, Spanish or Dutch so I am always a bit confused why they don;t have the best cycling infrastructure. (sorry Tour the France and Anquetil , the klassiekers and Merckx have you beaten.
Impressive inaugural video! I’m curious if you have a focus or niche topic or interest area for your channel? I have a suggestion if you’re interested in urban design issues in general. I have a hunch you have produced other videos before, though not available here😉
@@streetscaping I look forward to what you create. My suggestion is to keep in mind the EXPERIENCE of the USER, besides the technical. We have lots of higher level technical channels but few that show how it feels to complete a journey end to end.
wow, this was a really cool and informative video! I did notice however, that so many of the roads and streets shown seemed really excessively wide, and this is coming from someone who currently lives in London! I suppose in the effort to appease all transport users, a lot of space has to be used
4:52 the give way sign with the little 'bike' signs underneath, what is the purpose? And why the differing symbols and directions? One looks like an ebike?
Not mentioned is the fact that the main purpose of a lot of the dutch road infrastructure is to increase safety for all users. The slowing of mechanical traffic added to the safety. The safety made the alternative of using bikes possible. More bikes is less cars which leads to more safety. If you want to follow this dutch example concentrate on the safety. Look at giving people a choice: car, public transport, bike and going on foot.
My grandfather was one of the people behind the Verkeerscirculatie plan. Its funny to see it mentioned and also funny how he has been continuedly been proven right, again after the whole Jullianaplein debacle
Looks very good so far. Next consider the I/S and legal changes required for electric bikes (=Mopeds), motor bikes, e-scooters(Lime, etc.), skateboards, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, golf buggies, and maybe more.
How much would it take to implement this across the US? A fraction of what we spend on the military, that’s for sure. I want my town to implement this within 5-10 years. How do I get involved? How do I push for change? How do I push for rapid, explosive movement??? I don’t want to wait for a child to die for this to happen.
It doesn't have to cost much. All of this has been done over 50 years.. All roads are renewed every 20 to 25 years anyway, the underlying infrastructure like sewage, water, telecom etc is replaced or upgraded and the entire street is dug up. At that point you can just build everything back the way it was, or you can rebuilt it in a better way, getting all of it basicly for free. Most of what you see here has been upgraded 2 times, and the very new stuff is already in the third itteration of improvement. And 25 years from now it will be redesigned again to the new upgraded standards inplemented then. Just need good planning and dedication to make sure everytime work is done anyway, it is improved as much as possible. Eventually over time you get everything done and infrastructure always keeps evolving.
Im going to push my city and state government to adopt this sort of planning. Mexico already has dense development. We just need to improve our streets and invest in parks and introduce more greenery in streets.
I've biked in every spot that is visible in this video. There's a point I'd like to make, recently someone had the idea that bikes and pedestrians can share roads in the centre of town. This is however not a brilliant idea because pedestrians are more aware of their phones, shops, the conversation they are in or whatever is on their mind than that they are participating in traffic. Most people on bikes are used to pedestrians walking anywhere they want, on the sidewalks but also in the middle of the street. This is probably due to the fact that the roads as well as the sidewalks are constructed of the same yellow tiles. Especially people who haven't lived in the city seem to think they are therefore allowed to walk everywhere. This does already create dangerous situations, but now we are getting ever more spaces that totally lack designated areas for bikes and pedestrians. This would not be a problem if pedestrians would be aware that they are participants in a traffic situation. Well, they are not. Pedestrians do not see themselves as taking part in traffic and their actions on these streets are completely unpredictable for people on bikes. Even if you use your bell (or as I do now, a 118db horn) on a bike, people hardly ever react or, at best, cuss at you for having the nerve to warn people of your presence often stating (falsely) that you are not allowed to ride your bike there. Which already shows traffic signs are wasted on pedestrians. I find myself in multiple collisions per month with pedestrians who suddenly decide to go to the other side of the street, who suddenly decide the should cross a road or who feel the need to walk with four or five people in a row taking up the whole width of the street. This gets especially scary when you approach parents with two or more children. It is easier to predict where lightning will strike than it is predicting the moves of kids. Combine this with the yellow tiles that are notoriously slippery when wet (even though the municipal government claims they are not, everybody who rides a bike knows this is a lie) and you have created quite a dangerous situation. I would urge every city to make an effort to keep pedestrians and bikes strictly separated for the safety of both parties.
I disagree with your opinion on these shared spaces. Having shared spaces between pedestrians and cyclists is another form of traffic calming. Clearly the area is highly productive where people roam around so it's not a favourable place to traverse. Low speeds are demanded for the use of the area. If the place is not your destination, what would deter you from choosing a slightly longer alternative route where you have the right of way? And if the shared place is your destination, why would you be wanting to speed through there anyway?
@@brosausFirst of all, speeding cyclists is not the issue. I am not talking about cycling at 20kph or higher speeds. The situation I describe is true for cyclists doing 10kph and even less. I can assure you doing more than 10kph in those areas is nearly impossible, the centre of Groningen is a busy place. The only relatively safe speed there would be the same speed as pedestrians, 5kph max. Nobody rides their bike at those low speeds, and it would render the use of a bike utterly useless. Second, you seem to forget that the centre is densely populated, it is not only a destination or part of a path from a to b, it is for many the starting point of every commute and the majority of those commutes takes place on bicycles. Very few people that live there have cars. Third is the sheer number of bikes, there are few cities on the planet that equal the centre of Groningen in that aspect. Of all kms travelled, most by far are done riding bikes, at more or less reasonable speeds, but faster than pedestrians. This situation is not a problem whatsoever until both groups are forced to occupy the same space. You may disagree but I've been living here as a pedestrian and a cyclist for over thirty years, I have seen which changes cause trouble and forcing pedestrians and cyclists to share space causes trouble for both groups.
Just a (side) thought: Wouldn't it be an idea to have/design signs indicating "no entry" into a street for cars only? Such as the combined parking and speed restrictions signs shown (11:53). Thereby non-car users would immediately recognise, that this restriction isn't pertaining to them, instead of having to check, whether they are exempt by looking at/for a visibly separate sign (13:43).
Amazing video! Do you know any book/website to be read to understand the whole Dutch street design? In Dutch language will be okay. Thank you beforehand!
@@bombersander The speedlimit of fatbikes should be regulated, there are some cowboys driving around in our cities, but on the whole it is still fine. At least these bikes don't pollute the air.
@@Schokland2007 they should slap license plates on those things, make it mandatory to wear helmets on them, and if it goes faster than 25kmh it needs to get the same regulations as a 50cc moped. I am for sure not against E-Bikes themselves, but E-Bikers. Countless amounts of times every day to and from work, they are the majority that drive irresponsibly. take turns without looking first, no indicating, very suddenly stopping for no reason, constantly overtaking and then lagging in front of you. If they were never able to pedal that fast they won't know how to drive safely at those speeds. with licensing people can be taught how to at the driving school.
@@bombersander I guess you cycle every day on a very busy route and extrapolate your experience to the whole of the Netherlands. I cycle everyday in Amsterdam and find it always remarkable how quiet it is outside the busy roads.
Man, there would be strident opposition to this in an overwhelming number of areas of this country. Part of it will be from the auto manufacturing, energy producing sectors, and conservatives overall. It sure as hell would make our cities far more livable if we did this.
9:22 interesting didn't know the Hacker One company from the US has an office in Groningen since 2017. Ahh, I should have known the company is Dutch in origin.
If every city copy and pasted Dutch street design guidelines and implemented them when streets are due for resurfacing, they could have a pretty decent citywide network in a few decades for minimal cost
That is how it was done in the netherlands. Simply always build back something better when you are renewing stuff anyway. That way it doesn't cost that much extra really.
Great video, but one thing you said bugs me. Predictable road network is not to make driving safer, it's to make everyone safer. The dutch roadnetwork in very many places does not place cars in the nr 1 spot
If the car is limited to 30km/h then there is no separation . If the car goes 50 then there will be a speedbump, if a car goes 60 or more , there will be trees or a row of parked cars. @notjustbikes
Born and raised in Groningen, moved out in 2001, because of a job in printstore, Bronsema in Leek, now 2024 I work in Groningen again since a few years, at a printstore and doing deliveries, they can be a challenge in downtown, the time schedule is not realistic, so, when I must deliver, I deliver, also after 12.00 .. and it is what they want, the igns are already up, but legally they are out of function
Thankyou for not using examples of just Amsterdam but the beautiful city of Groningen
Indeed. I work in the city of Groningen, but I live in the city of Assen. In the morning I cycle to Assen central station where I can park my bike secured and free for 24hrs. It takes me about 17 minutes to travel by train from Assen to Groningen, and then a 15 minutes stroll to the office where cars have to yield to pedestrians almost everywhere. A food market and a large grocery store is on my route for convenience. I would not like it any other way :)
Great video @Streetscapes
"Groningkren" ?? what is "Gorningelen" ???? never heard off that here in Amsterdam.
Groningen... can't find it on any map.
Greets from Amsterdam
@@Khannea These people that think that the world ends at their city ring are the real provincials.
@@nickkuiper32Amsterdammers hebben wel vaker last van het niet weten wat we buiten hun eigen stinkstad gebeurt. 😂
One thing you forgot/ decided not to mention is that those intersections in Groningen have rain sensors on them as well, and when it rains the cyclists get a green light more often. Which I think is pretty cool :)
Not just the intersections in Groningen, it's common everywhere in NL.
@@GuusJanssen I'm sorry, not in Hoorn, where I live. We don't even have smart traffic lights for bikes.
@@carmenl163I didn't write that it's everywhere, I wrote it was common everywhere.
@@GuusJanssen Oh, I'm sorry. It's not common in Hoorn.
I use these intersections every day and I've never noticed a difference in traffic signal timing for sunny or rainy days.
Listen to how quiet these Dutch cities are......relaxing.
until a "rolling chainsaw" (snorfietsen) comes ;)
@@kailahmann1823 Doe je dat altijd? Wanneer iemand iets positiefs zegt er meteen iets negatiefs over zeggen? Kun je niet tegen complimenten? Of kreeg je die nooit van je mama en papa?
@@GuusJanssendoe jij dat altijd? Elke comment section binnen schuifelen met je misplaatste superieuriteitscomplex? Tekst heeft geen intonatie dus verdomd knap hoe jij er toch neerbuigende toon aan weet te geven!👍🏻
@@GuusJanssen dat is mijn taak meestal, maar verder...wat Krausty zegt
@@GuusJanssen Je klinkt als een hele sympathieke gozert.
I have been a traffic engineer in the Netherlands since 1980. I graduated from an institute established for this purpose in 1975. A lot has been achieved in 50 years and I think that you perfectly describe the various solutions with this report. This was a very good general description of what a livable environment should provide.
We desperately need you in the UK my friend.
@@johnfowler4820 Jeremy hates public spending, councils go bust, quoting private Frazer: You're dóómed!
@@johnfowler4820 I guess we need him more in Guarulhos City (in the state of São Paulo, Brasil) than you in UK lololol, plaese, look at the google maps how are the streets and sidewalkies here, I am really happy to know it is posible to achieve a high standard of quality of life however I became sad because i know it won't happen in my city
save us in the US
16:37 So true, this really works as generally, parents will let their kids roam (“be back when the street lights turn on“) which massively boosts freedom, independence, and confidence.
I love that you mentioned the relationship between neighbourhood and wellbeing of children. The important of this cannot be underestimated.
Clear and understandable explanation of the what and why. The infrastructure here in the Netherlands, or specifically in Groningen isn't perfect, but at least the government is making a great effort and for now continues doing so.
I would argue that Dutch roads are as close to perfect as any country has come :)
@@streetscaping Yes, but changes will have to be made to keep on being good. Introduction of new vehicles (electric steps, fat bikes, electric bicycles etc) sometimes has to result in changes. The climate changing might result in the need to use other materials etc. Not complaining, just hoping to keep the efforts alive :o).
@@streetscapingsiginficant work needs to be done at Europaweg and ring west.
@@streetscaping we are certainly the best in the world, I have traveled enough to be 100% sure about that. but nothing is perfect
I planted the wisteria at 15:23 😅. I lived in that house for 5 years.
Loved this video. I'm in the Norwegian Cycling Federation and while I have seen everything you have presented before, this was presented in a relatively terse and comprehensive way. I will distribute this to others as an introduction to how the Netherlands are doing things that we should learn from.
I like the "no street is ever complete".
Because that is probably the best mentality that the Dutch have. They are constantly looking at roads and seeing if they can be improved, if there is a problem spot, they will study it to figure out how to fix it, they might not get the right solution the first time, but they also aren't unwilling to change and admit when they made a mistake, instead they just try to fix the mistake.
Way too many countries and cities go with the mentality of "This is how it's always been, we can't change it!".
Just imagine that American cities were built like this, how much nature there would be and how much energy the country could save…
Imagine that all - unnecessary large, filled just a quarter of it - parking spaces were exchanged and replaced with trees, everywhere you could enjoy a lot of forests. 🌳
Groningen's walled inner city, with narrow cobbled streets I imagine, has the privilege of its age over American ones, as its first inhabitants settled here around 3900 BC. Earliest written document being a letter dating back to 1040 AD.
Dividing most of downtown into four quarters got implemented 47 years ago, while fully integrating more recent suburbs like De Hunze, Lewenborg and Beijum with fast bike lanes and excellent transit connections.
On urban planning America chose different, and now it's too late I'm afraid. Maybe we shouldn't have sold New Amsterdam to the Brits...
@@royvankan2723 America is one big parking lot.....
@@henkoosterink8744 helemaal waar. En helaas één grote vuilstortplaats.
@@royvankan2723 Thats one of the craziest parts of American public planning. We have parking lots in the Netherlands, but they always have some places with trees and plants and flowerbeds in between the parking spots and lightposts. It isnt just a dead zone of endless asphalt. Do people over there just not care about nature at all? Dont they feel a sense of misery walking down that boring monotonous massive carpark?
So nice to watch footage of Groningen in a video like this, I live here and I was so used to all this that it took video's on YT to show me it is not so common in the world to have bikelanes or effective public transportation. When I went to my secundary school I had to ride 17 kilometers, and that was quite normal. Only in december and january I was allowed to take the bus. Some of my classmates had to travel even further. I didn't hurt me, I still have strong legs and I think it also builts some character to ride to school in wind and rain. There is no bad weather, there is bad clothing, that sort of thinking.
It's so nice to see a TH-camr checking out other cities than Amsterdam. As someone who lives near Groningen, I never noticed a lot of things you've showed in this video. Sometimes, we take things for granted. This makes me look at things differently and appreciate it more. On the other hand, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in Groningen as well. The bike infrastructure is good, but not fantastic. There are too many traffic lights, some bike lanes are too narrow or overcrowded, and the area around the station is not optimal (but will be improved soon). The bridge near the Groninger Museum is not great for biking either. All in all, still a very good city with a high living standard. I'm sure the city continues to improve the infrastructure.
Awesome video! You packed so much into this, I learnt a ton, even though I've watched basically every NJB video and tons of Bicycle Dutch videos. Not sure if you can sustain this level of quality, but if you can then you'll grow the channel very fast.
I fully agree. Loved this video!
Lots of detail and great visuals
Such a clear description of how the Dutch have got transport so right for their citizens and for the Planet. Thanks for a great video.
TBH, we are still one of the most polluting nations on earth (per capita) obviously not as bad as north americans, but we can't be proud with our score in that regard
Lol. What a joke. It's unaffordable and our far right gov will only break down public transport more.
Impeccably executed. Brilliant analysis. Thank you for creating such an informative, visually superb video. How fortunate I am to live in glorious, compact, pedestrian/cycle friendly Middelburg.
Amazing Video, Very clear and also nice that instead of talking about Amsterdam you went to Groningen
Well, clearly the Dutch have done a exemplary job, and have provided the world with a template to follow.
Been saying for a long time as a driver, you want safe, well maintained, uncongested roads, and low insurance and rego costs. You just can’t get that in an environment that forces everyone to drive and drive a lot. I really wish Australia would just adopt the Dutch street codes like for like.
Subscribed - I used to drive to work from the UK, through The Netherlands to get to my office in Germany in the mid 1980's. I now live in Thailand where driving is very different, due to so many motorbikes on the road. Locally, I have noticed that some traffic lights have been removed at a 3 way junction, this naturally slows the traffic down, so everyone makes an effort to give way or make safe progress through the junction. It's like walking across a pedestrian crossing in Ho Chi Minh City, walk across slowly, allowing bikes to avoid you as you traverse the crossing. It takes time to adjust to new traffic patterns.
Best wishes from Bangkok.
I'm so glad I found this video. 90% of your footage is from my own neighbourhood!
Commenting to support the channel. Can’t believe this is your first video, it’s great
I will be watching your channel with great interest, you seem to be capable of describing without moralizing like so many other good and not so good urbanist channels fail to do. While also describing more than just a single particular thing at a time, which greatly increases my sense of all of this belonging to a coherent system rather than an example in vacuum from the rest of reality.
Looks like the urban planners in the Netherlands actually earn their wages ... lots of interesting design
TBF most urban planners and traffic engineers in the world would love to design this way. It's just that in many places, especially in the USA, they're prevented from doing so by ridiculously outdated and completely car centric laws, road design standards, urban planning regulations, minimum parking requirements, NIMBYs, short sighted politicians, etc etc.
Minimum parking requirements alone have lead to the bulldozing of most traditional main streets in the USA, all to make room for asphalt parking lots. Just look at photos of most main streets or city centers in the USA from more than 100 years ago, and you'll see very typical row houses and businesses, mixed use centers and buildings, medium density everywhere, walkeable neighbourhoods, cable cars everywhere, etc etc.
But it was all bulldozed to make room for the car, and turned into swathes of parking lots with isolated, completely car centric businesses in the center of them.
I learnt this in architecture and urban planning classes. But "Not just bikes", "strong towns" and "oh the urbanity" have some great videos on this... Just be warned, it's a dangerous and extensive rabbit hole! And it's kind of depressing to learn just how much was lost and demolished in N-america, all in the name of the holy and almighty car.
Great video. Your introduction was solid and you really reeled me in out of curiosity even though I know the answer.
Edit: What a solid video! This is insanely well covered, fantastic work.
Your video was suggested to me from @NotJustBikes - I look forward to watching more of your content!
I also love how the Dutch use standard, interlocking curbs, tiles, bricks, etc to build out their streets. Makes it much simpler to design and make changes, as was discussed around min 15:00 where tiles are removed and filled with dirt to allow residents to plant. The curbs and ramps for pedestrians, and edges for bikeways, are similarly standard and modular.
very very cool that you used the city of Groningen!
Groningen my beloved... Honestly one of the best cities in the country in terms of correctly implementing bike infrastructure.
Those last few words are unnecessary. Just one of the best cities, full stop
Pff thats a bit much😅
Nice to see my daily biking roads and bus and trainstops in this video. A single way on the bike to work is 18km, so on rainy days I take the train and the bus. Both take about 45 minutes, so it is easy to take the bike and take a shower at work.
This is the thing that people usually don't understand. Driving a car is also great in the NL since it's predictable, and separated.
This! when I drive my car in my Dutch city at rush hour, it;s not a very pleasant experience, because the roads often prioritizes busses and cyclist and I get a LOT of red lights. (and it's very busy)
But when I drive the same route an hour later, it's a glorious experience, everything is safe and clear, traffic lights jump to green almost everywhere, and my commute time is almost halved. I now stay at home longer and work at home for a few hours or I just take it easy , go later and stay at my work place a bit longer and I have a great experience. and that is exactly the design idea. to spread the traffic and encourage people to either use other forms of transport or other time tables
Some notes;
In the residential areas where cars, bikes, pedestrians and playing children share the same street, with a max speed of 30, cars have the lowest right of way. They have to wait for everyone else. So, if someone is walking down the street, or biking, you have to slow down even more. You dont have any right to start honking and demand people move aside so you can drive faster. The street is for the people living there, and cars are guests.
The maximum speed may be 30, but the advised speed is walking pace. A kid could come running out of a driveway or kick a ball across the street at any point.
If the max speed is 50 instead of 30, where 50 is the highest possible speed inside urban areas, then cars, bikes and pedestrians are seperated, with marked or seperated bike lines and a kerb for pedestrians.
The trees dont just discourage speeding, they also for physical protection for the cyclists if a car has an accident. They will hit the tree. The tree will probably win. The cyclist on the other side of the tree is safe. They also provide wind shade, which is very important in flat land.
The bike paths are set back at intersections so the drivers can more easily see cyclists. Instead of having to stop and look left and right at a 90 degree angle, the cyclists will be in their peripheral vision. This significantly reduces accident rates at intersections without lights where cyclists have to cross a car lane.
The roads without lines in the middle are specifically designed to be exactly wide enough that 2 cars can barely pass each other, while slowing down, and driving on the bike lanes to the side.
Meaning that, if there is a cyclist there, one of the cars has to wait for the other one to pass and only then can overtake the cyclist. Which further slows down traffic and makes things safer for everyone.
Buses have special transponders that communicate with the streetlights and get priority over car traffic. They also have their own dedicated street light.
So the 30 people in the bus spend less time waiting at intersections than all the people sitting in their cars alone.
Parking in cities is very expensive. Some smaller towns may allow 2 hours of free parking next to the shopping mall, but in large cities you will have to pay several euro per hour to park in a partking garage or on street parking. In Amsterdam it can be up to 10 euro per hour. So its cheaper to park outside the city and walk or take the tram to the center. Or just take the train.
Great video, good examples being shown here. I guess we in the Netherlands are so used to all of this great streetdesign and it's positive consequences for our well being, we may think it is the same in the rest of the world, wich of course it isn't. But as we are people who can complain very well, we also tend to keep looking for improvements, where ever possible! Thank you for reminding me, we live in a well structured, well organised society, with indeed the happiest children in the world, gettin their independence by riding a bike on their own as young as 8 or 9 years old!!!
6 or 7 in the countryside . and I was allowed AS A 5 YEAR old to ride my bike around the block in downtown Utrecht (just no street crossings at that age)
and this was around 1980 when the city was a lot more dangerous than nowadays
Fascinating and very comprehensive.
Had the pleasure of doing a cycle tour from Dunkirk to The Hague via Bruge, Antwerp, Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Utrecht was such an incredible experience being able to cycle in comfort even in the countryside. The Dutch and Belgians really know how to do infrastructure well.
Aaah yes, Belgian roads. Synonymous with top quality 😂
@@bencaspar Well okay there were a few cobble roads in Belgium that kinda sucked. But night and day better than the UK in terms of cycle lanes
@@2penry2 i grew up on the Dutch/Belgian border. If you closed your eyes in the car you coul feel when you crossed the border because the road had turned ' top quality '.
Then again, it may be a bumpy ride south of the border but at least they got their cuisine together
@@bencaspar I don't dispute your observations, just saying it's a hell of a lot better than the UK for cycling.
13:20 these bright, multi-coloured posts indicate that a school is nearby, cautioning drivers about running kids. They’re not part of the formal signage system, but it’s very common for municipalities to install these.
Perhaps the best thing about the Dutch is that they've shown the way, so all we have to do is copy where they are now instead of trying to "discover" everything. Unfortunately, most agencies feel that they're "different" and can't possibly do that.
You can literally buy our road and intersection design manual for like 40 euro, its available in pdf and printed copy. Millions of euros and decades of research to make one document with the cutting edge best practices, and its updated every year. And then nobody buys it. Sad times.
Very very good video packed with many clear examples.👍👍
I would love to see a video of all the bad things with the dutch street designs as i think we can learn a lot about whats not working so well as well as whats working great!
One of the biggest issues is with pedestrians. In a lot of projects, they seem to be an afterthought
@@streetscapingis that really so? I'd like to more one-way streets. The routes for cars are sometimes to cumbersome. Do pedestrians deserve more thought, or is it fine like this?
@@streetscaping I haven't really noticed that?
@@erikthehalfabee6234 they might be cumbersome for visiting traffic (people that don't know the exact route), if you life in the neighborhood you often use a bike. One way traffic decreases the traffic that tries to sneak through which is a good thing in my opinion. I do sometimes feel the pain when I visit friends and I end up on the wrong side of such a road.
@@klaesregis7487 one way streets on most streets and only the main arteries two way traffic creates much safer and faster intersections. Dutch intersections can be slow and chaotic
Love to see my home town getting some attention, Groningen is an amazing place to live. You had some nice weather too, judging by the flags I guess you were here in early May?
The footage was shot at random times of the year including early May
Remember that the Netherlands didn't build this in 1 decade. It takes a long time and isn't finished yet, and never will be. we started in the 70's. So more or less 5 dacades ahead. Start simple and cheap. The low hanging fruit. Not the fancy stuff. That's for later. It's about money well spend. And don't forget culture. We have a bike culture. And sayings like "Your not made of sugar", You can handle it, You won't melt when cyling in the rain. Our parants cycled and our grandparents. Kids start at 6 years old. Teens cycle to school and sports.
Also remember that if the Dutch had stopped cycling until they got proper infrastructure, they wouldn't have gotten it. It's more a case of cycle and they will build it rather than build it and they will come.
@@DenUitvreteri don’t know if that’s entirely true, but it has worked both ways, I suppose. Luckily, cycling was alway’s possible in small villages and the rural areas were car volumes were low. The car was more problematic inside the city’s.( seen from a cyclist perspective)
Action groups and protests made the difference in how to move forward.
I hope that videos like these will help, give an perspective on alternatives. So that no one will have to risk his life on a bike or by walking, just to prove there is a need for safe infrastructure for them.
I hope municipalities will experience, “ if you build it they will come! “
So, don’t risk your life! Get yourselves heard!
Most of the time, improvements are made when maintenance on a road/street has to be be done anyway. It's a lot less wasted money that way.
@@ronaldvanderhorst4936 Yes, but it's usually people concentrating on the physical infrastructure, while in the Netherlands it startes with the rules and a few traffic signs. Another huge step was also the change in liability law in the early nineties, when infrastructure was not really that great yet. I know legal stuff makes is not begging for video like physical infrastructure is, but still.
Another thing that got us this cycling is the competence to negotiate far from great infrastructure. It's all very convenient now, outside roadworks, but cycling in traffic is always about taking care of safety yourself. That's what the Dutch often had to do until the 2000's, and that's what the Parisians have to do since a few years.
@@DenUitvreterthe legal stuff is important, especially in litigious societies like America! What do you remember as key changes that improved conditions outside of a car?
thank you for your positive approach
Me who has been living in The Netherlands for years now: That is really interesting 👍
I live there, never gave it a second thought. But it’s pretty cool to realise how clever it actually is.
Thank you, this video is very helpful and concise.
Wow you showed many places in Groningen where I rode my bike, it's nice to see 😊
It was funny seeing one shot and thinking "Hey I know that street" and then doing that for most of the video. You're right about the car park in the back of the vismarkt at 17:36 . The municipality has the same opinion and they've bought it to remove car parking. Now they are looking for options on what to do with the space. One of them is making part of it a protected bicycle parking garage. Bikes have become a clutter issue in the city centre and the municipality is trying to remove them from the streets with free bicycle parking garages
Wow, a great contribution!
Very informative. Whell done
There's three places in the city i really wish the municipality to tackle:
- Visual markings on Pop Dijkemaweg, so people will permanently drive in the middle, meaning people will actually go 30 rather than 60
- Europaweg (shown in this video with the dedicated buslanes in the middle) is a 50 road, but looks like a 80 road, so people speed continuously. Should be less wide with better markings (and no speed trap please, punish people for your bad design)
- Pedestrian crossing on Hereweg with a traffic light. This is a big nono, because there's no intersection there drivers don't notice the traffic lights and people already speed there.
Great video btw! Thx for sharing
Dutch roads are like the ones they always use in textbooks and childrens books as illustrations
Very nice video! It's good to see some own recorded clips rather than just ripped of from the internet.
This video is BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Great video, you got a new subscriber :)
Every video I see about this subject forgets the most important thing you have to change in America: mixed zoning. We have shops INSIDE the housing zones. Everybody lives close to shops and other facilities. This is the most important thing to change asap.
Brilliant, definitely going to take notes for Uni!
This video is incredible dishonest.... I mean only sunshine and good weather? Not including, fog, rainfall or an actual downpour? Tsss ;) (just in case anyone stil wondering that was 100% sarcasm).
I like the tone and flow of your vid, u talk calmly and seemingly effortlessly flow through your arguments it is very pleasant to listen to, thank you.
And of course putting the Netherlands in a good light is always +1 :D
this is not a weather forecast, but how the traffic is running
A bicycle path that is set back, timestamp 4:03, has the advantage that drivers turning right don't block the road behind them, when waiting for a cyclist that goes straight ahead.
Loading or unloading goods or persons is not considered parking.
Great video.
18:45 Stad is veranderd mien jong! Ik werk er, woon er al 15 jaar niet meer, maar blijft een geweldige Stad.. Grunn
This should be an example for some countries in Europe and the rest of the world. Like Belgium, they almost do the same, but they can do better. Especially the bicycle paths. Some of these are in such a horrendous state right now so you can't call it a bicycle path anymore.
Dutch traffic calming: speedbump
Belgian traffic calming: pothole 😁
I see Belgium as the leading country in competitive road cycling, before the French, Italians, Spanish or Dutch so I am always a bit confused why they don;t have the best cycling infrastructure. (sorry Tour the France and Anquetil , the klassiekers and Merckx have you beaten.
Impressive inaugural video! I’m curious if you have a focus or niche topic or interest area for your channel? I have a suggestion if you’re interested in urban design issues in general. I have a hunch you have produced other videos before, though not available here😉
Thanks! I have got several ideas for future videos already, but if you have any suggestions, I'm happy to hear
@@streetscaping I look forward to what you create. My suggestion is to keep in mind the EXPERIENCE of the USER, besides the technical. We have lots of higher level technical channels but few that show how it feels to complete a journey end to end.
wow, this was a really cool and informative video! I did notice however, that so many of the roads and streets shown seemed really excessively wide, and this is coming from someone who currently lives in London! I suppose in the effort to appease all transport users, a lot of space has to be used
Did I see Groningen? Love it! Groningen is totall bliss!
I miss Groningen. Living in that city was truly something special, even compared to the other Dutch cities I've lived in.
Very well captured! Much to improve elsewhere, also here in Czechia
4:52 the give way sign with the little 'bike' signs underneath, what is the purpose? And why the differing symbols and directions? One looks like an ebike?
It means that you have to yield (top sign) and can expect bicycles and mopeds from both directions (bottom sign).
Not mentioned is the fact that the main purpose of a lot of the dutch road infrastructure is to increase safety for all users. The slowing of mechanical traffic added to the safety. The safety made the alternative of using bikes possible. More bikes is less cars which leads to more safety. If you want to follow this dutch example concentrate on the safety. Look at giving people a choice: car, public transport, bike and going on foot.
Bicycle Dutch has made a great video on sustainable safety, which is the foundation of designing road infrastructure in the Netherlands.
Great video!
My grandfather was one of the people behind the Verkeerscirculatie plan. Its funny to see it mentioned and also funny how he has been continuedly been proven right, again after the whole Jullianaplein debacle
I was 28 when I bought my first car. I simply didn't have the need for one before that because I would either cycle or take public transport.
Nicely done! I regnize more than half the locations, and the closest to my house is less than a kilometer.
Awesome video 😎
very similar in my neck of the woods in Twente
This video is top notch 👌
Looks very good so far. Next consider the I/S and legal changes required for electric bikes (=Mopeds), motor bikes, e-scooters(Lime, etc.), skateboards, mobility scooters, wheelchairs, golf buggies, and maybe more.
My hometown!
How much would it take to implement this across the US? A fraction of what we spend on the military, that’s for sure. I want my town to implement this within 5-10 years. How do I get involved? How do I push for change? How do I push for rapid, explosive movement??? I don’t want to wait for a child to die for this to happen.
Urban bike infrastructure pays for itself many times over, so the US could expand the military even further.
It doesn't have to cost much. All of this has been done over 50 years..
All roads are renewed every 20 to 25 years anyway, the underlying infrastructure like sewage, water, telecom etc is replaced or upgraded and the entire street is dug up.
At that point you can just build everything back the way it was, or you can rebuilt it in a better way, getting all of it basicly for free.
Most of what you see here has been upgraded 2 times, and the very new stuff is already in the third itteration of improvement. And 25 years from now it will be redesigned again to the new upgraded standards inplemented then.
Just need good planning and dedication to make sure everytime work is done anyway, it is improved as much as possible. Eventually over time you get everything done and infrastructure always keeps evolving.
12:45 as a delivery driver, I would like to disprove that claim 🤓 Especially around Nieuwstad!!
I used to make deliveries around Helpman and Oosterpoortbuurt and never saw anyone honk or yell :)
Im going to push my city and state government to adopt this sort of planning. Mexico already has dense development. We just need to improve our streets and invest in parks and introduce more greenery in streets.
So on what day was this all filmed? I have never seen so many flags when not on a special day...
The footage used was shot at various times of the year
Sowieso 5 Mei
So many dutch flags, was this filmed on kingsday or something. Never see any flags anywhere normally.
Yes several clips where shot on Kings day
I've biked in every spot that is visible in this video. There's a point I'd like to make, recently someone had the idea that bikes and pedestrians can share roads in the centre of town. This is however not a brilliant idea because pedestrians are more aware of their phones, shops, the conversation they are in or whatever is on their mind than that they are participating in traffic. Most people on bikes are used to pedestrians walking anywhere they want, on the sidewalks but also in the middle of the street. This is probably due to the fact that the roads as well as the sidewalks are constructed of the same yellow tiles. Especially people who haven't lived in the city seem to think they are therefore allowed to walk everywhere. This does already create dangerous situations, but now we are getting ever more spaces that totally lack designated areas for bikes and pedestrians. This would not be a problem if pedestrians would be aware that they are participants in a traffic situation. Well, they are not. Pedestrians do not see themselves as taking part in traffic and their actions on these streets are completely unpredictable for people on bikes. Even if you use your bell (or as I do now, a 118db horn) on a bike, people hardly ever react or, at best, cuss at you for having the nerve to warn people of your presence often stating (falsely) that you are not allowed to ride your bike there. Which already shows traffic signs are wasted on pedestrians. I find myself in multiple collisions per month with pedestrians who suddenly decide to go to the other side of the street, who suddenly decide the should cross a road or who feel the need to walk with four or five people in a row taking up the whole width of the street. This gets especially scary when you approach parents with two or more children. It is easier to predict where lightning will strike than it is predicting the moves of kids. Combine this with the yellow tiles that are notoriously slippery when wet (even though the municipal government claims they are not, everybody who rides a bike knows this is a lie) and you have created quite a dangerous situation.
I would urge every city to make an effort to keep pedestrians and bikes strictly separated for the safety of both parties.
I remember this thing they did in Haren, called the "voetspad" which flopped for the exact reason you're citing.
also pedestrians can change directions "on the spot".
Sharing space with cars can be dangerous, but at least they are somewhat predictable.
I disagree with your opinion on these shared spaces. Having shared spaces between pedestrians and cyclists is another form of traffic calming. Clearly the area is highly productive where people roam around so it's not a favourable place to traverse. Low speeds are demanded for the use of the area.
If the place is not your destination, what would deter you from choosing a slightly longer alternative route where you have the right of way? And if the shared place is your destination, why would you be wanting to speed through there anyway?
@@brosausFirst of all, speeding cyclists is not the issue. I am not talking about cycling at 20kph or higher speeds. The situation I describe is true for cyclists doing 10kph and even less. I can assure you doing more than 10kph in those areas is nearly impossible, the centre of Groningen is a busy place. The only relatively safe speed there would be the same speed as pedestrians, 5kph max. Nobody rides their bike at those low speeds, and it would render the use of a bike utterly useless. Second, you seem to forget that the centre is densely populated, it is not only a destination or part of a path from a to b, it is for many the starting point of every commute and the majority of those commutes takes place on bicycles. Very few people that live there have cars. Third is the sheer number of bikes, there are few cities on the planet that equal the centre of Groningen in that aspect. Of all kms travelled, most by far are done riding bikes, at more or less reasonable speeds, but faster than pedestrians. This situation is not a problem whatsoever until both groups are forced to occupy the same space. You may disagree but I've been living here as a pedestrian and a cyclist for over thirty years, I have seen which changes cause trouble and forcing pedestrians and cyclists to share space causes trouble for both groups.
12:46 Sorry but Dutch people also get itchy if unloading takes more time than just delivering a DHL-package to the frontdoor.
I'm sure if it's more than a minute or two that is definitely the case
Just a (side) thought: Wouldn't it be an idea to have/design signs indicating "no entry" into a street for cars only? Such as the combined parking and speed restrictions signs shown (11:53). Thereby non-car users would immediately recognise, that this restriction isn't pertaining to them, instead of having to check, whether they are exempt by looking at/for a visibly separate sign (13:43).
1:25 lol 'yank tank' was a surprise ... I bet this beast was part of the kindermoord ... maybe it only has just been released from prison!
You should really visit Amersfoort! in the newer neighborhoods like Vathorst
Amazing video!
Do you know any book/website to be read to understand the whole Dutch street design? In Dutch language will be okay. Thank you beforehand!
A great book by CROW is the Road Safety Manual and the Bicycle Design Manual (both in english).
@@streetscaping great. Thanks!
beautiful
Very informative and fun to watch. Too bad most of our bikelanes have become useless here in the netherlands because of a rising amount of E-Bikers.
Ridiculous exaggeration.😊
@@Schokland2007 not in the bigger cities!
@@bombersander The speedlimit of fatbikes should be regulated, there are some cowboys driving around in our cities, but on the whole it is still fine. At least these bikes don't pollute the air.
@@Schokland2007 they should slap license plates on those things, make it mandatory to wear helmets on them, and if it goes faster than 25kmh it needs to get the same regulations as a 50cc moped. I am for sure not against E-Bikes themselves, but E-Bikers. Countless amounts of times every day to and from work, they are the majority that drive irresponsibly. take turns without looking first, no indicating, very suddenly stopping for no reason, constantly overtaking and then lagging in front of you. If they were never able to pedal that fast they won't know how to drive safely at those speeds. with licensing people can be taught how to at the driving school.
@@bombersander I guess you cycle every day on a very busy route and extrapolate your experience to the whole of the Netherlands. I cycle everyday in Amsterdam and find it always remarkable how quiet it is outside the busy roads.
4:37 Outdoor warning siren spotted!
Man, there would be strident opposition to this in an overwhelming number of areas of this country. Part of it will be from the auto manufacturing, energy producing sectors, and conservatives overall. It sure as hell would make our cities far more livable if we did this.
Groningen blijft toch echt een mooie stad!
I hope Americans find this video and not only Dutch.
9:22 interesting didn't know the Hacker One company from the US has an office in Groningen since 2017. Ahh, I should have known the company is Dutch in origin.
Lot's of software design compagnies in Groningen
Fun fact: HackerOne rhymes with macaroni
If every city copy and pasted Dutch street design guidelines and implemented them when streets are due for resurfacing, they could have a pretty decent citywide network in a few decades for minimal cost
That is how it was done in the netherlands. Simply always build back something better when you are renewing stuff anyway. That way it doesn't cost that much extra really.
Great video, but one thing you said bugs me. Predictable road network is not to make driving safer, it's to make everyone safer. The dutch roadnetwork in very many places does not place cars in the nr 1 spot
If the car is limited to 30km/h then there is no separation . If the car goes 50 then there will be a speedbump, if a car goes 60 or more , there will be trees or a row of parked cars. @notjustbikes
Born and raised in Groningen, moved out in 2001, because of a job in printstore, Bronsema in Leek, now 2024 I work in Groningen again since a few years, at a printstore and doing deliveries, they can be a challenge in downtown, the time schedule is not realistic, so, when I must deliver, I deliver, also after 12.00 .. and it is what they want, the igns are already up, but legally they are out of function