Cars and Bikes

July 31st, 2011

I have an op ed in the New York Times today on the topic of how American cities and European cities deal with cars…

Amsterdam. AS an American who has been living here for several years, I am struck, every time I go home, by the way American cities remain manacled to the car. While Europe is dealing with congestion and greenhouse gas buildup by turning urban centers into pedestrian zones and finding innovative ways to combine driving with public transportation, many American cities are carving out more parking spaces. It’s all the more bewildering because America’s collapsing infrastructure would seem to cry out for new solutions.

Go to the story.

13 Responses to Cars and Bikes

Aaron Naparstek says:

July 31, 2011 at 2:04 pm

Hi Russell:

Great piece in today’s Week in Review section.

One quibble: How in the world did you come up with this observation?!

“…Manhattan’s bike lanes seem to be used more for recreation than transport.”

It’s like you’re looking at Manhattan streets in 1991 instead of 2011.

Take a look at the most recent DOT bike commuter data or some of the great bike commuter Flickr sets that are out there (like the one I linked to above). Today, the vast majority of people biking on NYC streets, particularly on weekdays, are using their bikes for commuting — running errands, dropping their kids off and school. New Yorkers of all stripes are using their bikes for transportation, just like people in Amsterdam. Not surprisingly, one of the biggest bike trends in the city right now are Dutch bikes. You see them all over the place, even bakfietsen.

Next time you’re in NYC I invite you to join me on out to Bergen Street in Boerum Hill Brooklyn between 7am and 9am on a weekday and take a look at the bicycle rush-hour into Manhattan. I bet it’ll remind you a lot of Amsterdam.

Speaking of which… I’m getting on a plane to Amsterdam tonight. Family vacation. Do you know a good place where we can rent some good family bikes?

–Aaron

Reply
Ayesha Khanna says:

July 31, 2011 at 4:01 pm

Excellent op-ed Russell!

Reply
C. Edward McKinney says:

July 31, 2011 at 5:20 pm

Dear Mr. Shorto,
I read your piece about bicycles in Amsterdam.
Good for them. I’ve actually spent more time in Antwerp, where cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, share the same cobble-stoned places. New York is not Amsterdam or Antwerp.
I do not know the solution, but simply painting more bike lanes is not it, as long as bicclists REFUSE to….ride with the flow of traffic, stop at red lights and stop signs, stay off sideWALKS.
As a pedestrian who uses a cane to get around I feel very vulternable when I’m crossing the street, with the light, and I see some maniac on a bicycle, riding outside of the bike lane, in the WRONG direction, or against the light. And if there are to be more bike lanes, mark the direction in which the riders are supposed to go. Otherwise, bicyclists should have their machines confiscated, and they should be prosecuted to the FULLEST extent of the law.
C. Edward McKinney

Reply
Jane Kyle says:

July 31, 2011 at 10:35 pm

Amsterdam is flat and has a maze of canals that already make auto traffic counter-intuitive. It has a head start on getting folks onto bicycles. You can cruise around in the old city on a practical bike in street clothes without breaking a sweat.

Although Holland has a professional cycling culture and loves its lycra-clad heroes (go Rabobank!), it has come to the idea of a cycling in the city as an extension of being a pedestrian, not as a workout on the way to work or the wish fulfillment of one’s Tour de France cycling fantasies.

I live in Portland, Oregon–one of America’s most bike friendly cities. It takes a concerted effort to open city streets to commuting riders and the city’s leaders are behind that effort despite an anti-bike minority. There’s a lot of ranting and raving in the comments section of our local newspapers about “those damn cyclists” by those who feel bikes don’t belong in traffic. Yet every day many thousands ride into and across the city going about their business. Bicycle commuting is growing here, not leveling off.

If you want to read some civil discourse and learn something more about the cycling culture in PDX, check out the excellent website, bikeportland.org.

Reply
Mari Lynch - Bicycling Monterey says:

August 1, 2011 at 3:57 pm

Thanks for your story. As I tell shoppers in Monterey County, let’s go Dutch! http://marilynch.com/blog/tips-for-tourists/unique-attractions

Reply
RJ Mallette says:

August 1, 2011 at 6:39 pm

Great article. I’ve also shared similar feelings on cycling in the US. I spent 5yrs of my youth in the Netherlands and Germany and used my bike to get everywhere. After being out of the US for 5 yrs, by far my biggest surprise was the volume of car commercials on TV. I could not conceive that the number of people shopping for cars could ever justify a commercial every 5 minutes! I don’t think Americans can ever realize how car centric America is until they travel abroad.

You are correct in that most people who live beyond the confines of a large urban city need a car to get to work. Even in large cities, mass transit is slow to catch on. But even more so, I think America has a love affair with the Automobile. Invented and perfected here, it’s ingrained into our very DNA. What is still the first thing your teenager will ask for on their 16th Birthday? The Big 3 were for so long a bell weather for our economy and identity. “What’s good for GM, Chrysler and Ford is good for America”. Obviously, those days are long gone. Automobile manufacturing is no longer a large part of our workforce or economy. But attitudes are slow to change.

I hope urban planners continue to take the bike into account. I know here in Dallas we have a large cycling community and continue to add more trails and bike lanes. I would cycle to work if I was close enough. Until that day, I’ll continue to bike in my free time.

Everyone in our family has a road bike and we love to ride. I’ve cycled through Vermont, Yellowstone, Ireland and even Amsterdam! It is simply the best way to experience a new city or town. And after a long day of biking around Amsterdam, what could be better than relaxing with a glass of Weissbier?

Reply
alexander sorisky says:

August 1, 2011 at 10:04 pm

May I add that the other styriking attribute of most urban cyclists in Amsterdam is the absence of helmets. I think this is very telling, as the Dutch are a very sensible people. My thought is that the respect of all commuters for each other makes helmets unnecessary, and this also has the postive effect of removing a subtle obstacle for many who contemplate a bike trip in the city. The rate of head trauma is not elevated in Amsterdam, as far as I know.

Reply
Ken Watts says:

August 1, 2011 at 11:46 pm

I live in Wisconsin and it is too cold (in my opinion) to bike for at least 6 months a year. I ride a bike, a bus and drive. I enjoy all of these modes of transportation for one reason or another. I do not bike at night and it appears there wouldn’t be a reason to if everything shuts down at 6 pm. And shopping for groceries every day? What a national waste of time. And I must echo Mr. Mckinney’s observations. In addition, lots of bicyclists with no helmet, dressed in dark colors with no lights riding at night around these parts.

Reply
David says:

August 2, 2011 at 6:54 pm

Congratulations on being picked up by the NYT. You piece is very interesting and it’s almost the first positive piece that that fine publication has ever printed regarding biking. I have a folding bike and take the train and then bike. I try and avoid the bike lanes. Too dangerous and filled with double parked cars, pedestrians and push carts. Better is the bus lane that is almost empty as it is filled with parked police cars every block.

Reply
Tom says:

August 5, 2011 at 5:49 pm

In general I liked your article in the NYT but I think that you are much too generous in your praise of Dutch bread. Most bread here (I am writing as a US expat in Amsterdam) is the same awful spongy kind that is popular in the US, only here it tends to be brown, not white bread. The bread that all my Dutch friends eat at home and at their office for lunch is usually bought at the Albert Heijn supermarket, prepackaged in plastic wrap, just like in the US. It’s also equally bland. If you want really good bread you have to cross the border to Germany, where the bread is much more solid and tasty. Or go to a Dutch “Biomarkt” where they sell tastier bread than at Dutch supermarkets and bakeries. So there is good bread here, but you you have to go out of your way (by bike! to buy it. Most Dutch people don’t. They buy whatever is cheapest.

Reply
Jan says:

August 6, 2011 at 10:21 am

Dear Mr Shorto, I read your article with interest and thought you might like this public service announcement on the benefits of biking by the City of Amsterdam.

Reply
- Jan says:
  
  August 10, 2011 at 11:18 am
  
  I see the HTML tag didn’t work. Here is the link again: http://youtu.be/EOkqTDdtlc4 (you can also click on my name to get there)
  
  Reply
Travis says:

August 8, 2011 at 6:02 pm

I lived in Germany for a number of years and now live in Portland, OR. I biked frequently in both locales. My personal observation is this: even in Portland, an extremely bike friendly town, disconnecting from the car is exceptionally difficult. The reason has less to do with urban planning than the fact that my family attempts to jam as many activities as possible into one day so much so that we live under a time crunch. Kids in Germany certainly have activities, but generally not so many activities that we rushed from one event to another in the same day.

Reply