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Comment by z3c0 | Hacker News Reader

Title: How The Netherlands Built a Biking Utopia

That said, having visited a couple of times, I've been impressed with how accommodating to foot traffic it is as well. Outside of downtown Amsterdam, you'll find an almost equal ratio of footpaths-to-bike-paths-to-roadways.

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It's also quite accommodating to car traffic. Exactly because there are so many other transport options, there's less cars on the road, and dedicated car routes have good throughput. Also, road quality, signage and general traffic design is much better and consistent than in many other countries. As they say, you can feel by the road surface that you've crossed a border.

I think part of the reason roads are good is that, if more people get on bicycles, road wear decreases, and keeping roads in good shape becomes more affordable.

The fourth power law (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law: “The stress on the road increases in proportion to the fourth power of the axle load of the vehicle traveling on the road”) is very harsh for heavy vehicles.

Precisely. Almost everyone requires a car occasionally -- maybe when they're moving between apartments, or traveling to a hiking trailhead not accessible in any other way, or working a job that requires a large volume of equipment. By giving people other options when they don't need to use a car, those car trips become more bearable in many ways -- including infrastructure efficiencies.

I've heard of people in the US who needed a car just to go to a shop on the other side of the street. The street was a massive stroad with no way for pedestrians to cross, so the only way to the shop was to get in the car, drive, turn around, and stop at the other side of the road.

Yeah, for some tourists this is actually confusing because many times the biking lanes are confused with sidewalks and then get very soon notified in a Dutch way by the locals :)

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