Holland: Cars v Bicycles

The great thing about taking the train from the UK to the European mainland is that you can take your folding bike with you for free (bag it up though). I never cease to be astonished by the quality and quantity of cycling infrastructure in The Netherlands.

What makes cycling in The Netherlands so amazing? The Dutch transformed their cycling infrastructure following unrelenting public protest during the 1970s and it serves as the global gold standard.

Bicycle-only access

Some of the best spots in The Netherlands can only be reached by bicycle. In the late August 2019 summer heat I did some superb cycling between bicycles-only natural water bathing spots, one of which was “Strandje aan het Meer” in the northeast corner of the Spiegelplas between Amsterdam and Hilversum. (Use this website to check natural swimming water quality throughout The Netherlands.)

Unambiguous priority for bicycles

Where bicycles and cars must share the same space, the former have priority. Road markings and signage in The Netherlands unambiguously convey this priority.

Bicycle roundabouts

Dutch bicycle roundabouts address the problems of safety and journey times.

Standard road junctions can discourage cycling in that they often don’t explicitly address bicycles as a vulnerable road user group thus making them inherently dangerous. They also slow down journeys: in London, traffic lights slow my 3.5 mile cycle commute down to 25 minutes, a journey which takes me only 50 minutes on foot.

On a bicycle roundabout cyclists — in the outer circle — always have priority over motorists — in the inner circle. Motorists must yield to bicycle traffic both when they enter and when they exit the roundabout. Cyclists need yield only to cyclists already in the roundabout or pedestrians.

The improved safety and journey times are particularly appreciated by young, elderly and other less confident cyclists who struggle more to negotiate unregulated junctions and for whom stopping and starting at junctions takes relatively more effort.

The case for cycle roundabouts is not always clear cut. Traditional intersections can animate streets by compressing activity, which the more space-hungry cycle roundabouts counteract. However, I can imagine compact versions fitting nicely inside the diamond shaped intersections in Valencia’s or Barcelona’s Eixample districts where the corners of blocks are chamfered to bring in daylight and on-street activity. (Is more credit due to the inadvertent foresight of the architects of this innovative urban form?)

A further innovation to the bicycle roundabout is at Eindhoven’s Hovenring, although the disadvantages of such a vertical separation of flows inside dense cities are likely to outweigh the benefits.

Equitable treatment of cyclists and motorists by the law

Article 185 of the Dutch Highway Code (“Strict Liability”) ensures that motorists carry the relatively higher burden in an accident with a cyclist. Unless a motorist can prove circumstances beyond their control, they are liable for financial damages.

What about the Dutch and their cars?

It’s always seemed to me that, as much as the Dutch love their bikes, they also love their cars and roads. (Dutch roads are considered so ‘excellent’ that the country is considered the most prepared in the world for autonomous vehicles.)

Let’s explore this a bit.

Because The Netherlands has a much higher population density, a comparison with other EU countries should adjust for density.

As population density increases, distances between destinations — and therefore the total length of road per person — should shrink. This relationship is evident in the below chart comparing EU countries.

The Netherlands has a higher population density than the UK, Germany and Italy, so we would expect it to have a lower per capita length of road. This is however not the case. Even though the Dutch live much closer to each another than people in the UK, Germany and Italy, the Dutch have more road length per person than in those less densely populated countries.

Why does a country with such great cycling infrastructure — and its uptake — not reduce the supply of roads to throttle down demand for motor vehicle transport? The many complex reasons are likely to be dominated by factors such as the structure of the economy and commuting patterns.

Take for example trade with other countries. The below chart shows that the Dutch economy relies on being a “net GHG exporter” more so than most of its European counterparts: part of its GHG emissions are from producing goods that are consumed outside The Netherlands. Dutch roads are needed to transport these goods to their destinations (ports, airports or neighbouring countries).

As the climate crisis grows, CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to transport will come under increasing scrutiny. In the below chart showing per capita transport CO2 emissions (and the net GHG import factor) by population density of EU countries, The Netherlands is only slightly above the approximate trend for richer EU countries — defined here as those with GDP per capita exceeding $20,000.

As discussed earlier, The Netherlands being a “net GHG exporter” is likely to push up its per capita transport CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, given Dutch global leadership in cycling — a zero emissions mode of transport — this relatively high level of per capita transport emissions is still disappointing.

The Netherlands should use the same foresight, courage and creativity that made it the world leader in cycling infrastructure and uptake to tackle its problem with too many roads and cars. Measures could include (1) reduced dependence on high GHG emitting exports; (2) switching to lower emitting electric vehicles — the country has the highest density of electric vehicle charging points — and (3) greater localisation of economic activity, with shorter distances for commuting and goods transport.

The added advantage of the latter is that it should lead to an even larger number of journeys made by bicycle!