Thanks for this video and commentary. . A year ago we biked with Dutch friends from the Centraal Station out into the country and back. Unfortunately, as we were nearing the station to turn in our rental bikes, my wife hit a curb and fell. We had to visit the hospital for a broken arm. Love the bike infrastructure. Good for the environment and good for the people. greetings from western USA.
Sorry to hear that i hope that didn't turn her off riding. curbs and water drainage (putten) and i guess posts are always a issue they remove them when possible but you can't make things 100% safe. I am still working on making the videos better and will put more online going mostly from parts of utrecht into the country side. I hope that 'we' (the dutch) can export this tech/infrastructure combined with e-bikes combined its a good alternative for cars in many cases and so much more enjoyable.
Thanks i do feel that the last few are even more 'relaxed' in how i try to record them because of the camera position and how i aim it. Not sure if you agree if you compare.
Hi We as a family are moving to Netherlands / Utrecht in November from South Africa, and I will be working in Utrecht Centraal; this was all very informative, and I am looking forward to cycling coming from a car-centric country
Not the best time to move for the weather but i guess you will slowly see the spring later on. Utrecht is a nice city in my view but i am biased (i work in amsterdam). Its not even that we hate cars the netherlands has the highest car per km2 of any euro country its just that bicycles demand their space and infrastructure simply because there are so many.
Yeah i even find it tricky the more videos i watch, almost feels unfair to show what we have but i guess its the only way to show the rest of the world how it can be done if you just take 50 years to work on a problem slowly.
Bike infrastructure in Nederland is number one, no doubt. I wish we just have 50% of the Duct's bike infrastructure in Canada. Very informative video . TY!
I guess at times we feel guilty to keep saying that but its true we can only hope that the lessons and the decades it took will be a example for other places. Keep in mind every day they keep working on it and i would argue we see more bicycle infrastructure in netherlands now than any decade before.
@@scruf153 Here is the funny part as a kid i was a trained and licensed car mechanic (my dad used to work for a car company for 50+ years) i later moved into electronics but i never even got my drivers license and never owned a car myself. The amount of money people spend on cars is crazy. Now not having a car is not possible all over the world but its very doable for some people.
I moved to the UK a couple of years ago. Riding a bike is one of the things I really mis. Riding a bike in the UK, especially London, is a kind of Russian roulette. Even with a helmet on, I don't feel safe at all, so I gave up the bike.
Pity hope this will change at some point but it has taken decades over here. I am not sure if i would use the bicycle myself in most places in the uk i visited so fully understand where you are coming from. I have no fix but hope many other places at some point will see a better mix between all modes of transport is the way forward.
Someone should build a business model where you have a car sharing arrangement where you use an app to locate a car nearby that you share with other people. Rather than own the car, it uses a subscription based model that arranges for several people that live nearby to book periods of time to use the vehicle. A ratings system could be used so that one can decide whether they want to share the car with a specific person who has a low star rating.
I don't have a drivers license even if am/was a licensed car mechanic (yeah its weird). So i am not sure how many of these concepts we have in the netherlands. I do know more people are using some car sharing more and more and don't own a car in biggest cities at all.
I used to live 10+ years in the area very close to the tram stop between one of the furniture shops so know the area well. I won't consider it dangerous but as with other areas at times there are groups where you need to pay attention if you see them it has always been this way from the 1970's till now just moves from area to area i guess.
I think many cities even in the states but esp. in the rest of the world are following but you have to deal with the simple fact we started to rebalance the car vs rest in the 1970's so we are simply way ahead and have already reach a tipping point. In many dutch cities local bicycle/shops/shoppers on foot have more cloud than car drivers within politics so it becomes less of a fight. Being against bicycle improvements in a city is not a winning way in local government its that simple. Not much the netherlands can do except showing a possible future and wish you well in the fight.
Always nice to see the city I live in. ❤🇳🇱
Thanks for this video and commentary. . A year ago we biked with Dutch friends from the Centraal Station out into the country and back. Unfortunately, as we were nearing the station to turn in our rental bikes, my wife hit a curb and fell. We had to visit the hospital for a broken arm. Love the bike infrastructure. Good for the environment and good for the people. greetings from western USA.
Sorry to hear that i hope that didn't turn her off riding. curbs and water drainage (putten) and i guess posts are always a issue they remove them when possible but you can't make things 100% safe. I am still working on making the videos better and will put more online going mostly from parts of utrecht into the country side. I hope that 'we' (the dutch) can export this tech/infrastructure combined with e-bikes combined its a good alternative for cars in many cases and so much more enjoyable.
Brightside, you also got to experience the dutch health care system.
I love these kind of videos! It relaxes the hell out of me 😀
Thanks i do feel that the last few are even more 'relaxed' in how i try to record them because of the camera position and how i aim it. Not sure if you agree if you compare.
Hi
We as a family are moving to Netherlands / Utrecht in November from South Africa, and I will be working in Utrecht Centraal; this was all very informative, and I am looking forward to cycling coming from a car-centric country
Not the best time to move for the weather but i guess you will slowly see the spring later on. Utrecht is a nice city in my view but i am biased (i work in amsterdam). Its not even that we hate cars the netherlands has the highest car per km2 of any euro country its just that bicycles demand their space and infrastructure simply because there are so many.
@@dutchbicyclerides-ss1ko didn’t have much of a choice in the timeline due to job/visa/paperwork/selling stuff etc but we just have suffer for now 😌
@@NeillSoden Indeed it can only get better, hope the time to adjust will not be too long and we have a nice spring and summer...
Love your videos, especially this one. Wish we had this infrastructure here in Ireland.
Yeah i even find it tricky the more videos i watch, almost feels unfair to show what we have but i guess its the only way to show the rest of the world how it can be done if you just take 50 years to work on a problem slowly.
Bike infrastructure in Nederland is number one, no doubt. I wish we just have 50% of the Duct's bike infrastructure in Canada. Very informative video . TY!
I guess at times we feel guilty to keep saying that but its true we can only hope that the lessons and the decades it took will be a example for other places. Keep in mind every day they keep working on it and i would argue we see more bicycle infrastructure in netherlands now than any decade before.
@@dutchbicyclerides-ss1ko Why do you say Youtrecht ? Utrecht is fine , don't you think ..?
(It is more polite to use 'U' 😉 !)
I find it fascinating the way cycling takes precedence over cars. Lovely ride into town
cars cost a fortune upfront and long term not really worth it
@@scruf153 Here is the funny part as a kid i was a trained and licensed car mechanic (my dad used to work for a car company for 50+ years) i later moved into electronics but i never even got my drivers license and never owned a car myself. The amount of money people spend on cars is crazy. Now not having a car is not possible all over the world but its very doable for some people.
I moved to the UK a couple of years ago.
Riding a bike is one of the things I really mis.
Riding a bike in the UK, especially London, is a kind of Russian roulette.
Even with a helmet on, I don't feel safe at all, so I gave up the bike.
Pity hope this will change at some point but it has taken decades over here. I am not sure if i would use the bicycle myself in most places in the uk i visited so fully understand where you are coming from. I have no fix but hope many other places at some point will see a better mix between all modes of transport is the way forward.
Thanks Daniel. Cheers
Someone should build a business model where you have a car sharing arrangement where you use an app to locate a car nearby that you share with other people. Rather than own the car, it uses a subscription based model that arranges for several people that live nearby to book periods of time to use the vehicle. A ratings system could be used so that one can decide whether they want to share the car with a specific person who has a low star rating.
I don't have a drivers license even if am/was a licensed car mechanic (yeah its weird). So i am not sure how many of these concepts we have in the netherlands. I do know more people are using some car sharing more and more and don't own a car in biggest cities at all.
Did you ever made a tour from Utrecht to Amersfoort, they just opened the new bike highway
Nope but i just checked its about a hour ride both ways i will look for some nice weather and try to make it happen.
this is shot very well a long with the commentary, watching from Canada!
Thanks i was still learning and i think this years videos will be getting better including a few i made and will make of the inner city.
Please watch out in Kanaleneiland!
I used to live 10+ years in the area very close to the tram stop between one of the furniture shops so know the area well. I won't consider it dangerous but as with other areas at times there are groups where you need to pay attention if you see them it has always been this way from the 1970's till now just moves from area to area i guess.
if only america would copy this as a fulltime bicycle commuter and pedestrian cars are not worth it in the urban landscape
I think many cities even in the states but esp. in the rest of the world are following but you have to deal with the simple fact we started to rebalance the car vs rest in the 1970's so we are simply way ahead and have already reach a tipping point. In many dutch cities local bicycle/shops/shoppers on foot have more cloud than car drivers within politics so it becomes less of a fight. Being against bicycle improvements in a city is not a winning way in local government its that simple. Not much the netherlands can do except showing a possible future and wish you well in the fight.