We met up with Meredith again today, first heading out on a bike tour. In the historic center of the city, she explained that there is less infrastructure but high density and shared space that acts as intensive traffic calming. One of the main aspects of her tour was showing us examples of intersections that …
Monthly Archives: July 2019
Day 21 – 25 July 2019
This morning, we met with Meredith Glaser, a PhD candidate developing educational programs for visiting student groups, among other research. She tasked us with completing a scavenger hunt that brought us to the post-war, pre-war, and city center of Amsterdam. The post-war area is outside of the ring road and accessible by transit, car, or …
Day 20 – 24 July 2019
This morning, Marjolein de Lange, a mobility consultant for cycling, walking, and road safety, and a campaigner at Fietsersbond (the cycling union in Amsterdam), taught us about the history of transportation in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is about 219 km^2 and has 4,852 inhabitants per km^2. Amsterdam initially encountered challenges because of the necessary separations between living …
Day 19 – 23 July 2019
Today we rode our bikes from Utrecht to Amsterdam! We passed through small towns and rural areas, and had a long stretch along a main canal. Passing through a suburb of the city, we enjoyed a dedicated cycle track along a large road with 2-3 lanes for cars in each direction. Motorbikes were allowed in …
Day 18 – 22 July 2019
On our last day in Utrecht, I took a mellow morning to catch up on writing before returning my bike and heading out for a run. It was my first time really traveling on foot in Utrecht, so it was cool to run through pedestrian-only parks, and try running in the bike lanes (no one …
Day 17 – 21 July 2019
This morning, Ronald and his wife Bea graciously hosted us for some treats before we set out on our ride. Taking a roundabout way out of town, we followed bike paths over an enormous highway, along a large canal, and into the countryside. A portion of our trip was on a road that had two …
Day 16 – 20 July 2019
This morning was very stormy, so we pushed back the bike tour and talked inside for a while. When the weather cleared, we headed out on our bikes and visited a developing western neighborhood. Ronald said himself that they could have done a better job connecting this area with public transit, and area is primarily …
Day 15 – 19 July 2019
This morning, Kelsey and I rushed out to observe kids arriving for their last day of school. The school was in a very quiet area across from a church. While we arrived a bit late, we still caught a few parents arriving with their kids – kids in a cargo bike, kids sitting on the …
Day 14 – 18 July 2019
With an early wake up today, we walked to the train station to travel to the Copenhagen airport and catch a plane to Amsterdam. I even noticed a bike parked on the tarmac – perhaps a new inter-gate travel system is in order? Someone mentioned that this trip has been the longest time they have …
Day 13 – 17 July 2019
This morning we headed to the Malmö municipal offices to meet with Jesper Nordlund, the bicycle planner for the city. I learned so much but a few things jumped out at me: Perhaps obviously, car ownership boomed as the economy strengthed after the war. The Danish economy was not boosted as much as Malmö’s, though, …