Amsterdam will open its huge underwater bicycle parking at central station on 26 January: local TV station AT5 was allowed to take a look inside.
at5.nl/artikelen/2186
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Mark Wagenbuur
@BicycleDutch
- all about cycling in the Netherlands - Cycling Ambassador with the Dutch Cycling Embassy.
Mark Wagenbuur’s posts
One minute of Amsterdam traffic. Intersection Weteringschans / Spiegelgracht.
It’s perfectly normal to see a parent cycling with a child like this in The Netherlands. I do realise how special that is. And I absolutely adore the freedom it gives people and children especially.
A bike bus is a group of children cycling to school together in a lot of countries. In the Netherlands a bike bus is one vehicle where all the children cycle together to move it.
Dutch children love to cycle to school in groups. In December that is in the dark.
Do you want a city for people or a city for cars? Utrecht demonstrates that you can get back what you once lost. Daalsesingel 2018 vs 2009.
The oldest cycle path in the Netherlands was opened on 15 September 1885, 137 years ago today. Part of it is still in use.
Anything is possible once you’ve created safer streets for everyone.
The comparison (below) got a lot of attention recently, but some people complained it was not the exact same location. So I tried to do better. The Utrecht Catharijnesingel from 1968 to 2022.
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Dezelfde plaats, maar dan ruim 40 jaar later. Hier is iets goed gegaan.
Making a left turn on a major arterial. No problem on a Dutch roundabout.
From grey belt to green belt. How Paris is going to transform its Boulevard Périphérique in the coming years. paris.fr/pages/de-la-ce
My first time that I saw the world’s largest bicycle parking garage in Utrecht at night. I couldn’t help but film one full circle on the ground floor. (One of the three floors!)
The Amsterdam centraal station underwater parking for 7000 bicycles was officially opened this morning (tomorrow for the public) and it looks beautiful!
So much can change in a year! Utrecht is converting its inner ring road into a city boulevard with more space for green and for walking and cycling. Motor traffic keeps only one lane per direction. More info (in Dutch) utrecht.nl/wonen-en-leven
Finally saw and experienced the finished car free zone in the city centre of Brussels. What a joy! Just the huge sound difference alone... Video from my own archive compared to footage I shot last week.
When you kick out cars you can make a street so much nicer. The Van Berckelstraat in 's-Hertogenbosch (NL) June 2020 versus July 2022.
“But how do you get your bicycle into one of those upper racks?” It’s not so hard. This video shows how I get my bike out and then back in again.
Thanks to , who let me film from his balcony, I was able to shoot some mesmerizing footage for a future post! Utrecht, Vredenburg.
Cycling infrastructure is not only great for cyclists. It gives freedom to travel to many more people.
Utrecht (the Netherlands) changed a lot in recent years and Google Streetview captured it all. A thread with 12 examples. Van Ostadelaan 2015 vs 2021; 1/12
I was allowed to visit the underground bicycle parking garage behind centraal station at the IJ side. Opens around 15 February.
The project that keeps impressing me every time I’m back in Utrecht. From road back to canal.
126 days difference in Utrecht - work in progress.
Utrecht is converting its inner ring road into a city boulevard with more space for green and for walking and cycling. Motor traffic keeps one lane per direction.
More info (in Dutch) utrecht.nl/wonen-en-leven
Rotterdam central. Entrance to the bicycle parking facility.
Dreary weather, but seeing the children cycling to school makes the morning right already.
In such torrential rain it’s even better to have safe protected cycle ways.
Driver of this car with a German license plate (from Osnabrück) wanted to enter the world's largest *bicycle* parking garage in Utrecht. Quite an 'achievement' to get this far from where cars are even allowed! The tourists are back...
Cycling in the tunnel at Amsterdam Central Station which gives access to the ferries to Amsterdam north.
I just arrived at the hospital in Utrecht for my open heart surgery, which will take place tomorrow morning. I will let you know asap how it went, but give me a couple of days.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands made a working visit today to a community centre in The Hague, at just 5 minutes cycling distance from his palace. Indeed: he cycled.
Utrecht, Netherlands, plans a new neighbourhood with 4 to 6K homes for 12,000 people where everything is within walking and cycling distance (including the Central Railway Station). The design deliberately makes cars unnecessary.
Snow with a Code Yellow weather alert in the Netherlands. But you got to cycle home after school, right!? Vredenburg, Utrecht.
The new cycleway leading to the biggest bicycle parking in Utrecht is used well in the morning rush hour. It doesn’t lead anywhere else, these people are *all* about to park their bikes!
New Year's reception of the Austrian president. The ambassadors of Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Italy and the Netherlands arrive by bicycle.
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Mit dem Fahrrad zum Neujahrsempfang des Bundespräsidenten f.d. Diplomatische Corps! Danke an @Denmark_in_AT für die Initiative und an die Botschafterinnen und Botschafter von Dänemark, Schweden, Neuseeland, Italien & Niederlande f.d. umweltfreundliche Anreise. #ClimateAmbition 
The amazing recent Utrecht metamorphosis was the inspiration for a great website. (In Dutch, but the pictures do the talking!) bouwpututrecht.nl/metamorfose-03 Watch on a large screen, click any of the pics and use the slide to see the before and after situation. One of my favs:
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Brussels to remove a quarter of all on-street car parking spaces by 2030. Residents to park in parking garages. Visitors should park at the edge of the city and then take public transport to the center.
Less than two months to go before the water will have completely returned in Utrecht and the motorway that came in its place temporarily (1973-2010) can be forgotten. Catharijnesingel in 1968, 2009, 2018 and 2020.
My simple solution to a very Dutch problem: in which exact rack did I park my bicycle the last time?
Reasons why cycling is better: you can stop to take a picture of the sunset.
The car free town centre of Emmen, Netherlands. A pedestrian zone where cycling is allowed.
When you see how streets were before, you appreciate their present state even more. Verwersstraat, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, NL. 1979 vs 2020.
Yes, I cycled, but… it was a lot harder than I had hoped. Still recovering from the open heart surgery exactly 6 weeks ago today.
Just by looking out of a train window you can see an obvious difference between Germany and the Netherlands in how most people seemed to have arrived at that train station. Almelo (the Netherlands) versus Wolfsburg (Germany).
Spectacular images of Amsterdam almost a century ago (1922). Stabilised and colourised, with stunning aerial views and of course cycling. youtu.be/e9s_PDRzrvM
Amsterdam during the biggest public transport strike in 15 years: Everybody on their bicycles.
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What a difference 10 years can make! Video showing the entrance of the world’s largest bicycle parking garage in Utrecht, at the Smakkelaarsveld side. Including a short fragment of what the former street there looked like in 2011.
I got to cycle into the basement of the world's biggest bicycle parking again. The only fun part of forgetting the key to my Utrecht bike and having to rent a shared bike instead of using my own.
We don’t have the ghost bike tradition in the Netherlands. And not many Dutch will know that tradition even exists. So, as strange as that may seem, this is just someone’s bicycle. Parked and ready to be used again.
One minute of cycling in the forest near Malden (Netherlands).
It may seem strange, at first, to have handicapped bike parking places, but many people can cycle much better than they can walk. It makes sense to have them park nearer to where they need to be. Zadelstraat bicycle parking, Utrecht, NL. Pic by
Earlier today my dear mother passed away.
She was very sick and decided her suffering had to end. My family and I are very sad but also proud of her bold decision. We will dearly miss her.
Marijke Wagenbuur-Ketelaars.
14-1-1944 | 24-3-2023
I’m quite entertained at this location, waiting for a group to guide in Utrecht. Vredenburg.
The incredible change of the Utrecht Rijnkade/Catharijnesingel. Around 1960 the original water, 2010 the motorway that replaced the water and 2020 and 2023 the returned water and (finally!) the replanted trees.
Background info: bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2020/09/16/utr
Showing you the change in Utrecht (the Netherlands), as documented on Google Streetview, was a hit! I have 12 further examples of the city’s recent transformation into a more people friendly place.
Croeselaan, 2009 vs 2021. 1/12
The Flemish Minister for Mobility opened a cycling bridge over the Brussels’ Ring near Machelen. The 169m long bridge cost 24m euro and shaves over 3km off the F3 route between Leuven (Louvain) and Brussels.
vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022
New development near ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Almost the first thing to finish was the cycling infrastructure.
Thanks to our modular street paving materials the trench for the new fiber optic cables was easy to dig and just two hour laters the paving looks to be smoother than before.
Always nice to interact with friendly drivers, who give me priority where I don't have it. I think it has to do with the very clear infra. When it is predictable what people are going to do you let them do it even if it isn't your turn yet. It saved me a stop and a lot of energy.
The Dutch championship Head Wind Cycling is taking place right now in Zeeland. Just look at these pics from !!!
I love my country, where this is simply possible! Sint Michielsgestel, NL.
The most special peloton I’ve ever been part of. Penny Farthing Tour. Zaltbommel (NL)
Non-stop rain today. If you think that'll make the Dutch stop cycling, think again. Filmed in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Replying to
Amazingly I’m already able to tell you myself that all went fine. I’m overwhelmed by all your good wishes. And look how well they helped. This is now. Thanks everyone!!
So, that app, the one that is supposed to turn traffic lights to green before you even reach them on your bicycle, does that really work? See for yourself: #Schwung 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. (Spoiler: of course it does!)
How can you take 18 children to a museum in the city centre of Utrecht? In two cargo bikes.
Spot the differences.
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@schlthss You’ll love the high speed exit angles on this one. twitter.com/achdidaho/stat…
The water all around the historic city centre of Utrecht will return on 12th September 2020. (After it was a motorway for over 40 years). Some trees returned yesterday. I went to have a look.
It was a bit windy the other day in Utrecht... #StormEunice
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The different stages of the Utrecht Catharijnesingel. In 1968 as the original canal, 1981 as a motorway (1973/2009), 2019 under reconstruction and in 2021 as a canal again. Pics from 1968/1981: Utrechts Archief. The 2019/2021 pics are my own. More info: bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2020/09/16/utr
How to get a parklet for extra bicycle parking racks. A trial is almost always acceptable.
This cycling street with cherry blossom in Utrecht is gorgeous, even on a rainy day!
Change in Vienna.
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Seit Juni wird die #Rotenturmstraße zur Begegnungszone umgebaut. Gestern und heute wurden die ersten neun Bäume in der Straße gepflanzt. Sieben weitere werden noch folgen. Was für ein Unterschied! #Wienliebe 
Amsterdam is changing dramatically. I was in Vijzelstraat for the first time in about 2 years and I was pleasantly surprised! Looked up the old situation in Google StreetView for some before and afters.
After more than 20 years Utrecht completed the removal of its city motorway. Since last Friday the moat around the previously walled city is restored and you can cycle all around it. I did just that for my new post:
Moped riders get a fine in the pedestrian zone in the city centre of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (where only cycling is allowed). “But I have to make a delivery.” “Then you have the wrong vehicle.”
Such elegance and class for a visit to the supermarket (where I saw this elderly lady before).
Happy Valentine’s Day! Never part without a kiss, also not when you're both on a bicycle. :-)
I cycled across the international border between The Netherlands and Belgium. That is always quite uneventful.
It’s that time of the year again, that students who end their school (after passing their exams) hang their school bag out with the Dutch flag.
Amsterdam fined 19,000 moped riders illegally using the cycle paths in a trial using 17 surveillance cameras, since November 2021. Where enforced moped riders stayed off the cycle paths better. Moped crashes decreased from 154 in 2017 to 25 in 2021.
What a beautiful morning! My fake commute was exceptionally wonderful today! ‘s-Hertogenbosch, NL.
My hometown ʼs-Hertogenbosch has opened a very special cycle street: it is shared with buses as guest and it is not accessible to private cars. New post:
A common Dutch roundabout with priority for cycling looks like a work of art in the snow! Traffic Cam Purmerend: webcamtaxi.com/en/netherlands
A corner in the centre of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. First we let the car in. That was dangerous and we thought traffic lights and zebra crossings would be the answer. But then we realised we didn’t need all that, if we simply got rid of motor traffic. Markt/Hinthamerstraat 1959/1970/2020
Last mile to the Dutch GP is either by bike or on foot. This is the bicycle parking lot.
No visitor cars allowed to enter Zandvoort where the GP takes place.
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Using precious city space for cars was a big mistake. Utrecht has moved on; this square is now for people again. Domplein, Utrecht, NL
Merry Christmas with the Fietsorkest (“Cycling Orchestra”) in Amsterdam.
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Standard Dutch roundabout design with priority for cycling in the built-up area. This one is partly bi-directional (for cycling). Zaltbommel, Netherlands.
