Steven Can Plan
Currently viewing the tag: "Utrecht"
A woman pushes a child in a bakfiets trike (cargo bike), while another child cycles in front of them.
What is mobility education?
It’s an expansion of driver’s education (driver’s ed) to include learning how to bicycle safely, how to walk safely, how to use transit, and how to drive a car around diverse transportation system users (those who aren’t in a car). In the Netherlands, this education starts at 10 and 11 years old. Watch the video below to see how elementary school kids use the “traffic garden” in Utrecht (I went there in January 2011) to learn how to be safe.
The Netherlands has the lowest crash rate in the world. And the lowest injury and fatality rate. Part of this is based on good design and engineering, but also education, enforcement, and different liability laws.
The coolest city in Europe. And probably where I spent most of the time bicycling around town. I carried my GPS tracker with me at all times in Europe. I had to edit the routes to exclude my train trip to Utrecht and back. In the end, I biked about 134 kilometers / 83 miles (see my map).
My rental bike on the docklands in the ‘t IJ looking towards Centraal Station. The cruise ship passenger terminal is on the left. The bike is a Gazelle Superieur Special. I paid €5 per day and a €50 deposit. Thanks to Ãlvaro for the recommendation of Recycled Rentals.
One of the free ferries, this one to IJ-Buurtveer. I took this one instead, to Buiksloterwegveer (Amsterdam Nord).
Amsterdam can be boiled down to a few things: Bikes, beer, and water. This post is heavy on water, and light on bikes. A beautifully yellow tugboat owned by the Port of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has trains going everywhere, from Centraal Station, every few minutes. 32 trains every hour. An additional 18 trains daily. The Thalys has service to Brussels, Belgium, and Paris, France, nine times per day. I arrived in the station from Wuppertal, Germany (via Venlo and Eindhoven). I left the station to get to Utrecht for a day trip and then I left the station on the DB CityNightLine to Copenhagen (a magical 15-hour journey).
Houseboats in the canals and Amstel river are quite common. A Flickr commenter describes a little more about it (click on the photo to read it).
Not everyone has a purpose-built cargo bike in Amsterdam, but more exist here than anywhere else (except perhaps Copenhagen). Just tote your stuff under your arm, including a sheet of plywood. You might want to try out the WorkCycles Fr8 – a locally designed cargo bike.
And a gratuitous shot of me bicycling towards the docklands. I should have been smiling – as I was having such a wonderful time, but maybe I’m not because it was kind of cold.
View the 60 other photos I’ve uploaded of Amsterdam. If you want to visit, let me help you plan your trip.
All links lead to a photo or photoset of that city. More links will be added as I upload more photos. Cities are in the order I traveled through Europe, over 18 days.
All blogs about this trip are under the tag, Europe trip.
- Fiumicino, Italy (my arrival city – I got my first passport stamp here)
- Roma, Italy (I spent no time here, just arrived here from the airport to change trains to go to Milano)
- Milano, Italy (spent 1 day here, but also changed trains here en route to Como from Roma)
- Como, Italy
- San Fermo della Battaglia, Italy
- Chiasso, Switzerland (bought some candy here on my way back to San Fermo della Battaglia after climbing Monte Generoso)
- Hannover, Germany (flew from Milano Malpensa airport to Hannover airport and took the train from Hannover airport to Hannover Hauptbahnhof and another train from here to Bremen Hauptbahnhof)
- Bremen, Germany
- Wuppertal, Germany
- Venlo, Netherlands (to change trains)
- Eindhoven, Netherlands (to change trains)
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Utrecht, Netherlands – Blog about bicycling between Utrecht and Houten
- Houten, Netherlands
- Copenhagen, Denmark (my departure city – I got my second and last passport stamp here)
- Frederiksberg, Denmark
A bike “jam” – everyone in the photo is performing a “Copenhagen left” or box turn.
The Schwebebahn is the world’s oldest operating monorail that operates daily in the North Rhine-Westphalia city of Wuppertal, Germany.
About Steven Can Plan
I started this blog in 2007 as the writing assignment for an introductory urban planning class at UIC. It's about cities (mainly Chicago), GIS oftentimes, and transportation (mainly bicycling). Learn more about me, Steven Vance. I also write for Streetsblog Chicago.
Steven Can Plan is hosted on Dreamhost.
Chicago Bike Map App
The Chicago Bike Map app is a bike and street map stored entirely in your iOS device – no data connection required. The map is designed to look much like the City of Chicago's official printed and online bike map. The app works on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
- Download from the iTunes Store
- Demo the app online
- On iOS, search for "chicago bike map" in the App Store app
Highly Recommended Bike Products
These folding locks are lighter weight and more versatile than an equally strong u-lock.
Planet Bike SuperFlash taillight
The best value taillight. It has three red LEDs that alternate and provide extreme brightness. I have two of these.
Detours Toocan utility pannier
I've used this pannier to carry groceries, books, my laptop, clothing, anything. I like it because it's stylish (but also "normal" looking at the same time), stands up on its own, is extremely durable, and has the most universal attachment system: two hooks.
Books
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (50th Anniversary Edition) (Modern Library) by Jane Jacobs
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
As someone who doesn't like driving, but believes that cars can be efficient in moving groups of people and goods, this is my favorite book.
The Practice of Local Government Planning (Municipal Management Series) by
You could basically design and administer a new town kind of effectively after reading this huge and boring textbook.
Joyride: Pedaling Toward A Healthier Planet by Mia Birk, With Joe (Metal Cowboy) Kurmaskie, Joe Kurmaskie, Jim Moore
I met Mia Birk in October 2011.
