19 October 2011

Will To Change ~ History of Dutch Cycling Ways

Cycle Pathologist Mark Wagenbuur shares How the Dutch got their cycling infrastructure...
"...the way Dutch streets and roads are built today is largely the result of deliberate political decisions in the 1970s to turn away from the car centric policies of the prosperous post war era. Changed ideas about mobility, safer and more livable cities and about the environment led to a new type of streets in the Netherlands. [...] The Netherlands’ problems were and are not unique, their solutions shouldn’t be that either. [...] the Dutch could and should be copied. If you look at the key factors for the change in Dutch thinking, you see these are just as valid today. The world is still too dependent on fossil fuels and many cities in the world have congested streets. Streets and roads which are also very dangerous, especially for vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. And that is even more so when these road users are elderly or children."

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