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 back of a bike, a parent with one kid on their bike and another on her own bike with training wheels. There was very limited bike parking behind the school, leading us to believe that there are pretty young kids attending the school. Lots of parents were chatting with one another and seemed to be heading to work, the gym, or maybe back home with a young child.
We had time to swing by a Waldorf school and chat with a couple moms after dropping their kids off. They told us that the bikes (many of which had colorful, personalized panniers!) around the perimeter of the square belong to kids, and the cargo bikes in the middle are the parents dropping their kids off. While the square looked plenty full to us, the women told us how empty it was because of the summer holiday! They also told us that the square is available to use in the evening, and primarily occupied by university students having parties. How cool to share the space and use one area for multiple groups and uses!
We headed to Ronald’s office, passing a super cool whale sculpture made out of trash. Nick told me that it is an installation that’s traveling around the world.
Ronald’s presentation was very informative, teaching us about the history of biking in Utrecht (which more or less parallels what we’ve learned in other cities). The data they have indicates that the number of people who bike drops off significantly with more than 7.5km traveled. Therefore, we have to increase density to maintain a high volume of bike travel. He also showed an interesting graph indicating that, contrary to lots of public belief, pedestrian and cyclist deaths are highest with high gasoline consumption.
Ronald also compared a bike to a hammer, a simple tool for the job of getting from one place to another. This seemed to continue the idea that biking does not have to be your identity, but rather just a means of getting where you want to go.
In addition to the “hardware” of bike infrastructure (and “if you build it, they will come”) mentality, Ronald also advocates for investing in “software” such as traffic education from and early age, and frequent bike use.
Ronald, as well as other professionals we’ve met with, seem to be consistent in the mindset that we can influence behavior through design. We must learn why people are acting a certain way, and use design solutions to achieve the behavior we want.
After visiting the impressive bike parking garages and having lunch, I bopped into a couple shops before venturing out on a mission to following the inside and outside streets of the perimeter canal. In addition to enjoying a lovely ride, getting a sense for biking, and experience different forms of bike infrastructure (smooth cycle tracks outside the old city!), I stumbled across a very cute restaurant called Petit Heron.
A few of us ended up there for dinner and enjoyed a lovely and creative meal. The highlight, though, was leaving the restaurant and meeting the owner. He gave us directions to the brewery and a few other recommendations for places to visit in town. He bikes everywhere because it’s the easiest way to get around, but owns a car in order to pick up ingredients from a “food forest” about a half an hour away. He even seemed a bit ashamed to have a car at all! Coincidentally, he had a Provisions cookbook and has visited Portland and spent time in Oregon. He was so kind and interested in talking with us, and gave some crucial advice when it comes to riding Dutch – have the person riding the bike get going, then the other person hop on once their cruising.
Chip and I had an eventful ride to the brewery but made it in one piece and felt very accomplished. I had a great time at the brewery and then took a long walk home (so Chip could bike alone in peace). While I love riding through cities late at night, it was cool to be on foot moving slowly, and see group whiz by traveling to their next destination.