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Comment by alangibson | Hacker News Reader

You're right in your criticism of the study. Luckily the Netherlands has already proven that for bike infrastructure, if you build it they will come.

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According to Figure 6 from the study linked below, the trend in cycling levels in the Netherlands was essentially flat from the mid-80s to the mid-2000s. I recall (but cannot find) a source with statistics that suggest a minor increase since then, but much of the current infrastructure was in place 15 years ago.

http://web.archive.org/web/20150211090849/http://www.policy....

Speaking as someone living in the NLs, I don't see any reason for cycle use/ownership to change much. Folks who can cycle likely already do, and those who can't/don't want to are unlikely to start (with the exception of e bikes making it easier).

because the netherlands already have a very good biking infrastructure for decades. i have been biking there in the 80s and 90s. neighboring germany was no comparison. obviously if you already have good infrastructure, further improvements won't be very noticeable or motivate many more people to bike.

but in cities that previously didn't have good infrastructure, the massive improvements really did attract new riders that would not have considered riding a bike before.

They built their cycle infrastructure through the 60s and 70s tho so that would make sense

Yep, they started doing the same dumb car-centric infrastructure as the US around the 50s but unlike us they stopped when they saw how it was negatively affecting life for their people.

Is it not a wee bit short-sighted to label everything car-centric undertaken in the 50s and 60s 'dumb' when the planners and engineers of the day were learning just as they are today?

I agree, the ‘dumb’ in my comment comes from an anger i feel toward these planners. They engineered the life around us, but instead of doing it in an intelligent way, they allowed car companies and dictate our lives for decades to come. Now the younger generations are stuck in concrete and asphalt worlds confused why they can’t walk to the grocery store without crossing a 6-lane stroad.

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