Mya on a Bike - An Exploration of Sustainable Bike Transit

The five main insights on why Dutch biking is the gold standard for sustainable bicycle design were a combination of behavior and design. The five things I believe make Dutch biking work are: Ontvlechten Experiment and failure The interconnectedness of transit systems Behavior by design Social cohesion and non-verbal communication The disentanglement of bike routes and car routes is my favorite part of Dutch design. Biking when you know that the road is either car-free or very limited access is so reassuring and allows for more social biking and biking among people of different ages and abilities. I’ve noticed this is a cornerstone of Dutch design, especially when compared to the Copenhagen system. Utrecht has the best examples of Ontvlechten compared to Amsterdam and Nijmegen which is why I found it the most low-stress of the places we visited in the Netherlands.  Many of the planners we met with showed us various planning projects they considered failures or experimental plans th...

My final project focuses on the age demographics of biking and the overall influence of biking on public health and the effects of aging, particularly the social inclusion and accessibility of the elderly. I worked in a retirement home for 5 years, throughout high school and college, and access to the retirement home and surrounding areas was incredibly car-dependent. Many of the residents in my home could not drive because they had mobility issues, bad eyesight, or simply couldn’t afford to live in the home and their car. You may be wondering if they were not able to drive a car, how would bicycle infrastructure benefit them since they likely aren’t able to ride a bike either. That is a justified concern but through my observation of the places we’ve been, I’ve seen that sustainable bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure creates mobility and access for those in wheelchairs, walkers, and scooters. This is because there is enough space for these mobility devices on sidewalks or bike path...

I assume many people reading this blog have not been to Nebraska, or even Nijmegen, but if you’ve just been to Nijmegen (hi Marc and classmates!), just Nebraska (hi family!), or neither (hi friends from home!), you may not see the shocking similarities. The landscape, the smell, the geography, the weather, the number of cows, and more reminded me of Nebraskan summers. In an earlier blog, I stated that I thought more aspects of Danish bicycle design would be applicable to the US as opposed to Dutch design (which I objectively prefer, but thought Danish design was more suited for current American bicycle attitudes and urban design), however, Nijmegen changed my mind. Nijmegen is an example of a mid-sized city with medium-density levels. It is probably comparable to many American cities, especially cities geographically located within the Great Plains and Midwest. The before and after visuals of Nijmegen streets reminded me of American neighborhoods, showing that these transformations are...

I LOVE AMSTERDAM! I love it so much I bought a shirt stating my love of Amsterdam. I’ve tried to understand why this city clicks for me, besides the incredible bicycle infrastructure of course. Mindy compared Amsterdam to an organism and I think this metaphor is one of the reasons it clicks for me. As someone with a significant biology and ecology academic background, this comparison helped me understand that within chaos, there is an organized and intentional flow, similar to a cell, organism, or ecosystem. The large overview may seem chaotic, but close up it’s organized and the relationships between people are key to this organized chaos. The best example of this was my favorite stop on Meredith’s PUMA exercise (a full debrief coming soon!). The intersection Alexandersplein was missing what I assumed was key safety infrastructure and traffic lights. However, while observing with Naomi I noticed that the relationships and silent communication between bikers, drivers, pedestrians, and ...

  The PUMA exercise was great to understand the infrastructure of the city, its urban planning, and design and was also incredibly intuitive to destinations I had already planned on going to. I think this is the main reason I found it not just educational, but enjoyable and fun as well. Naomi and I started one morning at a gluten-free bakery I found online and I had the best croissant of my entire life. I was worried it was out of the way since it was in a more residential neighborhood with a large pedestrian-only area. However, after reading the paper we realized we were incredibly close to most of the exercises exploring pre-war buildings and the infrastructure surrounding them. I have a suspicion this was intentional, and the activities naturally drew us to areas with lots of people, amenities, and things to do. The question is, did the infrastructure we were exploring, specifically the changes, facilitate this vibrancy, or was the infrastructure put here because of existing vib...

I am a huge fan of solo travel and typically travel by myself or with my family or a small group of friends. I’ve enjoyed traveling with our large group but it’s been an adjustment and it’s been helpful to take time for myself and take solo adventures. While in Copenhagen I visited the Jewish Museum and Glyptoteket by myself and used my bicycle as a means of transportation. Solo bicycling in a city where I was unfamiliar helped me adjust quickly to the customs and the routes in the areas I was in. Both museums had a very in-depth architectural history. The attention to architecture, both interior and exterior in Denmark seemed significantly more than in the US. I noticed similar architectural patterns in Amsterdam, where my solo museum journey via bike continued. I went to the Anne Frank House with a group and the Van Gogh, the Portuguese Synagogue, and the Jewish Museum by myself. The architecture in Amsterdam is much more influenced by its medieval roots and existing infrastructure, ...

Showdown of the century! Which country has the best bicycle infrastructure?! The answer is finally here! And the winner is……… neither! Or, it depends. The systems have many similarities and differences and which one is better comes down to personal preference around infrastructure type and riding style. My observations regarding differences are Denmark More consistent infrastructure styles Stricter cycling rules and norms Danish left Blue route demarking More "organized" Less volume of cyclists More distinct routes The Netherlands Diverse types of bike infrastructure Dutch red Bicycles and pedestrians on the same grade More shared spaces between pedestrians and bicycles High volume traffic Infrastructure designed for bike volume at intersections The network seems more complete As Ronald pointed out, historical context is key when discussing the differences between infrastructure. Copenhagen had a huge fire, forcing them to rebuild, whereas Amsterdam has to work around increas...

In my short time in Malmö, I have noticed significantly fewer playgrounds and spaces for children compared to Copenhagen. You’d think in a less dense city with more dedication to green space, there would be more playgrounds but alas. However, in my walking journey today for souvenirs, a raincoat, and chocolate, I wandered into an exhibit in a square called Dröm Torg (Dream Square). This empty square, half was taken up by a surface parking lot, featured art by children of what they imagined as their “Dream Square”. This exhibit showed squares filled with trees, flowers, bushes, playgrounds, and an occasional snake or clown. They’re was also a common theme of readily available ice cream near the square in the children's drawings. I really enjoyed this exhibit, and hope it is more than just an exhibit and actually comes to fruition. Not just engaging children with society through safe public spaces, but engaging them with the creation of the space, is a great way to incorporate them i...

This question came to me when Lene discussed the car share she and her husband are a part of, what does one do if they have an emergency that requires rapid transport somewhere (not ambulance level emergency) but would making biking impossible (ie sprained or broken ankle/leg, childbirth, broken arm, etc)? Is the car share available when not reserved ahead of time? At what age do children generally start biking by themselves, I know they need an adult with them until they are 6 (in Denmark) but is that a common time to start solo biking as well? What age do people generally stop biking? How do the elderly get around when they decide it’s no longer safe for them to bike? What is bike ridership rate to elementary, middle, and high schools comparatively. What are the benefits of two way bicycle lanes compared to one way lanes? What are the drawbacks? My own observations and thoughts on this: two way bicycle streets take up less space, left turns are less confusing (initially) and are more...

  A common theme in my reflections has been the mixing of ages in public spaces and the abundance of children on bikes. In addition to safe bicycle infrastructure, Copenhagen has facilitated a city for kids through access to playgrounds, courtyards, parks, and a general whimsy in the city. The parks and playgrounds in Copenhagen were abundant and I found the concept of a manned/staffed playground really interesting. Dedicating staffing and money to playgrounds is a very foreign concept to me since child development and joy are not invested in the United States outside of the school system (and even then…). The traffic garden showed a deep care and investment in child joy and safety I found refreshing and inspiring. In addition to the various playgrounds I found, I also documented micro-playgrounds or places for play and playgrounds in more mature locations (such as museums). This showed how integrated children and their activities are into all aspects of Danish life.  The Dani...

I was surprised by how different the biking infrastructure and experience was in Malmö. The vibe on the streets was significantly less busy then the Copenhagen streets but the infrastructure seemed comparatively underdeveloped in some parts. However, the pedestrian infrastructure was extremely developed and I noticed that, in the city center at least, people tended to park their bikes and traverse on foot even if bicycles were allowed in the area. One comparison I found interesting was the differing opinions between the intensity of drivers in Copenhagen vs Malmö. Cass found the Malmö drivers more intense and I found them tame compared to the Danish. I found people were generally more forgiving of small mistakes, such as stopping without putting your hand up, lingering in the crosswalk, or biking through a yellow. The bike lines are much more entangled than they are in Copenhagen, which is an aspect that I did not like. The intersection we stopped at before our last stop, with two...