‘On Your Bike.’ Getting Around Amsterdam On Two Wheels.

To those of you who are regular readers of my beBEE posts might have gathered that my association with the two-wheeled mode of transport has caused considerable consternation in the past. (see; “Biking in Bali. You get what you pay for”, or ‘Freewheeling’)

I am currently in Amsterdam which is enjoying some simply splendid weather, and, even though my love affair  with cycling has been a tad hit and miss, the “when in Rome” theory kicked in and I once again took to the streets on two wheels, cycling on the right-hand side of the road!!

Now, I have cunningly deduced that riding a bike in Amsterdam, or indeed the Netherlands, in general, is a pretty sound idea as this is a country that tackles its traffic management with almost military precision. The terrain is absolutely table – top flat, ( most of the country is actually below sea level) and the good citizens realize that this kind of traffic management is sound and therefore go along with the thinking of the city authorities.

Amsterdam these days has a well- deserved reputation as being the most bicycle-friendly city in the world attested by the fact that over the last thirty years or so, the Dutch have taken to their bikes with, what can only be termed, immense gusto. It is estimated that every man woman and child in the Netherlands owns 1.3 bicycles!!

Today, over 60% of all trips made in the city, (population, 1.1 M.) are made by bike and 40% of journeys in the greater urban area are made the same way which, when you think about it, is a lot of pedal power.

As a visitor, cycling around the streets trying to get a ‘feel’ for the city, it quickly becomes apparent that there seems to be something fundamentally missing…..

That something is NOISE.

There is a distinct lack of heavy vehicles within the city limits and bikes outnumber cars by at least 1000 to 1 so the only real traffic noise one hears when cycling along is the swish of other bicycle tires on asphalt or the occasional ‘ting’ of a bell when another cyclist wishes to pass you.

Those cunning Dutch city planners have been diligently working over a few decades to create a system where the bicycle in Holland is king…or queen for that matter and, by and large, they have been extremely successful.

Forty years ago, as Amsterdam’s population began to swell dramatically, along with the volume of cars on the narrow streets until eventually, gridlock traffic became the norm. To combat this, in the late 1970’s a network of ‘calm streets’ were created and work began on building the 450 km of dedicated red coloured, ‘cycle only,’ lanes that exist today.

In essence, the travelling public was literally steered towards using bicycles to get around as it became more and more difficult to drive a car in the city. A series of one – way streets were introduced for cars but that rule did not apply to cyclists, and added to this , some major streets were closed to automobiles altogether, parking fees were made prohibitively expensive and, on top of that, a toll was levied on cars driven within the city limits.

The bike lanes are simply superb. They have really cute, tiny traffic lights at eye level, (well, Dutch eye level as they’re a seriously tall race!) Bikes bank up at these lights for a minute or so when the signal is red and you are instantly in a crowd of other cyclists.

Its all rather social really.

Small children, in specially adapted child seats, are attached to the handlebars or, if a little bigger, in a seat behind the saddle. Another innovative way of transporting little ones is to plonk them in a box- like structures (called, bakfiets) fitted to the front of the bike and peddled rickshaw style. The kids seem to love it and everyone is calm and there is not a bike or crash helmet in sight.

It's Brilliant!!

On top of all of this, the public transport system is second to none. An efficient network of trams, buses, metro and trains service the city and on the surface do so rather efficiently.

Cycling in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, in general, is continuously on the rise and some of the larger cities are beginning to have to cope with bike congestion. Streets are currently clogged with cyclists and parking at stations and other high-density areas is becoming more and more difficult. It is actually a problem that other international cities can only envy.  The Dutch authorities are taking the problem it head-on by  adding more bike lanes to the already 35,00 km already in existence.

When it comes to parking ones bike,  Amsterdam authorities are adding more ‘floating garages’ where citizens can safely park their bikes close to public transport areas. The current floating bike parking station next to Amsterdam Central is quite something and has become a major tourist attraction.

Road fatalities are incredibly low with 4.5 deaths for every one billion kilometres travelled. Wikipedia quotes just one inner-city fatality in Amsterdam stretching back to 2013 which seems altogether extraordinary.

So, if you are thinking of visiting Amsterdam anytime soon, I do suggest that you too adopt the, ‘when in Rome,’ theory and hop aboard a bike … its what one does in Holland.

Now, did I mention  any of those canals?

Paul v Walters is the author of several best selling novels and when he is not travelling or cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali, he scribbles for several international travel and vox pop journals.