PalenQ

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/wo...agewanted=2&hp

Ineresting story in today's NY Times about the plethora of bikes in Amsterdam and the problems bikers have finding a place to park them in this congested city - pictured is the multi-story bike garage opposite Centraal Station - and for those who want to bike around Amsterdam take heed for the novice this could be like a real hairy experience!

BigAleinstein

The same disease is beginning in NYC as well. We now have the same public bike rental system that the French innovated. Long have restaurant deliverymen and bike messengers terrorized pedestrians, now bikers who have no clue as to the rules of the road, let alone the unwritten rules of courtesy are riding carelessly and without consideration. I would estimate that 85-90% either ignore the rules of courtesy or the laws, do not know them, or do not care.

wanderful

The article indicates that the bike parking lot at the Centraal Station is the most photographed item for tourists. I can attest to that: I was astonished at the endless sea of bikes there, and took my share of clichéd photos.

I can see how bikes might be a problem, but, all in all, it's not a bad problem to have. No air pollution and all that biking has got to be healthy for people. I was also amazed at how adroit Amsterdam bikers were in navigating their way through car and tram traffic. Sometimes it was almost a ballet.

Dukey1

My experience in Amsterdam is that those people on bikes very much DO know all the rules and one of them is stay OUT of bike lanes if you are on foot. The riders seem to obey traffic signals, too.

PalenQ

Yes Dukey you dare stroll into the marked bike lanes as tourists naively often do and be prepared for a cacaphony of yells, jeers and honking of bike horns!

sf7307

I've only been almost run into once by a bicycle and once by a tram - not bad for 5 days here!

bilboburgler

saw a very funny Bloomberg Director interview burbling on about the terrible bicycles arriving in her city and this terrible mayor has ignored all right thinking (ie her) views about these monsters, if only they let people comment...

Meanwhile climate change is amongst us and stalking our streets...

BigAleinstein

Manhattan has the lowest car ownership percentage in the country and natives either walk, take public transportation or cabs. Bicyclists think they are elvated life forms. If they would try for peaceful co-existence, then there would be a lot more for support for them.

hetismij2

Bike parking is a problem at all stations, regardless of the size of the town/city where the station is. Orphan bikes, and those illegally parked are regularly removed, but it doesn't help much. As a pedestrian one of my pet hates is the fact there is is often a bike path but no footpath, and when there is a footpath it is often clogged with parked bikes.

Cyclists in Amsterdam, and elsewhere in NL generally take road signs and traffic lights as advisory only on the whole, especially as drivers are regarded as guilty in a bike meets vehicle accident, unless it can be proved without a doubt the cyclist did something illegal. Even then the cyclist is generally not held responsible for the damage to the vehicle or driver thereof.
The worst are the MAMILs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) who ignore road signs, rules about lights, bells, riding more than two abreast, compulsory bike tracks and so on.
In their quest to emulate Bradley Wiggins et al, great groups of them cycle at high speed along narrow tracks shouting at unfortunates who are out for a quiet afternoon ride, happily go through red lights, diving out onto the road if necessary, even where that road is an 80km road on which bikes are banned. Their mountain biking counterparts, who make the woods around here unsafe for other users are just as bad.

The bike is still very much the main means of transport for shortish journeys, with kids cycling to school from a very young age. When they go to secondary school they often cycle long distances - up to 40km each way- in some cases. They also cycle in big groups often, and car drivers know to be wary around them.

Pegontheroad

When I was in Germany a couple of weeks ago, I had a couple of close calls with bikers whizzing by me at high speeds. I guess if I lived in one of these cities (Berlin, Dresden, or Leipzig), I would have enough experience to be on the lookout, but I wasn't expecting this kind of close call.

These riders were on sidewalks, by the way. There was no warning from either of them.

cigalechanta

We have that bike program here in Boston/Cambridge
but no problems yet and don't see many on the streets.

bardo1

This made me think of the train station in Ghent:

http://talesfromthe613.blogspot.com/...1_archive.html

I always wonder how the people parked in the middle of this get to their bike and get it out...

nytraveler

If bike riders followed the rules problems could be limitd. However, in NYC

_Many do NOT stay in bike lanes
Some even ride n the sidewalks
Many ride the wrong way down one-way streets
Quite a few ignore stop lights and do no ceded right of way to pedestrians

I was hit by a pizza delivery guy on a bike (he was on the SIDEWALK, which was narrow and ran into me from behind. Went to the ER - and ended up with 2 sprained wrists, a cracked (broken but not displaced_ nose and a bunch of bruises and scrapes. An other pedestrian tried to stop him to get his name/restaurant - but he shot off.

That's why a lot of people in NYC Hate bike riders. (I do ride mine - in the park = and follow all the rules.)

BigAleinstein

There are now laws in NYC that :

1. Food delivery bikers must wear a neon vest that has the name of the establishment on it.

2. If you are over the age of 12, you cannot ride your bike on the sidewalk.

PalenQ

And those Dutch bikes are no lightweights but heavy duty machines that I call Dutch Tanks - get hit by one of those and it's like being rolled over by a Mack Truck.

menachem

the reason why cyclists "do not obey the rules" is that in places like London or NYC it's simply dangerous for them to be in the street, where bikelanes are often laid out in such a way as to maken them potentially lethal for cyclists.

Amsterdam is striving to up its modal share of bike journeys. In place like Groningen, that modal share is around 60% (ie, 60 % of journeys within the city are made by bike), and that is because the city is pretty much geared towards cyclists, not motorists.

One of the horrors of cycling in Amsterdam is the tourists who do not seem to get that a red path with a bicycle painted on it is reserved for cyclists. So they walk along it in great droves and then stop in the middle to admire the architecture. They also seem to be deaf. Hence the shouting.

menachem

the definitive resource on bicycle infrastructure, David Hembrow's excellent "a view from the cycle path"

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com

BigAleinstein

the reason why cyclists "do not obey the rules" is that in places like London or NYC it's simply dangerous for them to be in the street, where bikelanes are often laid out in such a way as to maken them potentially lethal for cyclists.

Where would you like to put them? For the new bike lanes in NYC, they have created a wall of protection of parked cars for the bicyclists. Cars on those streets must now park in a special designated area about 10-12 feet from the curb which creates a corridor for the bikes.

Now if the cyclists would only use them.

SharonG

I was shocked in Amsterdam by all the little kids sitting in those crates on the front of the bikes with no helmets and no straps that I could see.

hetismij2

Why? They are perfectly safe, there are normally straps for them in bakfietsen.
Kids sit in special seats on bikes from the time they can sit up. They develop a good sense of balance and usually learn to ride very quickly as a result.
You will see very young children pedalling along on their little bikes guided by sn adult, taking part in everyday traffic.