Groningen: The World's Cycling City
654,246
Published 2013-10-10
The story of how they got there is a mix of great transportation policy, location and chance. You'll learn quite a bit of history in the film, but essentially Groningen decided in the 1970s to enact policies to make it easier to walk and bike, and discourage the use of cars in the city center. By pedestrianizing some streets, building cycle tracks everywhere, and creating a unique transportation circulation pattern that prohibits vehicles from cutting through the city, Groningen actually made the bicycle -- in most cases -- the fastest and most preferred choice of transportation.
It does feel like bicycle nirvana. When I first got off the train in Groningen, I couldn't stop smiling at what I saw around me. In an email exchange with my friend Jonathan Maus from Bike Portland, he described it as being "like a fairy tale." This jibed with my first thought to him -- that I had "entered the game Candyland, but for bikes!" In fact, for our teaser I originally titled this Streetfilm "Groningen: The Bicycle World of Your Dreams," before I talked myself out of it. Although there is a magical quality about being there, in reality there is nothing dreamy or childlike about it. With political will and planning, what they have done should and can be done everywhere.
In our Streetfilm you'll see the 10,000 (!) bicycle parking spaces at the train station, some of the incredible infrastructure that enables cyclists to make their journeys safer and quicker, and you'll hear from many residents we encountered who go by bike just about everywhere they travel. But as one of my interview subjects, Professor Ashworth, wanted me to point out: the three days I was there were bright and sunny, and the hardy people keep up the bicycling through the cold winters. As with many bicycling cities, there area also big problems with cycle theft, and residents are always yearning for more bicycle parking.
I think most of us would trade some of those problems for a city with 50 percent mode share (and up to 60 percent in the city
All Comments (21)
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Cities in Netherlands are just so different. It's a perfect mix of modernity and old style.
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this creates a happy, healthy, fit and low enviromental impact civilization, wish all cities were like this
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Moved to Groningen 1 year ago. This is the best thing that’s happened to me! Purest air, healthy lifestyle, quiet and so relaxing.
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imagine those 10,000 bikes as cars.. a nightmare
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14:00 Something that is often also forgotten is that cycling paths or streets require FAR less maintenance. A path for cycling only can easily be left for 20-25 years without any major maintenance or reconstruction if it was built right in the first place. We see many examples of this even here in belgium. The problems always crop up on streets or roads shared with cars and other taffic, or where cars momentarily cross the cycling path. It's cars and other motorised traffic that cause a ton of tear and wear on roads, massively increasing needed maintenance frequency and maintenance costs. Another problem is utility companies doing digging or other underground works and then not rebuilding the cyce path or street decently, creating a weak spot that needs more maintenance. This really is a plague in Belgium... But this could be prevented or easily remedied. Just one example from the city where i live: The main road into the city hat i use to go to work was repaved with new asphalt only 2 years ago. But it is also a main road for motor traffic, and one of the busiest bus routes in the city. Already after mearly 2 years, the asphalt is already warping to dangerous levels, especially near the busstops. Yet all around the city there are cycle paths built decades ago that are still in near-pristine condition. Cycling infrastructure is way cheaper to build than any infrastructure for motorised traffic, AND maintenance is way, WAY cheaper and less frequent. So cycle paths naturally stay in good condition much longer than roads, even without good maintenance.
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Moved from Croatia to Netherland one year ago,and all I can say is thank God that somebody understands the value of a bike. Enjoing riding my bike here. Greetings from Tilburg
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This is the future of all the cities in the world. Cities are for people, not for (parked) cars.
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The key to this is having intelligent and educated policy/law makers instead of hateful and greedy ones.
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Dutch cycling documentaries are really soul-soothing. I watch them to chill out (another relaxing method cultivated in Holland ;) ). Even in Germany, this seems utopian.
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Bicycles can literally change the world. It’s amazing that we made way for vehicles, but not for this wonderful human invention.
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Damn I'm jealous. They bike around with peace of mind without anxiety. Great views, good roads, plus they don't end up all sweaty and dirty after.
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Bicycling enthusiast here from Chicago, Illinois USA. Wow! This is one amazingly bicycle friendly city! In general, Europe is much more bicycle friendly than the USA.
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That old man is very charismatic.
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"It is a mode of transport that keeps you alive" Come on Dublin, we can do it!
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Looks like a happy place to live, very well designed. People first, cars last.
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In Panama city, Panama we also close streets on weekends for bike use and some parks have bike lanes. It's more oriented towards exercise and sports but little by little the people are starting to commute . This gets people off the buses, cars and the subway. A big hello to the Dutch people from the Panama canal.
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My kind of city. 1. No pollution. 2. Lose Weight. 3. No dangerous chemicals - even better for the environment. 4. No insurance. 5. No fatal crashes 6. Save tons of money.
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No helmets (even for children). So civilized. Looks like a wonderful place to live.
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the 3 thumbs down were from Ford, GM, and Chrysler... haha
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♥️ from Jakarta Indonesia 🇲🇨. Hopefully, Jakarta will be a cycling city too.
