Districts good for cycling

Thanks to its somewhat complex administrative structure, Amsterdam has a ‘mature’ cycling policy, argues consultant Dirk Ligtermoet in an article in Fietsberaad. Contrary to the national trend, bicycle use has increased in Amsterdam by 20% over the past twenty years.

According to Ligtermoet, Amsterdam has learned to turn its administrative complexity into an advantage, with a co-ordinating role for the municipality and districts contributing detailed knowledge of the local situation.

This applies not only to improving bicycle routes, but also to bicycle parking. While many Amsterdammers consider this a major problem, Gouda-based Ligtermoet is surprisingly positive. “The well-known image of Amsterdam as a chaos of bicycles placed or dumped everywhere is no longer correct in 2010.”

An estimated 200,000 bicycle parking places in the city would ensure that bicycles are parked in a rather orderly way at most locations. At ‘little more than five’ locations, there would be a structural shortage of bicycle parking places. All districts have an official responsible for bicycle parking and their yearly budgets range from ‘seldom far below 100,000 euro to sometimes almost 300,000 euro’.

According to its website, Ligtermoet’s consultancy Ligtermoet & Partners has organised a meeting on bicycle parking for the Amsterdam Municipality in December last year. Photo: Pawelbak