Building a Truly Bike-Friendly City: Lessons from Amsterdam

Format
Brief

City
Amsterdam

State/Province
Noord-Holland

Country
Netherlands

Metro Area
Amsterdam

Project Type
District/Corridor/Community

Location Type
Central Business District

Land Uses
Bicycle Lanes
Bridge
Civic Uses
Connected Regional Bicycle Paths
Parking
Streets
Transportation Use

Keywords
amsterdam
bicycle
bike lanes
Bike safety
Design for healthy living
parking minimums
traffic congestion
woonerf

Date Started
1973

Date Opened
2017

A brief is a short version of a case study.

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.

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Format
Brief

City
Amsterdam

State/Province
Noord-Holland

Country
Netherlands

Metro Area
Amsterdam

Project Type
District/Corridor/Community

Location Type
Central Business District

Land Uses
Bicycle Lanes
Bridge
Civic Uses
Connected Regional Bicycle Paths
Parking
Streets
Transportation Use

Keywords
amsterdam
bicycle
bike lanes
Bike safety
Design for healthy living
parking minimums
traffic congestion
woonerf

Date Started
1973

Date Opened
2017

  • 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
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