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Utrecht: Planning for People & Bikes, Not for Cars

Name: Utrecht: Planning for People & Bikes, Not for Cars
Description: Streetfilms shows how Utrecht reduced car traffic in its center by removing roadways, building huge bike parking near the train station, and making cycling transitions safer and easier.

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1 HN user recommended this documentary1 month2019–2022 score 1

Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN users cite it as a short, inspiring look at the Dutch approach to bike-friendly urban planning.

Streetfilms shows how Utrecht reduced car traffic in its center by removing roadways, building huge bike parking near the train station, and making cycling transitions safer and easier.

“Shows the fantastic transformation of Utrecht.” (HN, 2019)

1 recommendations · 2 citations · Documentaries

Transit, cities & urban planning Documentaries Engineering, Transport & Making

3 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@l4u532 Jul 2019 Recommends

on HN thread How Utrecht Became a Paradise for Cyclists

Having lived in Copenhagen I can only attest the surge in living quality when a city adopts a no-compromise bicycle strategy. Back in car-loving Munich I feel set back a century. With city council members putting forward arguments like that bike lanes will “destroy retail businesses”. It’s frustrating. Ps: here’s the short film the article talks about. Shows the fantastic transformation of Utrecht. [this video]

Short film on Utrecht's transformation for bikes

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Citations, criticism and jokes

@jacobparker Oct 2019 Cites it

on HN thread We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

> Biking isn’t safe enough to not wear a helmet Could you explain why you think that? That’s a pretty general statement. Are you imagining city biking here, or something more like racing in the country-side? Some data about how this is dangerous could be convincing: [this video] count the helmets. Just to be clear, I’m not against helmets (I wear one, as is custom in my country).

Shows Dutch cyclists mostly without helmets

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@drran Feb 2022 Cites it

on HN thread Ask HN: How do you deal with getting old and feeling lost?

I'm from Europe (Ukraine). Yes, I'm totally aware about risk of death in a road incident. After each incident, our bicyclist association does protest near to city administration, demanding more and safer bike lanes. Our plan to fix it is to make the city safer for cyclist. We are heavily inspired by success of Netherlands: [this video] . Situation is improved in recent years. Currently, half of my path to work is safe, while the other half is not. Helmet is a good idea (I recommend to wear helmet after all), but it has some downsides. We can discuss upsides and downsides of helmet a lot, but I recommend using my OKR instead, when you recommend biking to newbies: «use helmet until you will fall 10 times at least». It's simple, easy to understand, easy to remember, actionable, and leaves no room for doubt.

Netherlands as inspiration for safer bike lanes

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