Poll

Can there be too many bikes?

This is badass! I don't care about bike queues, I'm retired!
The city needs to spend much more on bike infrastructure if there are so many bikes
This is sounds dangerous having so many bikes, more people should drive
Sounds great as it is, I could live there

Author Topic: Can there be to many bikes? Or is the Netherlands the land of MMM biking utopia?  (Read 3355 times)

nycbrit

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1

An interesting example of a whole city of Mustachians!

Too many bikes?
"Take the example of Groningen, a city in the northern Netherlands. Out of a population of just under 200,000, there are 375,000 bicycles, and 50 percent of all trips are made by bike"

http://m.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/a-915598.html

mpbaker22

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1095
Would never work in St. Louis where, sadly, the government's idea of a bike lane is painting a picture of a bike on the pavement.  Seriously, outside of a few roads in the city, most the so-called bike paths run down roads that are just busy enough to be considered somewhat heavy traffic, but just slow enough to have stop signs instead of traffic lights.  The result is a need to stop at a stop sign every .25 miles.  It's almost as if the people in the government who plan these things don't ride bikes.

Albert

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1244
  • Location: Switzerland
It's a nice problem to have I'd say. In addition of it being heavily promoted urban areas of Netherlands and Denmark are perfectly suited for cycling - excellent climate and flat as a table.

unitsinc

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 188
  • Age: 38
  • Location: Houston/Denver
Would never work in St. Louis where, sadly, the government's idea of a bike lane is painting a picture of a bike on the pavement.  Seriously, outside of a few roads in the city, most the so-called bike paths run down roads that are just busy enough to be considered somewhat heavy traffic, but just slow enough to have stop signs instead of traffic lights.  The result is a need to stop at a stop sign every .25 miles.  It's almost as if the people in the government who plan these things don't ride bikes.

I've visited The Netherlands. There is no such thing as a bike lane. That's called the road. When you outnumber cars, you just bully them into submission. If St. Louis(or anywhere else) suddenly converted to 50% bike trips, the cars would quickly learn to yield.

gooki

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2917
  • Location: NZ
    • My FIRE journal
A bike takes up 1/20 the space of a car. There can never be to many bikes.

Mayan

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 50
All I can think is that if too much bike traffic is a problem, it's one that would be significantly worse if all the commuters were driving cars on those same roads instead

MoneyCat

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1752
  • Location: New Jersey
I really wish my town had more bike lanes.  The heavy traffic roads are a little dangerous.  Of course, I live in NJ, which has the highest population density of any state in the USA.