Amsterdam has long been recognized as one of the world’s great bicycling cities, and for good reason—the city is home to more bikes than people and a higher percentage of trips within the city are made by bike than by car. While Amsterdam residents have long had a history of cycling to meet their daily needs, a cultural preference for two-wheeled transportation alone does not explain why the city so vastly outpaces its peers in nearly every measure of bicycle use. Instead, over the past half-century, local advocates, elected officials, and other stakeholders have worked to reverse the city’s post–World War II embrace of the automobile by crafting bike-friendly policies and directing funding toward infrastructure that makes meeting one’s daily transportation needs by bike a safe, convenient, and even obvious choice.

• Total Bicycles: 881,000 bikes for 835,000 residents
• Proportion of population who cycle daily: 58% of those older than 12
• Total Length Of Cycle Paths and Bike Lanes: 477 Miles (767 Km)
• Bicycle Shops: 140
• Bicycle Parking Spots around Amsterdam Central Station: 10,000
• Bicycle Racks: 200,000 to 225,000
• Secured Bike Parking Garages: 25 (Including 8 free garages)
• Source: Building Healthy Places Initiative (BHP), https://uli.org/Health