Trams "wait" for you bc the departure times are snychronized with the arrival of e.g. Busses, with a few minutes to spare for people to walk over and delays. The lower sign was a ban of overtaking other cars on the bridge.
The station shown is also a terminal stop for both the tram and the bus. Makes it a bit easier, because they both wait there for a few minutes anyway 😉
Yes, in this case it is the terminus for the bus and the streetcar line. But this synchronization is also available at transfer points throughout the city where there are several streetcar or bus lines. So you never have to wait long for a connection. (At least that was the case 25 years ago when I was still living there.)
Coincidentally it has nearly the same density as Oulu, where 20%+ of trips are made by bike even at -20°C. Canadians are Wimps, especially the brother of NJB's brother.
I live in Germany (Saxony) and i own a bike with a child carrier. It's awesome. I can fit both my kids and my groceries in it and I am as fast as most people are with their cars, because we have a lot of bike lanes without any traffic lights or speed limits. So it's way more relaxing too! My kids love the child-carrier and hop in as soon as i pull it out of our bike-garage.
@@mats7492 Almost nobody changes to winter tires on their bicycle and almost nobody also chooses to bicycle when it's raining. Especially when it's raining and cold at the same time.
@@mats7492 So it's not that awesome, more relaxing or fast much of the year when the weather isn't good enough to do it and most people prefer a car instead.
Here in Berlin we had one big street converted to a car free zone and it worked really good, people and shopping went up in that area, but then the FDP and CDU came and said BUT WE NEED CARS FOR STUFF and now its a normal street again and way less people are around
If you talk about the Friedrichstrasse, it was not that black and white as you've described. Many shop owner actually did complain and went to court trying to prevent the prolonging of the car free zone. So please stay with the facts. Did I personally enjoyed the car free Friedrichstrasse? Sure, it was nice, but I never went shopping there, and I never owned a car since the 18 years I live here. Ignoring the complaints of business owners in a business district and managing this project with a pretty narrow view wasn't smart even when I actually elected Die Grünen and prob. will do it again.
@@MrHerrS It weren't many, it were a few shop owners, or even only one female one which got prominent. Please stay with the facts. Just because one CDU fangirl which had a shop on the Friedrichstraße complained and all CDU near media bloated it up doesn't make it a fact that there were "many" complains or whatsover.
@@MrHerrS I always wonder how these "business owners" keep their shops in business if they cant grasp that ALREADY 99% of their customers arrive by foot. You cant even park really in the friedrichstraße anyway.
Moved to Freiburg when I was 25 and lived there for about 16 years. I tell you, those were the best years of my life. Then I was silly enough to move away because of a love-thingy and .. well... the love died shortly after moving to Lower Franconia, but I am still stuck here because meanwhile the costs for rentals in Freiburg are exorbitantly high..... and small appartements are rare because of all the students. I still feel homesick after now being away from Freiburg since 2002! It is the best city I ever experienced, I swear!
@@bananenmusli2769 And a lots of students, as well. I spend a time "involuntary" there. And I know guys, which came from Freiburg to Würzburg, to study there. Quite not a thing...
Definitely one of my favorite videos of yours. Love that you took the time to react in detail. Watching you admire all that with enthusiasm is fun to watch and very uplifting.
@@BrokenCurtain Yeah, while also being the most southern 'big' city (Großstadt) of Germany. We are surrounded by mountains though and live on a literal hot plate, so we are spared the average dutch wheather.
Well, I live on the German-Dutch border where the bicycle is the most important means of transport after the car. The infrastructure for bicycles between the two European countries is also better than for cars. There are a lot of cyclists here, from very young ages to seniors of 78, who use bicycles to get from point A to point B. That's probably why Dutch and German pensioners live longer than their American seniors.
Seniors with bikes, yeah. Every weekend the railway station in Freiburg is jammed with seniors in their 70s and 80s and their bikes. They come together through some kind of senior networks to meet at the Hauptbahnhof and go on the train further into the Black Forest, beyond the walls of mountains that surround Freiburg, to go biking. There are legions of bike carrying seniors. When i moved to Freiburg for studies and wanted to visit my family in the Black Forest (Villingen-Schwenningen, btw. Villingen is an older mini version of the Freiburg city center and was never bombed) I had to learn the schedules of weekend biking activities with those seniors if i wanted to have stress free train experience on my way to and back.
I'm not from Freiburg but I've been there for work several times. It's my favorite city in Germany. It's pretty small, almost completely walkable (although trams are more convenient than walking) and has a historic feel and look to it (despite most of it being rebuilt! They rebuilt it they way it used to look unlike other German cities... looking at you, cologne).
This is actually kind of common, especially in smallish student citys, there are often so many more bikes then cars because bikes are very small and maneuverable in citys while not causing traffic jams, so you get around just as, if not quicker then by car or bus
To adress the point of cars: we like cars to get from city to city or into other countries for vacation (still, trains very nice most of the time), BUT we do not like cars (if possible) in the daily life / commute to work etc. for a multitude of reasons: - pollution - often more expensive - in older cities troubles finding a parking spot - bike / walking is better for your health - hideous sight inside cities - often actually takes longer (as cities are small in area size)
You are right and I was born in a North German city where the separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists were not less narrow than the car street (all lovely plain). And city were I studied had good bike lanes, too. But Wuppertal is very bad, no wonder, almost no plain street in the whole city. But I wonder why Rostock has such a bad 'Radwegenetz', bike lane system, for it is at the balcan sea, so tourist city and it is an university city as well. Even those existing bike lanes are bad like directly near city autobahn, like mm of bushes with thorns, etc.
22:50 That is "synchronizing of schedules". The bus from Schauinslandbahn (the funicular) to Günterstal is scheduled to arrive a few minutes befor the streetcar from Günterstal to Freiburg leaves, so you have enough time to leave the bus and walk over to enter the waiting streetcar.
the problem of the new bike lane in your area is that no ones wants to ride a bike on roads with cars, its just not fun. bike paths need to be seperate from major roads
Its not save with kids, either. Mannheim build a Ton of bike lanes in the City Center. They are unusable. Its outright dangerous. Cars have to cross your bikelane to make a right turn for example.
Fun fact: the first bike, the draisine, the predecessor of the bike, was invented in Germany. Why, because the price for oats rose and oats were used to feed horses. So the first proto-bike was invented because horses became too expensive.
Another fun fact: The price of oats (and probably other grains) was so high because of the eruption of the Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. Vulcanic ash spread worldwide in the atmosphere and lead to the so-called 'year without summer' which impacted agricultural production drastically. Edit: typo
@@AV-we6wo One more fun fact: after some beginning troubles (people thought he was nuts) his design was copied and he applied for a patent. His originals were recognisable by a mark nailed to the front. All those famous trade symbols at the front of cars, they started there, with that idea.
Well, it's a wheel in so far as that it does spin around an axle. It doesn't, however, mill anything. So I think that's still a little better if we're being pedantic.
Münster always gets left out :( We have almost twice as many bikes as people. Freiburg, at least from what ChatGPT is telling me, has a quarter as many bikes per capita (half a million bikes in Münster, 90k in Freiburg, Münster having 100k more residents). But yeah, they have all the other public transport stuff, too. We just have a really terrible bus system that has bus lines erased or limited all the time to cut costs (they also pay their drivers worse than the surrounding areas do).
As someone that lived in both cities, yes Münster is also a bike city, but Freiburg is actively car unfriendly, which Münster isn't. They are similar, but Freiburgs infrastructure is built around pedestrians and bikes.
I live in Münster, too, and I feel a lot of disharmony between bikers and motorists in this place, especially during rush hours. Also, I learned that some elderly pedestrians are somewhat afraid of agressive bikers.
It's never too late for Münster to reestablish a decent tram network. Imagine trams from all directions would meet in the city center and slowly go through Prinzipalmarkt. You can hopp on your tram and travel back home to Hiltrup or Gievenbeck. When Freiburg with only 230.000 inhabitants can do so Münster with almost 325.000 residents should not stand behind. Oh, and Freiburg is just about to expand it's S-Bahn network. Some formerly minor routes got already electrified and they are even planning to connect Mulhouse in France to the network.
That is the point of comparing both - show the differences and what works and what doesn't and perhaps beginning to think outside your little suburbian boxes.
Not a German: I visited Freiburg like a decade ago. The city is beautiful and the people are awesome. Had one of the best times of my life there so I extended my vacation to stay for a full month, I loved it so much! :)
For me from Poland this film is not a shock. It is similar in Poland, for example the old historic part of Krakow has been closed to car traffic for a long time (police, ambulances, garbage trucks and restaurant suppliers with special permission can move). The first reason was trivial, namely so that car exhaust fumes do not destroy monuments, the second so that tourists can move around calmly with a minimal risk of accidents. Then came the fashion to return to bicycles. It is no secret to anyone that Europe has a bicycle culture and all professional cycling races take place in Europe. I do not remember there being any professional cycling races in the USA or Canada . I also forgot to write that in the EU there is also a Police that rides bikes from spring to winter . An interesting fact is that the Trek bicycle company is from the USA but sells most of its bicycles in the EU.
That is great to hear. First time thinking about visiting Krakau. Last year I learned Poland emphasis on healthy food. Actually my favorite shop is polish to get 'Buchweizen' buck wheat? wich I tried as pancake as student. Now I learned there is also 'fast food' like pre-steamed buck wheat, yammi.
@@MiaMerkur Regular food in the EU is of the same quality as organic food in the US . The reason for this is trivial, namely that in EU countries there is a national health service. EU countries take care that people in these countries do not get sick too much because it costs the budgets of EU member states. That is why American companies do not like the EU because if they want to export their product to this market, they first have to prove that the composition of this product does not harm people. This is the opposite of what prevails in the USA, where people have to sue companies to prove to them that their products are harmful to them.
@MiaMerkur Kraków is a really really beautiful city. It's like a mix of a German city with an Italian city, architecture-wise, with a lot of Polish spirit. You have plenty green, you have medieval, renaissance, baroque, jugendstil, expressionist and modern buildings. There are traditional cafés, restaurants and bars or very hip, modern ones, even combinations of both. You have a lot of Jewish culture, besides the obvious Catholic buildings. And you have public art and sculptures of every period, sometimes in unusual places to discover for yourself. There are big open spaces and snug little alleys and so on... It's just a great city. Btw. you can get Buchweizen in most German stores, even at discounters.
When I see these meshes of power lines for our German trams, I always have to think of the ingenious design of the Bordeaux trams. They power the trains through the rails but in clever way, so they do not grill people walking over them. No ugly power lines anywhere.
The problem we have with modernizing things here in Germany is: You have usually to dig around. If you dig around, especially in the south, the chances are abnormally high you will dig something up - antique sites, roman graves, WW2 bombs, celtic villages. No matter what you dig up, it means a complete stop to all activities for god knows how long. And trust me, no one wants to dig around in the ground in the Freiburg city center, cause the chances here are a bit too high to stumble over an ancient town or village underneath. That could mean months, if not years, without a tram wherever that happens.
Sounds nice. It should be made like this in new cities. I also like the Dutch lanes where energy is produced just by pedestrians walking on it, or bicycles ride.
It's part of the problem that Americans only know MAMILs (Middle Aged Man In Lycra) as bike users. They simply lack the experience and imagination to see a bike liane as something an 84 year old grandma would use to take her grand-grandchildren to the cinema.
Tbh... There are not a lot 84 year old women, which still able to go around by bike. My mom, is a bit younger and is barley able to walk around in the house...
Freiburg is also known for kindness. I have family there and am visiting Freiburg a lot and I think the people there must be very happy because they are very kind and friendly. I studied in Fulda (known for the peoples unfriendly behavior) and when I visited my Family in Freiburg I always felt like: Im in heaven! I like this city a lot and the Nature around it is great! So many options to go out and enjoy the landscape! Grüße an das wunschöne Freiburg!
Just saying, Freiburg has been governed by the 'Grünen' for over 20 years. It's expensive, sure (No. 4 in Germany when it comes to most expensive rent), but what you get in return can't be bought with money in my opinion.
I cannot image people in Fulda are unfriendly er than those in Wuppertal. They are the worst. I asked a young woman and another day some months later, why these people do not even smile back when I smile and both said exactly the same: if someone smiles he has bad thoughts of misusing me.
3:45 catenary wires 13:12 Jason's (the narrator) hometown of London, Ontario (Canada), which also happens to have a 'Thames River' running through it 20:25 Jason of NotJustBikes is Canadian 21:19 he said 'renewable energy' which also includes wind and hydro in addition to solar
Min. 17.20, You say: "There are too few parking spaces for cars in America" Fun fact: There are 8 parking spaces per car in America! In Berlin there are less than 0.95 parking spaces per registered car.
26:06 Well, the idea is that you need modal filters. So you block the middle of the road with bollards and let only bicycles through. And suddenly only the people living there will drive their car there and people will be much more enjoying riding a bike there. Then you can remove another lane and plant trees in the road center and make the road green, because there's no need for so much space for cars. That's how you convert a city. Not by painting a bike lane.
Jaywalking isnt illegal at all in Germany. As pedastrian you have to yield to all Cars unless you use a Zebra crossing. Only if there are fences or on the Autobahn you are not allowed to go. The faux-pas you probably ment was walking on a red light, which we dont really do here❤
In a downtown big city where there are walker unfriendly traffic lights every couple of meters, people do walk on red - even in Germany. Unless kids are present.
Well for the law you HAVE TO use the pedestrian traffic light or Zebra (striped way) when you reach them in less than 50? meters, so it is forbidden sometimes. Eddit: Have to correct to 5 meters, if at all. It is rather a "you ought to prefer foot crossing".
@@to_loww I learned something like that long time ago in driving lesson. Because of your hint I did a research. The only distance I could find in this context: "Wirkungskreis" of traffic light is 5 meters from the line. So if the pedestrian traffic light is red and your are about 5,6 meters before! it and there is little! traffic on the street you may pass the street. I did not find similar rule for "Zebrastreifen" for pedestrians, only cars, for you are not allowed to stop or park a car within 5 meters before or after the pedestrian walk over.
@@to_loww I like to thank you because I learned more. It is not necessary to glaze at a car driver or give a sign at the 'ZEBRASTREIFEN', cars have to stop anyway, if you are standing there, watch towards the street. I also learned that pedestrians always have first rights in traffic, but "Scienenverkehr" even more, but not cars. I learned that pedestrians HAVE TO WALK ON THE STREET, if they CARY something bulky, that would hinder the pedestrians on the sidewalk, pavement! Car drivers in Germany behave like they are the first priority. Interesting law talks different.
No, the whole thing isn't powered by solar panels, it is powered by renewable energy which you can buy but doesn't necessarily mean that it is locally generated. It can be but most of the time you are just subscribing to a local energy provider who has different options and one is purely renewable energy which is usually a bit more expensive and they then provide you with energy purely out of renewable energy but it is a mix of solar, wind, biomass or even wood. But there are also different offers from energy companies, some have offers for specifically renewable energy out of local projects or even some allow you to order specifically solarenergy or windenergy. It really depends on their contract with the energy provider.
I would totally sacrifice all car roads and parking lots for a city like Freiburg. I *hate* car-friendly city centers with a passion. It is just sooo much better for everyone as a pedestrian zone.
6:30 trams don't stop for pedestrians you have to watch out. In Prague there is a tram with a score counter that shows pedestrian deaths by trams for every year VS tram deaths from the impact. Pedestrians never won tho.
Yes, Freiburg im Breisgau is an extreme example, but many German towns and cities have focussed on pedestrianisation of large areas in their central business hubs. In München, for example, other than for loading & unloading before 10.00, vehicles are absent on main shopping streets across about 20 city centre blocks. Pedestrians and trams rule above ground, and U-Bahn and regional S-Bahn rule underground in this large area.
@@JohnDoe-xz1mw Can you elaborate your premises? How could a crowded place for cars be better than if would be for the poeple living there? What's the worst scenario?
Especially the train network. Are the USA not embarrassed about it? The Germans are embarrassed about their trains, but only, because they are frequently late. That's still better than almost nothing.
Don't act as if every city is like Freiburg. Actually there is no other one like it, not even Münster. Germany is extremely car-centric. Every bike lane or pedestrian road results is a huge cultural warfare.
To be fair, in some aspects like science, innovation (measured by patents per year) and tech the US is ahead of Europe and gaining speed, but in the aspect of consumer safety, environmental protection Europe is better off in my opinion
I lived in Bremen, northern Germany, many years and remember quite a number of bridges for pedestrians and cyclists only. At least one over the Weser river, one over a railway line, one over a 4-lane city highway, and several crossing tram lines. Some are new, but others have been built in the 60ies, and they were pretty steep. So I tried to race down them with my small bicycle I used to have then ... early 70s. It had a speedo, and I raced downward that steep bridge ramp. I briefly saw the speedo approaching 60 km (37 miles) per hour - but was busy trying clinging to the handlebar as the bad wheels of that cheap things caused it to wobble that badly that it almost "ejected" me. I raced down into a street; luckily there was no car as I was fast and had almost no control. But I just narrowly avoided to slide along parked cars ... that was a close call. And braking was difficult as the brakes were of low quality, too.
I've seen these rentable scooters here in Leipzig every now and then, but in comparison you'll see rentable bikes at almost every corner or wherever someone left it after renting. I don't have a drivers license and don't like being very close to strangers and not having fresh air, so I own my very own e-scooter. tbf my work is enough activity that I don't need more exercise. I will walk home on the days when I can't use my scooter due to heavy rain, snow or ice. after having to take the bus to get to work I sure as heck will walk home. seriously? I'd have less of an issue with a tram, but the entire street gets renewed, so replacement bus it is and these busses always drive in a way that flings you around like a rollercoaster ride and that being flung around thing is what I hate most about rollercoasters. how dare they steal my control over my movements? how dare the bus does it? how dare does the bus driver make me overbend my wrist today, because I had to grab that hard onto a railing to stay steady. my neurodivergent overreactions are valid, okay? to me at least.
They are valid. 😊 Sadly, I cannot balance that good on a scooter and I'm easily distracted, so no public scootering for me. Bike, feet, or earplugs plus tram, instead.
Don't worry to much about security of the pedestrians, the fatality rate per 100 million passenger kilometers is lower for trams, at 0.19, compared to cars, at 0.31. This suggests that trams are a safer mode of transportation compared to car traffic, especially when considering all affected road users.
Please fake this "American chitchat" again! Hilarious!😂 Really, I had to laugh so hard. Thank you for making my day as it was very chastening and intimidating as well. (Can I express it like this?) If my comment is not betraying myself- I am German.
Better use 'sobering' (ernüchternd,) if this is what you meant. Or did you mean something else? Because 'chastening' is (probably) not the right word 😄 Hope, you're feeling better, though (and, if not now, then later!) 😊 Hope,
I live here near Freiburg, on the outskirts of a small town. I walk 12 minutes to the train station, 10 minutes to the nearest bar, 8 minutes to the nearest grocery store, butcher or bakery, 5 minutes to my family doctor or a pediatrician, 4 minutes to the nearest children's playground, 3 minutes to the next bus stop and I can be in the forest (Black Forest) in two minutes. You can also buy the “Regio Card” for around $70 per month. This means you can travel in three districts with all local transport such as trains, buses and trams. Sounds fantastic, and it is. If you don't believe that, come here. Greetings from the Black Forest.
@@PascalPoke Yep, haven't even looked at the Regio Card prices (they are still rising lol) ever since they introduced the Deutschland-Ticket. One of the downsides of Freiburg and surroundings are those very high public transportation costs. Still won't make me move away from here.
@@PascalPoke Germany Ticket: Travel on all local public transport for 49 euros per month, from January 1st for 58 euros. RegioCard: Transferable to third parties. 1 adult and up to 4 children can be taken on Sundays and public holidays. RVF mobility guarantee: reimbursement of taxi costs up to 35 euros. Disadvantage: price: 80.50 euros per month
9:50 trams are doing a comeback, now called lightrail, here in Denmark. But they seem to be most popular where Metro is too expensive, and where going by bike is inconvenient. Copenhagen has had a semi-light rail system for ages, that doesn't mix with car or pedestrian streets. The Metro isn't nearly as old, some Copenhagen car streets have become too important to shut down in midtown, so Metro + bikes seem to make more sense. But there's a light rail being built that is supposed to make it easier to move along one of the ring-roads without a car... That should also offload some of the midtown traffic, because less people will need to go through midtown to swap between bus or semi-light routes.
The overhead wiring that powers the trams is called catenary. Tram and bus drivers have to take regular pauses, so these are scheduled at the end stations of the line. That is why the tram can wait.
Also in the area of Germany I am from we have a ticket which is subsidized if you are going to school or university, that gives you unlimited access to public transport like, trams, trains and buses for local journeys (sometimes a bit complicated to know exactly the region you are allowed to use it in but generally super useful). For your children it is 14€ per month. If you have 3 children going to school at the same time then the first pays 14€ and the 2nd 7€ and then it is free for the 3rd child. For students it is ~30€ per month and with this one you are allowed to bring your bicycle with you. You also have a nice rule where on weekends & holidays you are allowed to bring another person with you, which is super nice while going out to party with friends who are already working and these tickets are also amazing so drunk students never need to ever think about taking the car cause they can just use public transport without worrying about the cost.
What makes it even more interesting is that the state of Baden-Württemberg, where Freiburg is located is the HOME of Mercedes Benz and Porsche. The headquarters are located in the state capital Stuttgart just 200km from Freiburg. Many people in Freiburg are employed in the car industry.
On weekdays (Monday to Friday) the frequency of the streetcars in Freiburg is 6-8 minutes, so it seems as if they are waiting for you at the final stops. In fact, more and more young people in Germany are consciously deciding not to own a car in urban areas, as it is not really necessary due to the good infrastructure of public transportation.
I'm from Freiburg and one of my best friends grew up in the house with the bubbles. We used to get really annoyed at tourists taking pictures of the house, because they kept taking pictures of her window with the bubbles. To answer your question about the person with the auitcase: It's a pedestrian road, so the bike has to slow down and let the person with the suitcase cross first. In the city center if Freiburg Trams are always first, then pedestrians and then bikes. In pkaces with pedestrians the trams usually go very slow, so they can stop quickly. But when they don't expect pedestrians they go quite fast and it did happen several times throughout my childhood that someone ran or fell in front of a tram and got hit.
26:38 If you build a city (or just start with one suburb) that‘s bike and pedestrian centered, most people will have a bike, I promise. Of course one bike lane along one road in an otherwise car centered area won‘t change anything, but it‘s a start. Every journey begins with the first step.
In my city at least, the trams usually signal when they're coming through a pedestrian zone, or leave a stop. It's a kind of shrill bell, and as there are tracks in the ground, you know to watch out.
The tram can be "waiting" for you, cause it's the end of the line, so normally any tram that comes in will stand there for a couple of minutes so the driver can take a break. Also the traffic sign on the old bridge means no over-taking, very common on narrow or badly visible parts of roads.
At least in Europe we can be trusted to cross the road.Unlike in America you can even be trusted to do that.(Jaywalking ).In America you have to be instructed to do anything. The infrastructure in Freiberg is superb as it is in the rest of Germany and Europe. I live in Málaga in Southern Spain and can't get home from home to the airport by train in 20 mins.I can go Barcelona from Málaga (600 miles) in just over 6hrs by train. America has nothing like this at all. When I visited my friends in Barcelona recently I got the train from Málaga at 08.30am and arrived in Barcelona at 15.15pm.Quick clean and efficient and cost effective €110.00 return.
as a car owner i can say i hate freiburg, they have more speed traps than trafic lights and every "fr" (freiburg) number plaid gives me anxiety or other feelings because they often drive very slow
(Min 21:05) No, the whole Tram- and bus net is not powered by the solar pannels they show, but its powered by renewable energy. This renewable energy is also produced by wind turbines, solar powerplants and other sources for renewable energy in the sourrounding. And no, trams will not wait for anyone ;-) They just try to synch the different tram- and bus lines to avoid people having to wait for a long time when changing the line. So in that example the tram was waiting for the bus to arrive, because it makes no sence to leave empty.
well, on a sunny summer day it actually _is_ entirely powered by solar - like about 70% of all Germany! Currently, we have a quiet and foggy autumn weather in Germany - for almost 2 weeks now, so solar and wind don't deliver, and the usual miserable suspects moan and nag about the "Dunkelflaute" ("dark lull") "problem" they say we have. Sun rises at 8am and sets at 4:30pm, at least in northern Germany, where I live. But a change in weather with lots of wind is predicted for next week. That will turn up wind power quite a bit.
Every day I cycle 10 km (one way) to work (Netherlands) on my (electric) bike. By car it takes me about 22 - 30 minutes depending on the weather and vacation time, by bike it takes me 24 - 26 minutes. Cycling is safe (we have wide and separate bike paths) and the connections are very good. Besides, I arrive fresh and awake and on the way back I can leave the working day behind me. Rain is not a problem, I just put on a good rain suit.
The reality is that the whole bike (or a cheap e-scooter) which will last you for years with little to no upkeep costs as much as one bs repair and one month of gas for a car. Or half the monthly rate of a car payment for many Muricans, lol. If you can just get by using a half year public transit ticket or said bike you can save ungodly amounts of money.
A lot of employers also reimburse public transport costs and get a tax rebate for it to stimulate public transport usage. In the Netherlands cars are even more expensive than in Germany, and I can get to work for free with a bike and public transport. Saves me at least 500 euro per month after tax. I would barely be able to save any money if I had a car.
Oh yeah. People do definitely walk in front of trams a lot. You might want to check out those webcam video compilations from Prague tram drivers' cabs.
Dear Ryan, there were also "not enough parking spots" in the German cities. The solution is not to have more parking, but to get rid of most of the parking places and provide public garage space on the outskirts. If you have trams that start from the parking and reach into the city, you solve the parking problem instantly. // The round red-rimmed sign with the car in the middle is a sign prohibiting car traffic (Autos verboten).
My favorite island where I go to on vacation is completely car-free. They have them only for ambulance, the firefighters things like that. It's just really funny when you see groceries pulled by horses. The island is called Juist, in the very north-west of Germany, Lower Saxony.
About the traffic signs: you were close. The round sign with the red border indicates something you're not allowed to do. It's indeed used for speed limits, but in these cases it was a weight limit (9 tons as you guessed) and the other one is "no overtaking" (the left car, which is overtaking the right car, is usually also colored red, but that was hard to see in this picture).
9:59 ive always thought that grass (and other plants) in tram/train lanes, which experience frequent 'collisions', grow slower than usual, so those areas don't need to be mowed as frequently, as they stay short on its own
I love how the electric scooter thing is what you call the public transport, cuz in certain cities like Antwerp for decades you've been able to rent bicycles in the same way instead of scooters, but it actually is also public infrastructure funded to be cheap and the stations are left all over so you can return the bikes I will add that a decade ago this is of course much rarer than it is nowadays, but it's been a thing for a long time
For the Trams - they have "normal braking systems" like disk brakes. But for the emergency brake they have electric magnets to drop on the steel tracks. That makes the tram stop almost in an instant. And the center of Freiburg is so small you get cover the whole thing by foot (!) in around 10 to 15 minutes. Plus the travel times - even from the suburbs - by bike are in most cases around not much more than 15 minutes. Plus - for further travels - just take the tram. Because by car you can expect searching for a parking space even longer than the tram ride takes. Seriously. And in and around the city center there is residential parking - so if you don't live there - parking could easily cost you more than the fare for the trams and busses. The suburb of Vauban even tried to ban car ownership at all - but even my cousin - living in Freiburg for decades still owns a car. Of course - for getting to work - a distance of not more than 5 km. He takes his bike. Even in bad weather or in the winter - he is a dentist with his own dental surgery. With a parking spot in his backyard. But he uses his bike. Sums the Freiburg mindset very good. In most cases - if you use your bike or use the tram (for the longer trips) - for 90% of your commutes in Freiburg (and many other cities) you are faster than using your car. True story.
Freiburg literally translates to Free Castle. The guy running in front of the tram looked like he wanted to catch the tram as it looked like there was a tram station. Not the safest way of action in general, but near the stations the trams are slow and maybe he crossed at a point where the tram would pass after leaving the stop. Walking across streets is perfectly legal in Germany, but still it's generally a good idea to look out for vehicles. With low speed limits this isn't that dangerous in general. Streets with more and faster traffic usually have pedestrian crossings and it's a good idea to use them when there's one in the vicinity. The videos of the channel about dutch bike infrastructure are even more interesting. The dutch in general put the alternative transport method stuff to another level.
10:02 every city has maintenance services that, among other things, cut grass and trees. in my home city we got a large roundabout near the main train terminal, which is an important junction for travelers and tourists (there are also bus and taxi terminals) and it gets replanted every spring with flowers that beautifully bloom during summer. while i cant say for sure, they likely have a single-car maintenance vehicle that uses the rails too, which cuts the grass. there are even unimogs that can go on rails too, that have attachments for mowing and other things.. 14:20 "this neighborhood has one of the highest % of children in germany" okay, that partially explains the number of motor vehicles then. plus a couple other factors. i dont think every city can be built like freiburg, but a lot probably could. or even parts of the city, like that suburb that was shown. but it just makes sense. 100 people on bikes take up much less space than 100 people in cars, when everyone rides solo. you can also easily fit 100 people into a single tram, which takes up even less space, but needs its own infrastructure, of course.
The round sign with the red ring at the outside basically always means "Don't do this" so for speed it means don't go over the number e.g. 30, for the 9t it means don't go over this weight here, and for the 2 cars it means don't do what the red car is doing so no overtaking for cars and with that everything larger than a car so motor-bikes & bicycles are still allowed to overtake.
My brother was one from the students in Freiburg in the 1990ies, 25 years ago. At the time, Freiburg was a student city, but not so heavily bike oriented. PS: I also own a bike (actually a trike) with a loading case for my weekly shopping tour. Yes, I am cycling for grocery shopping.
We had no car when our 3 kids where small. 2 in the carrier, one on my bike. The carrier could also be used as a buggy. Iced streets where the only reason to not go by bike. Mostly you are not slower than by car, sometimes even faster. Skipping traffic jams, taking shortcuts through parks etc and - very important - not surching for a place to park.
The "little boats" the children are playing with, are made in a workshop for people with disabilities and sold in toy shops in the city. The clients work in the carpentry workshop to cut, shape, and paint the boats and in the sewing workshop to make the sails.
My hometown of Münster bears the name "Bicycle Capital 2023". Each inhabitant owns an average of 2,5 Bicycles. With over 300,000 inhabitants, you can calculate what it looks like here.
Fun fact about the 'Bächleboot' (the boats) they are build by handicapped people. The REHA-Laden, the company around it, employs handicapped in manufacturing and has social workers overlooking the process. Those people would otherwise have a hard time to thrive in our workforce. Afaik, the jobs aren't paid worse than i. e. cashier at ALDI. Although I only know the wages for sales people, which are not handicapped. They build simple things, but it's a valuable form of integration or rather giving a space for people that otherwise would not get work.
Yep, and the REHA-Laden has a stand in the city center, additionally to their store, nearly all year round which specifically started for those little boats back in the day.
just for context. Freiburg is the leading city in Solar in Germany. They are the place where in the 1950 the population votet agains Nuclear energy (being one of the places the greenparty got stated) and focussed on Solar 30 years before anyone else.
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I am so waiting for you to come to europe one day. I cant even imagine how your videos would look like but you have to do it :)
Trams "wait" for you bc the departure times are snychronized with the arrival of e.g. Busses, with a few minutes to spare for people to walk over and delays. The lower sign was a ban of overtaking other cars on the bridge.
The station shown is also a terminal stop for both the tram and the bus. Makes it a bit easier, because they both wait there for a few minutes anyway 😉
This is so normal in Germany that I sometimes forget that this kind of connection is maybe not that usual in other countries.
Yes, in this case it is the terminus for the bus and the streetcar line. But this synchronization is also available at transfer points throughout the city where there are several streetcar or bus lines. So you never have to wait long for a connection. (At least that was the case 25 years ago when I was still living there.)
'Fake London' is London, Ontario, the place where the NJB dude used to live
Coincidentally it has nearly the same density as Oulu, where 20%+ of trips are made by bike even at -20°C.
Canadians are Wimps, especially the brother of NJB's brother.
Even Jules Verne knew that there is a London.
I live in Germany (Saxony) and i own a bike with a child carrier. It's awesome. I can fit both my kids and my groceries in it and I am as fast as most people are with their cars, because we have a lot of bike lanes without any traffic lights or speed limits. So it's way more relaxing too! My kids love the child-carrier and hop in as soon as i pull it out of our bike-garage.
When it rains or there is snow or ice on the road?
@@cyberfunk3793 then what? wear a coat!
And there are winter tires available for bikes as well
@@mats7492 Almost nobody changes to winter tires on their bicycle and almost nobody also chooses to bicycle when it's raining. Especially when it's raining and cold at the same time.
@@cyberfunk3793 So?
@@mats7492 So it's not that awesome, more relaxing or fast much of the year when the weather isn't good enough to do it and most people prefer a car instead.
Here in Berlin we had one big street converted to a car free zone and it worked really good, people and shopping went up in that area, but then the FDP and CDU came and said BUT WE NEED CARS FOR STUFF and now its a normal street again and way less people are around
If you talk about the Friedrichstrasse, it was not that black and white as you've described. Many shop owner actually did complain and went to court trying to prevent the prolonging of the car free zone. So please stay with the facts.
Did I personally enjoyed the car free Friedrichstrasse? Sure, it was nice, but I never went shopping there, and I never owned a car since the 18 years I live here. Ignoring the complaints of business owners in a business district and managing this project with a pretty narrow view wasn't smart even when I actually elected Die Grünen and prob. will do it again.
@@MrHerrS It weren't many, it were a few shop owners, or even only one female one which got prominent. Please stay with the facts. Just because one CDU fangirl which had a shop on the Friedrichstraße complained and all CDU near media bloated it up doesn't make it a fact that there were "many" complains or whatsover.
@@MrHerrS I always wonder how these "business owners" keep their shops in business if they cant grasp that ALREADY 99% of their customers arrive by foot. You cant even park really in the friedrichstraße anyway.
Isn't this normal for every German city? I mean, there are "autofreie Fußgängerzonen" (car-free pedestrian zones) everywhere, aren't they?
It's funny because in France when we heard about FDP party we all head "fils de pute"
Moved to Freiburg when I was 25 and lived there for about 16 years. I tell you, those were the best years of my life. Then I was silly enough to move away because of a love-thingy and .. well... the love died shortly after moving to Lower Franconia, but I am still stuck here because meanwhile the costs for rentals in Freiburg are exorbitantly high..... and small appartements are rare because of all the students. I still feel homesick after now being away from Freiburg since 2002! It is the best city I ever experienced, I swear!
Unterfranken ist doch auch nicht schlecht. Würzburg hat auch Straßenbahnen und Fahrradwege.
Wollte gerade das selbe sagen❤ born and raised in Würzburg @@bananenmusli2769
@@bananenmusli2769 And a lots of students, as well. I spend a time "involuntary" there. And I know guys, which came from Freiburg to Würzburg, to study there. Quite not a thing...
@@bananenmusli2769 ja stimmt. Aber hier am nordwestlichen Zipfel aufm Land kannste Öffis vergessen. Und meine Freunde sind halt alle in Freiburg. :)
Definitely one of my favorite videos of yours. Love that you took the time to react in detail. Watching you admire all that with enthusiasm is fun to watch and very uplifting.
Using parking spaces for restaurants and cafés throughout Europe is one of the gifts that covid gave us.
Freiburg is kinda special like that to be fair
Karlsruhe kinda similar, not quite, but very bike friendly too
Münster is very similar. Lived in both, favor Freiburg for the mountains, though.
Freiburg Mentioned 🗣️👋👋
It's the only Dutch city in the Black Forest.
@@BrokenCurtain Yeah, while also being the most southern 'big' city (Großstadt) of Germany. We are surrounded by mountains though and live on a literal hot plate, so we are spared the average dutch wheather.
Well, I live on the German-Dutch border where the bicycle is the most important means of transport after the car. The infrastructure for bicycles between the two European countries is also better than for cars. There are a lot of cyclists here, from very young ages to seniors of 78, who use bicycles to get from point A to point B. That's probably why Dutch and German pensioners live longer than their American seniors.
Seniors with bikes, yeah. Every weekend the railway station in Freiburg is jammed with seniors in their 70s and 80s and their bikes. They come together through some kind of senior networks to meet at the Hauptbahnhof and go on the train further into the Black Forest, beyond the walls of mountains that surround Freiburg, to go biking. There are legions of bike carrying seniors.
When i moved to Freiburg for studies and wanted to visit my family in the Black Forest (Villingen-Schwenningen, btw. Villingen is an older mini version of the Freiburg city center and was never bombed) I had to learn the schedules of weekend biking activities with those seniors if i wanted to have stress free train experience on my way to and back.
Wow. Didn't know that.
We live further south with more hills where not _as_ many (can) ride that much and anyway hardly any seniors.
I'm not from Freiburg but I've been there for work several times. It's my favorite city in Germany. It's pretty small, almost completely walkable (although trams are more convenient than walking) and has a historic feel and look to it (despite most of it being rebuilt! They rebuilt it they way it used to look unlike other German cities... looking at you, cologne).
You forgot to mention, the fine weather...
Going from "What about a baby in front of the tram" to "How about we add sharp, fast rotating metal blades in front of the tram".
Lol 😂
I was about to write them same. Crazy lazy idea the blades at the trim.
This is actually kind of common, especially in smallish student citys, there are often so many more bikes then cars because bikes are very small and maneuverable in citys while not causing traffic jams, so you get around just as, if not quicker then by car or bus
To adress the point of cars: we like cars to get from city to city or into other countries for vacation (still, trains very nice most of the time), BUT we do not like cars (if possible) in the daily life / commute to work etc. for a multitude of reasons:
- pollution
- often more expensive
- in older cities troubles finding a parking spot
- bike / walking is better for your health
- hideous sight inside cities
- often actually takes longer (as cities are small in area size)
You are right and I was born in a North German city where the separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists were not less narrow than the car street (all lovely plain). And city were I studied had good bike lanes, too. But Wuppertal is very bad, no wonder, almost no plain street in the whole city. But I wonder why Rostock has such a bad 'Radwegenetz', bike lane system, for it is at the balcan sea, so tourist city and it is an university city as well. Even those existing bike lanes are bad like directly near city autobahn, like mm of bushes with thorns, etc.
Can add "insane space consumption" and "infrastructure cost for public authorities" to the list.
I love how that video is singlehandedly the best ad for Freiberg I've ever heard
We used the waterchannels (Bächle) to cool down our beer when we sit down and have a relaxed time.
22:50 That is "synchronizing of schedules". The bus from Schauinslandbahn (the funicular) to Günterstal is scheduled to arrive a few minutes befor the streetcar from Günterstal to Freiburg leaves, so you have enough time to leave the bus and walk over to enter the waiting streetcar.
the problem of the new bike lane in your area is that no ones wants to ride a bike on roads with cars, its just not fun. bike paths need to be seperate from major roads
Its not save with kids, either. Mannheim build a Ton of bike lanes in the City Center. They are unusable. Its outright dangerous. Cars have to cross your bikelane to make a right turn for example.
But better than no bike lanes at all. Like Wuppertal ( death valley in some senses).
It's not just quiet, it is also fresh air, because no exhausts.
Fun fact: the first bike, the draisine, the predecessor of the bike, was invented in Germany. Why, because the price for oats rose and oats were used to feed horses. So the first proto-bike was invented because horses became too expensive.
Another fun fact: The price of oats (and probably other grains) was so high because of the eruption of the Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. Vulcanic ash spread worldwide in the atmosphere and lead to the so-called 'year without summer' which impacted agricultural production drastically.
Edit: typo
@@AV-we6wo One more fun fact: after some beginning troubles (people thought he was nuts) his design was copied and he applied for a patent. His originals were recognisable by a mark nailed to the front. All those famous trade symbols at the front of cars, they started there, with that idea.
@@crunchyscorpio9186
nice to share the info.
nice to share the info.
In Germany we call wind turbines 'Windräder' which word for word translates to wind wheels. So...
Well, it's a wheel in so far as that it does spin around an axle. It doesn't, however, mill anything. So I think that's still a little better if we're being pedantic.
Isnt it windmill? Räder comes from the old type of mill with a waterwheel, right?
Windkraftanlagen
@@TheSuperappelflap it does not make flour!
@MiaMerkur A saw mill doesn't make flour either. I think in English anything that translates water or air movement to energy is called 'mill.'
Born in Freiburg, raised in the Black Forest 🙋🏽♂️💚
Münster always gets left out :(
We have almost twice as many bikes as people. Freiburg, at least from what ChatGPT is telling me, has a quarter as many bikes per capita (half a million bikes in Münster, 90k in Freiburg, Münster having 100k more residents).
But yeah, they have all the other public transport stuff, too. We just have a really terrible bus system that has bus lines erased or limited all the time to cut costs (they also pay their drivers worse than the surrounding areas do).
As someone that lived in both cities, yes Münster is also a bike city, but Freiburg is actively car unfriendly, which Münster isn't. They are similar, but Freiburgs infrastructure is built around pedestrians and bikes.
That was my first thought too. Münster crushes every other german city in terms of the sheer amount of bicycles.
I live in Münster, too, and I feel a lot of disharmony between bikers and motorists in this place, especially during rush hours. Also, I learned that some elderly pedestrians are somewhat afraid of agressive bikers.
@@maskharatso it is long time ago you lived in Münster. Now they celebrate their hate to cars in a horrible way.
It's never too late for Münster to reestablish a decent tram network.
Imagine trams from all directions would meet in the city center and slowly go through Prinzipalmarkt. You can hopp on your tram and travel back home to Hiltrup or Gievenbeck.
When Freiburg with only 230.000 inhabitants can do so Münster with almost 325.000 residents should not stand behind.
Oh, and Freiburg is just about to expand it's S-Bahn network. Some formerly minor routes got already electrified and they are even planning to connect Mulhouse in France to the network.
You can't compare German suburbs to American suburbs 😂
Our infrastructure is completely different to the US
But the function is the same, hence both are called suburbs.
The US suburbs where only single family homes are allowed, nothing else!
@@arnodobler1096 Single family 2 story houses that all look exactly the same and are made of paper
That is the point of comparing both - show the differences and what works and what doesn't and perhaps beginning to think outside your little suburbian boxes.
Not Just Bikes has a video over this subject
Not a German: I visited Freiburg like a decade ago. The city is beautiful and the people are awesome. Had one of the best times of my life there so I extended my vacation to stay for a full month, I loved it so much! :)
For me from Poland this film is not a shock. It is similar in Poland, for example the old historic part of Krakow has been closed to car traffic for a long time (police, ambulances, garbage trucks and restaurant suppliers with special permission can move). The first reason was trivial, namely so that car exhaust fumes do not destroy monuments, the second so that tourists can move around calmly with a minimal risk of accidents. Then came the fashion to return to bicycles. It is no secret to anyone that Europe has a bicycle culture and all professional cycling races take place in Europe. I do not remember there being any professional cycling races in the USA or Canada . I also forgot to write that in the EU there is also a Police that rides bikes from spring to winter . An interesting fact is that the Trek bicycle company is from the USA but sells most of its bicycles in the EU.
That is great to hear. First time thinking about visiting Krakau.
Last year I learned Poland emphasis on healthy food. Actually my favorite shop is polish to get 'Buchweizen' buck wheat? wich I tried as pancake as student. Now I learned there is also 'fast food' like pre-steamed buck wheat, yammi.
@@MiaMerkur Regular food in the EU is of the same quality as organic food in the US . The reason for this is trivial, namely that in EU countries there is a national health service. EU countries take care that people in these countries do not get sick too much because it costs the budgets of EU member states. That is why American companies do not like the EU because if they want to export their product to this market, they first have to prove that the composition of this product does not harm people. This is the opposite of what prevails in the USA, where people have to sue companies to prove to them that their products are harmful to them.
@MiaMerkur Kraków is a really really beautiful city. It's like a mix of a German city with an Italian city, architecture-wise, with a lot of Polish spirit.
You have plenty green, you have medieval, renaissance, baroque, jugendstil, expressionist and modern buildings. There are traditional cafés, restaurants and bars or very hip, modern ones, even combinations of both. You have a lot of Jewish culture, besides the obvious Catholic buildings.
And you have public art and sculptures of every period, sometimes in unusual places to discover for yourself. There are big open spaces and snug little alleys and so on... It's just a great city.
Btw. you can get Buchweizen in most German stores, even at discounters.
@@smiechuwarte-qt8pn ok and? whats your point?
@@saschaberger7201 I don't care about anything. I stated the fact of the difference in food standards
Best wishes from Freiburg😊😊😊
When I see these meshes of power lines for our German trams, I always have to think of the ingenious design of the Bordeaux trams. They power the trains through the rails but in clever way, so they do not grill people walking over them. No ugly power lines anywhere.
The problem we have with modernizing things here in Germany is: You have usually to dig around. If you dig around, especially in the south, the chances are abnormally high you will dig something up - antique sites, roman graves, WW2 bombs, celtic villages. No matter what you dig up, it means a complete stop to all activities for god knows how long.
And trust me, no one wants to dig around in the ground in the Freiburg city center, cause the chances here are a bit too high to stumble over an ancient town or village underneath. That could mean months, if not years, without a tram wherever that happens.
Sounds nice. It should be made like this in new cities. I also like the Dutch lanes where energy is produced just by pedestrians walking on it, or bicycles ride.
21:26 The whole thing is not powered by solar panels, but it’s powered by renewable energies.
It's part of the problem that Americans only know MAMILs (Middle Aged Man In Lycra) as bike users.
They simply lack the experience and imagination to see a bike liane as something an 84 year old grandma would use to take her grand-grandchildren to the cinema.
How about seeing the bike lane as something you yourself will use to get around instead of someone else?
Tbh... There are not a lot 84 year old women, which still able to go around by bike. My mom, is a bit younger and is barley able to walk around in the house...
@@TheSuperappelflap wich has what exactly to do with what OP said?
As a normal Student you cant afford to buy a car or better to pay for the monthly costs for a car. You go on foot or with a bike.
We have Lime scooters and other companies in Germany. A lot of them end up in the rivers.
27:43
I've been exactly there this week and I swear I've seen the woman with the dog riding along!
Greetings from northern Germany !! Interesting perspectives on us ...
😅
Freiburg is also known for kindness. I have family there and am visiting Freiburg a lot and I think the people there must be very happy because they are very kind and friendly. I studied in Fulda (known for the peoples unfriendly behavior) and when I visited my Family in Freiburg I always felt like: Im in heaven! I like this city a lot and the Nature around it is great! So many options to go out and enjoy the landscape! Grüße an das wunschöne Freiburg!
Just saying, Freiburg has been governed by the 'Grünen' for over 20 years. It's expensive, sure (No. 4 in Germany when it comes to most expensive rent), but what you get in return can't be bought with money in my opinion.
I cannot image people in Fulda are unfriendly er than those in Wuppertal. They are the worst. I asked a young woman and another day some months later, why these people do not even smile back when I smile and both said exactly the same:
if someone smiles he has bad thoughts of misusing me.
@@olgahein4384 And I am glad the GREENS had the possibility to show what a healthier place can look like.
3:45 catenary wires
13:12 Jason's (the narrator) hometown of London, Ontario (Canada), which also happens to have a 'Thames River' running through it
20:25 Jason of NotJustBikes is Canadian
21:19 he said 'renewable energy' which also includes wind and hydro in addition to solar
Helsinki in finland still has a tram network too
Min. 17.20, You say: "There are too few parking spaces for cars in America"
Fun fact: There are 8 parking spaces per car in America!
In Berlin there are less than 0.95 parking spaces per registered car.
well not rly a good comparison if u you just looked up the parking space per car across whole america, and then compare it to berlin right?
@@saschaberger7201 u are right ist a little unfair, sry for this. The correct comparison is Germany 3,5 parking lots to 8 parkinglots in the US
26:06 Well, the idea is that you need modal filters. So you block the middle of the road with bollards and let only bicycles through. And suddenly only the people living there will drive their car there and people will be much more enjoying riding a bike there. Then you can remove another lane and plant trees in the road center and make the road green, because there's no need for so much space for cars.
That's how you convert a city. Not by painting a bike lane.
Jaywalking isnt illegal at all in Germany. As pedastrian you have to yield to all Cars unless you use a Zebra crossing. Only if there are fences or on the Autobahn you are not allowed to go. The faux-pas you probably ment was walking on a red light, which we dont really do here❤
In a downtown big city where there are walker unfriendly traffic lights every couple of meters, people do walk on red - even in Germany. Unless kids are present.
Well for the law you HAVE TO use the pedestrian traffic light or Zebra (striped way) when you reach them in less than 50? meters, so it is forbidden sometimes. Eddit: Have to correct to 5 meters, if at all. It is rather a "you ought to prefer foot crossing".
@@MiaMerkur There is no defined distance. (§ 25 Abs. 3 StVO)
@@to_loww I learned something like that long time ago in driving lesson. Because of your hint I did a research. The only distance I could find in this context: "Wirkungskreis" of traffic light is 5 meters from the line. So if the pedestrian traffic light is red and your are about 5,6 meters before! it and there is little! traffic on the street you may pass the street.
I did not find similar rule for "Zebrastreifen" for pedestrians, only cars, for you are not allowed to stop or park a car within 5 meters before or after the pedestrian walk over.
@@to_loww I like to thank you because I learned more. It is not necessary to glaze at a car driver or give a sign at the 'ZEBRASTREIFEN', cars have to stop anyway, if you are standing there, watch towards the street.
I also learned that pedestrians always have first rights in traffic, but "Scienenverkehr" even more, but not cars.
I learned that pedestrians HAVE TO WALK ON THE STREET, if they CARY something bulky, that would hinder the pedestrians on the sidewalk, pavement!
Car drivers in Germany behave like they are the first priority. Interesting law talks different.
electro motored bikes are currently very trending, a lot of old folk that easily outspeed me nowadays.
good video stay funny and positive greetz from vienna
No, the whole thing isn't powered by solar panels, it is powered by renewable energy which you can buy but doesn't necessarily mean that it is locally generated. It can be but most of the time you are just subscribing to a local energy provider who has different options and one is purely renewable energy which is usually a bit more expensive and they then provide you with energy purely out of renewable energy but it is a mix of solar, wind, biomass or even wood. But there are also different offers from energy companies, some have offers for specifically renewable energy out of local projects or even some allow you to order specifically solarenergy or windenergy. It really depends on their contract with the energy provider.
I would totally sacrifice all car roads and parking lots for a city like Freiburg.
I *hate* car-friendly city centers with a passion. It is just sooo much better for everyone as a pedestrian zone.
Yes, car roads should only connect citys.
6:30 trams don't stop for pedestrians you have to watch out. In Prague there is a tram with a score counter that shows pedestrian deaths by trams for every year VS tram deaths from the impact. Pedestrians never won tho.
Good job explaining the network effect at the end there!
Yes, Freiburg im Breisgau is an extreme example, but many German towns and cities have focussed on pedestrianisation of large areas in their central business hubs. In München, for example, other than for loading & unloading before 10.00, vehicles are absent on main shopping streets across about 20 city centre blocks. Pedestrians and trams rule above ground, and U-Bahn and regional S-Bahn rule underground in this large area.
The USA is easily 50 years behind Europe in terms of infrastructure
depends if you are an optimist or not, personaly i think the eu is 50 years behind the us.....things dont always get better you know...
@@JohnDoe-xz1mw
Can you elaborate your premises? How could a crowded place for cars be better than if would be for the poeple living there? What's the worst scenario?
Especially the train network. Are the USA not embarrassed about it?
The Germans are embarrassed about their trains, but only, because they are frequently late. That's still better than almost nothing.
Don't act as if every city is like Freiburg. Actually there is no other one like it, not even Münster. Germany is extremely car-centric. Every bike lane or pedestrian road results is a huge cultural warfare.
To be fair, in some aspects like science, innovation (measured by patents per year) and tech the US is ahead of Europe and gaining speed, but in the aspect of consumer safety, environmental protection Europe is better off in my opinion
Always funny how english speakers say Burg.
Let go to Freibörg! 🤣
I lived in Bremen, northern Germany, many years and remember quite a number of bridges for pedestrians and cyclists only. At least one over the Weser river, one over a railway line, one over a 4-lane city highway, and several crossing tram lines.
Some are new, but others have been built in the 60ies, and they were pretty steep. So I tried to race down them with my small bicycle I used to have then ... early 70s. It had a speedo, and I raced downward that steep bridge ramp. I briefly saw the speedo approaching 60 km (37 miles) per hour - but was busy trying clinging to the handlebar as the bad wheels of that cheap things caused it to wobble that badly that it almost "ejected" me. I raced down into a street; luckily there was no car as I was fast and had almost no control. But I just narrowly avoided to slide along parked cars ... that was a close call. And braking was difficult as the brakes were of low quality, too.
You are so ready to visit Europe!!
Love from Portugal!
I've seen these rentable scooters here in Leipzig every now and then, but in comparison you'll see rentable bikes at almost every corner or wherever someone left it after renting.
I don't have a drivers license and don't like being very close to strangers and not having fresh air, so I own my very own e-scooter. tbf my work is enough activity that I don't need more exercise.
I will walk home on the days when I can't use my scooter due to heavy rain, snow or ice. after having to take the bus to get to work I sure as heck will walk home.
seriously? I'd have less of an issue with a tram, but the entire street gets renewed, so replacement bus it is and these busses always drive in a way that flings you around like a rollercoaster ride and that being flung around thing is what I hate most about rollercoasters. how dare they steal my control over my movements? how dare the bus does it? how dare does the bus driver make me overbend my wrist today, because I had to grab that hard onto a railing to stay steady.
my neurodivergent overreactions are valid, okay? to me at least.
They are valid. 😊
Sadly, I cannot balance that good on a scooter and I'm easily distracted, so no public scootering for me. Bike, feet, or earplugs plus tram, instead.
Don't worry to much about security of the pedestrians, the fatality rate per 100 million passenger kilometers is lower for trams, at 0.19, compared to cars, at 0.31. This suggests that trams are a safer mode of transportation compared to car traffic, especially when considering all affected road users.
They just count the bicycles in our street in Bremen each day. 7000!
And I was on one of them * proudly saying * 😄
Please fake this "American chitchat" again! Hilarious!😂 Really, I had to laugh so hard. Thank you for making my day as it was very chastening and intimidating as well. (Can I express it like this?) If my comment is not betraying myself- I am German.
Better use 'sobering' (ernüchternd,) if this is what you meant. Or did you mean something else? Because 'chastening' is (probably) not the right word 😄
Hope, you're feeling better, though (and, if not now, then later!) 😊
Hope,
I live here near Freiburg, on the outskirts of a small town.
I walk 12 minutes to the train station, 10 minutes to the nearest bar, 8 minutes to the nearest grocery store, butcher or bakery, 5 minutes to my family doctor or a pediatrician, 4 minutes to the nearest children's playground, 3 minutes to the next bus stop and I can be in the forest (Black Forest) in two minutes.
You can also buy the “Regio Card” for around $70 per month. This means you can travel in three districts with all local transport such as trains, buses and trams.
Sounds fantastic, and it is. If you don't believe that, come here.
Greetings from the Black Forest.
Why would you still buy the Regio Card after the Deutschland Ticket? Even with the new price it would be cheaper that the Regio Ticket
@@PascalPoke Yep, haven't even looked at the Regio Card prices (they are still rising lol) ever since they introduced the Deutschland-Ticket. One of the downsides of Freiburg and surroundings are those very high public transportation costs. Still won't make me move away from here.
@@PascalPoke Germany Ticket:
Travel on all local public transport for 49 euros per month, from January 1st for 58 euros.
RegioCard:
Transferable to third parties.
1 adult and up to 4 children can be taken on Sundays and public holidays.
RVF mobility guarantee: reimbursement of taxi costs up to 35 euros.
Disadvantage: price: 80.50 euros per month
70 a month sounds a lot and i find the 50€ here in vienna allready way over priced
9:50 trams are doing a comeback, now called lightrail, here in Denmark.
But they seem to be most popular where Metro is too expensive, and where going by bike is inconvenient.
Copenhagen has had a semi-light rail system for ages, that doesn't mix with car or pedestrian streets.
The Metro isn't nearly as old, some Copenhagen car streets have become too important to shut down in midtown, so Metro + bikes seem to make more sense.
But there's a light rail being built that is supposed to make it easier to move along one of the ring-roads without a car...
That should also offload some of the midtown traffic, because less people will need to go through midtown to swap between bus or semi-light routes.
i lived in Freiburg and went to Münster in Germany and was stunned how many bicycles you see at their main train station )
I own 3 bikes myself and no car. I get to work by bike
I own 3 cars myself and no bike. If I want feel like biking I roll down the windows.
@@nichderjeniche As someone who has both, I can tell you that it is not the same
@@kitekat4345 I know. If there's an accident in the city, I don't want to be the guy on the bike.
The overhead wiring that powers the trams is called catenary.
Tram and bus drivers have to take regular pauses, so these are scheduled at the end stations of the line. That is why the tram can wait.
Also in the area of Germany I am from we have a ticket which is subsidized if you are going to school or university, that gives you unlimited access to public transport like, trams, trains and buses for local journeys (sometimes a bit complicated to know exactly the region you are allowed to use it in but generally super useful). For your children it is 14€ per month. If you have 3 children going to school at the same time then the first pays 14€ and the 2nd 7€ and then it is free for the 3rd child. For students it is ~30€ per month and with this one you are allowed to bring your bicycle with you. You also have a nice rule where on weekends & holidays you are allowed to bring another person with you, which is super nice while going out to party with friends who are already working and these tickets are also amazing so drunk students never need to ever think about taking the car cause they can just use public transport without worrying about the cost.
What makes it even more interesting is that the state of Baden-Württemberg, where Freiburg is located is the HOME of Mercedes Benz and Porsche. The headquarters are located in the state capital Stuttgart just 200km from Freiburg. Many people in Freiburg are employed in the car industry.
On weekdays (Monday to Friday) the frequency of the streetcars in Freiburg is 6-8 minutes, so it seems as if they are waiting for you at the final stops. In fact, more and more young people in Germany are consciously deciding not to own a car in urban areas, as it is not really necessary due to the good infrastructure of public transportation.
Not only young people decide to not own a car. I'm 64. No car, but two bikes.
I'm from Freiburg and one of my best friends grew up in the house with the bubbles. We used to get really annoyed at tourists taking pictures of the house, because they kept taking pictures of her window with the bubbles.
To answer your question about the person with the auitcase:
It's a pedestrian road, so the bike has to slow down and let the person with the suitcase cross first. In the city center if Freiburg Trams are always first, then pedestrians and then bikes.
In pkaces with pedestrians the trams usually go very slow, so they can stop quickly. But when they don't expect pedestrians they go quite fast and it did happen several times throughout my childhood that someone ran or fell in front of a tram and got hit.
Not Just Bikes is such a great channel
26:38 If you build a city (or just start with one suburb) that‘s bike and pedestrian centered, most people will have a bike, I promise.
Of course one bike lane along one road in an otherwise car centered area won‘t change anything, but it‘s a start. Every journey begins with the first step.
Thumbs up for the Freiburp in the beginning. 😅
In my city at least, the trams usually signal when they're coming through a pedestrian zone, or leave a stop. It's a kind of shrill bell, and as there are tracks in the ground, you know to watch out.
The tram can be "waiting" for you, cause it's the end of the line, so normally any tram that comes in will stand there for a couple of minutes so the driver can take a break.
Also the traffic sign on the old bridge means no over-taking, very common on narrow or badly visible parts of roads.
At least in Europe we can be trusted to cross the road.Unlike in America you can even be trusted to do that.(Jaywalking ).In America you have to be instructed to do anything. The infrastructure in Freiberg is superb as it is in the rest of Germany and Europe. I live in Málaga in Southern Spain and can't get home from home to the airport by train in 20 mins.I can go Barcelona from Málaga (600 miles) in just over 6hrs by train. America has nothing like this at all. When I visited my friends in Barcelona recently I got the train from Málaga at 08.30am and arrived in Barcelona at 15.15pm.Quick clean and efficient and cost effective €110.00 return.
as a car owner i can say i hate freiburg, they have more speed traps than trafic lights and every "fr" (freiburg) number plaid gives me anxiety or other feelings because they often drive very slow
24:00 The top one says: no vehicles over 9 tons of weight. And the bottom says: no overtaking
(Min 21:05) No, the whole Tram- and bus net is not powered by the solar pannels they show, but its powered by renewable energy. This renewable energy is also produced by wind turbines, solar powerplants and other sources for renewable energy in the sourrounding.
And no, trams will not wait for anyone ;-) They just try to synch the different tram- and bus lines to avoid people having to wait for a long time when changing the line. So in that example the tram was waiting for the bus to arrive, because it makes no sence to leave empty.
well, on a sunny summer day it actually _is_ entirely powered by solar - like about 70% of all Germany!
Currently, we have a quiet and foggy autumn weather in Germany - for almost 2 weeks now, so solar and wind don't deliver, and the usual miserable suspects moan and nag about the "Dunkelflaute" ("dark lull") "problem" they say we have. Sun rises at 8am and sets at 4:30pm, at least in northern Germany, where I live. But a change in weather with lots of wind is predicted for next week. That will turn up wind power quite a bit.
Every day I cycle 10 km (one way) to work (Netherlands) on my (electric) bike. By car it takes me about 22 - 30 minutes depending on the weather and vacation time, by bike it takes me 24 - 26 minutes. Cycling is safe (we have wide and separate bike paths) and the connections are very good. Besides, I arrive fresh and awake and on the way back I can leave the working day behind me. Rain is not a problem, I just put on a good rain suit.
The reality is that the whole bike (or a cheap e-scooter) which will last you for years with little to no upkeep costs as much as one bs repair and one month of gas for a car. Or half the monthly rate of a car payment for many Muricans, lol.
If you can just get by using a half year public transit ticket or said bike you can save ungodly amounts of money.
A lot of employers also reimburse public transport costs and get a tax rebate for it to stimulate public transport usage.
In the Netherlands cars are even more expensive than in Germany, and I can get to work for free with a bike and public transport. Saves me at least 500 euro per month after tax. I would barely be able to save any money if I had a car.
Oh yeah. People do definitely walk in front of trams a lot. You might want to check out those webcam video compilations from Prague tram drivers' cabs.
Dear Ryan, there were also "not enough parking spots" in the German cities. The solution is not to have more parking, but to get rid of most of the parking places and provide public garage space on the outskirts. If you have trams that start from the parking and reach into the city, you solve the parking problem instantly. // The round red-rimmed sign with the car in the middle is a sign prohibiting car traffic (Autos verboten).
My favorite island where I go to on vacation is completely car-free. They have them only for ambulance, the firefighters things like that. It's just really funny when you see groceries pulled by horses. The island is called Juist, in the very north-west of Germany, Lower Saxony.
Bikes with stroller trailers or cargo bikes a very common here in Munich. Even UPS, DHL etc are using cargo bikes or rickshaw style bikes
Except for the trams, all of Sweden is designed this way 😊
About the traffic signs: you were close. The round sign with the red border indicates something you're not allowed to do. It's indeed used for speed limits, but in these cases it was a weight limit (9 tons as you guessed) and the other one is "no overtaking" (the left car, which is overtaking the right car, is usually also colored red, but that was hard to see in this picture).
9:59 ive always thought that grass (and other plants) in tram/train lanes, which experience frequent 'collisions', grow slower than usual, so those areas don't need to be mowed as frequently, as they stay short on its own
You'll find scooters for rent here in Vienna too.
I love how the electric scooter thing is what you call the public transport, cuz in certain cities like Antwerp for decades you've been able to rent bicycles in the same way instead of scooters, but it actually is also public infrastructure funded to be cheap and the stations are left all over so you can return the bikes
I will add that a decade ago this is of course much rarer than it is nowadays, but it's been a thing for a long time
For the Trams - they have "normal braking systems" like disk brakes.
But for the emergency brake they have electric magnets to drop on the steel tracks.
That makes the tram stop almost in an instant.
And the center of Freiburg is so small you get cover the whole thing by foot (!) in around 10 to 15 minutes.
Plus the travel times - even from the suburbs - by bike are in most cases around not much more than 15 minutes.
Plus - for further travels - just take the tram.
Because by car you can expect searching for a parking space even longer than the tram ride takes. Seriously.
And in and around the city center there is residential parking - so if you don't live there - parking could easily cost you more than the fare for the trams and busses. The suburb of Vauban even tried to ban car ownership at all - but even my cousin - living in Freiburg for decades still owns a car.
Of course - for getting to work - a distance of not more than 5 km. He takes his bike.
Even in bad weather or in the winter - he is a dentist with his own dental surgery. With a parking spot in his backyard.
But he uses his bike.
Sums the Freiburg mindset very good.
In most cases - if you use your bike or use the tram (for the longer trips) - for 90% of your commutes in Freiburg (and many other cities) you are faster than using your car. True story.
Freiburg literally translates to Free Castle. The guy running in front of the tram looked like he wanted to catch the tram as it looked like there was a tram station. Not the safest way of action in general, but near the stations the trams are slow and maybe he crossed at a point where the tram would pass after leaving the stop. Walking across streets is perfectly legal in Germany, but still it's generally a good idea to look out for vehicles. With low speed limits this isn't that dangerous in general. Streets with more and faster traffic usually have pedestrian crossings and it's a good idea to use them when there's one in the vicinity. The videos of the channel about dutch bike infrastructure are even more interesting. The dutch in general put the alternative transport method stuff to another level.
10:02 every city has maintenance services that, among other things, cut grass and trees. in my home city we got a large roundabout near the main train terminal, which is an important junction for travelers and tourists (there are also bus and taxi terminals) and it gets replanted every spring with flowers that beautifully bloom during summer.
while i cant say for sure, they likely have a single-car maintenance vehicle that uses the rails too, which cuts the grass. there are even unimogs that can go on rails too, that have attachments for mowing and other things..
14:20 "this neighborhood has one of the highest % of children in germany" okay, that partially explains the number of motor vehicles then. plus a couple other factors.
i dont think every city can be built like freiburg, but a lot probably could. or even parts of the city, like that suburb that was shown.
but it just makes sense. 100 people on bikes take up much less space than 100 people in cars, when everyone rides solo. you can also easily fit 100 people into a single tram, which takes up even less space, but needs its own infrastructure, of course.
In Germany we call wind mills "Erdrotationsbeschleuniger" / "earth rotation accelerators".
The round sign with the red ring at the outside basically always means "Don't do this" so for speed it means don't go over the number e.g. 30, for the 9t it means don't go over this weight here, and for the 2 cars it means don't do what the red car is doing so no overtaking for cars and with that everything larger than a car so motor-bikes & bicycles are still allowed to overtake.
My brother was one from the students in Freiburg in the 1990ies, 25 years ago. At the time, Freiburg was a student city, but not so heavily bike oriented.
PS: I also own a bike (actually a trike) with a loading case for my weekly shopping tour. Yes, I am cycling for grocery shopping.
We had no car when our 3 kids where small. 2 in the carrier, one on my bike. The carrier could also be used as a buggy.
Iced streets where the only reason to not go by bike.
Mostly you are not slower than by car, sometimes even faster. Skipping traffic jams, taking shortcuts through parks etc and - very important - not surching for a place to park.
It's a DO NOT OVERTAKE sign
The "little boats" the children are playing with, are made in a workshop for people with disabilities and sold in toy shops in the city. The clients work in the carpentry workshop to cut, shape, and paint the boats and in the sewing workshop to make the sails.
Haha, @Ryan you should totally check a picture from the mass of bycicles besides the Hauptbahnhof (main station) Heidelberg 😂
My hometown of Münster bears the name "Bicycle Capital 2023".
Each inhabitant owns an average of 2,5 Bicycles. With over 300,000 inhabitants, you can calculate what it looks like here.
Fun fact about the 'Bächleboot' (the boats) they are build by handicapped people. The REHA-Laden, the company around it, employs handicapped in manufacturing and has social workers overlooking the process. Those people would otherwise have a hard time to thrive in our workforce. Afaik, the jobs aren't paid worse than i. e. cashier at ALDI. Although I only know the wages for sales people, which are not handicapped.
They build simple things, but it's a valuable form of integration or rather giving a space for people that otherwise would not get work.
❤
Yep, and the REHA-Laden has a stand in the city center, additionally to their store, nearly all year round which specifically started for those little boats back in the day.
Welcome to my city... LOL... I cant belive that (with just 5 seconds into the vid) the first tram YOU see passed MY balkony IRL!!!
Ryan, the opposite of "insufficient" is "sufficient".
just for context. Freiburg is the leading city in Solar in Germany. They are the place where in the 1950 the population votet agains Nuclear energy (being one of the places the greenparty got stated) and focussed on Solar 30 years before anyone else.
YAY, MY CITY. Second video involving it as the main location hehe