Super Eco

Photo credit: sharlenescom, flickr

Amsterdam residents choose bicycles over cars more of the time, notes new research—and long-term policy seems to be the key. This Dutch city has long been known as an urban cycling haven. Between 2005 and 2007, Amsterdam residents for the first time hopped onto their bikes more frequently (0.87 times a day) than into their cars (0.84 trips per day).

While America is still analyzing what makes American communities bicycle-friendly, Amsterdam has been living a bike-centric lifestyle for years. So how does the city keep its cyclists spinning? "It's the result of the policies they have implemented over the past 30 years to make bicycle use more attractive and safe, etc., while also implementing policies for car use in the city to be more inconvenient, stressful, and less attractive," says Ralph Buehler, an international urban affairs professor at Virginia Tech University. "Even the queen bicycles."

The end result: biking is simply cheaper, quicker and easier than driving a car. Bicycle paths let riders bypass stoplights and take shortcuts through neighborhoods. Car speeds are limited to 30 kilometers per hour to improve safety. Bike parking is plentiful, while car parking downtown is highly restricted. And the nation has earmarked some 70 million Euros on bicycling projects in Amsterdam between 2007 and 2010. "They're really making bicycling attractive," Buehler notes. "People who normally drive, they know it will take five Euros for parking and take 10 minutes more than if they bike."

Americans seem willing to boost bicycling, but are they willing to apply disincentives to make driving a little less attractive? That's one policy package we'd love to see pedaled in the United States.