I hope in Europe we will have many more towns like this one.

I hope in Europe we will have many more towns like this one.

#bike #environment

Originally shared by Danie van der Merwe

How Groningen invented a cycling template for cities all over the world

Motorists woke up one mid-70s morning to find new one-way streets made direct crosstown journeys impossible by car. Forty years later Groningen boasts two-thirds of all trips made by bike … and the cleanest air of any big Dutch city.

Traffic lights with rain sensors to give quicker priority to cyclists on wet days … Heated cycle paths so cyclists won’t slip during bouts of frost … This might sound like science fiction to you, but in the Dutch city of Groningen it will soon be everyday reality.

The inhabitants of this lively northern university city regard their homestead as the cycling capital of the Netherlands. They might very well be right: 61% of all trips in Groningen are made by bicycle, rising to more than 70% for trips made to educational institutions.

You might think the city authorities would be satisfied with these statistics. But apparently it’s not enough, and new plans are in the pipeline to push cycling even more.

Now how is this for an unusual politician.... how many politicians travel to work by bicycle:
“The bike is the number-one mode of transport in the centre of Groningen,” says local politician Paul de Rook, who rides his bicycle daily to the city hall, “but we have to make an effort to keep it that way, because our population is growing and public space is severely under pressure. We want cycling to really become part of our local pride.”
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jul/29/how-groningen-invented-a-cycling-template-for-cities-all-over-the-world