8 micromobilty lessons from Holland
By Walter Brown
Ferries cater heavily to bikes in Holland. Atlanta may not have any ferries, but we could afford to prioritize micromobility in a similar fashion.
See Walter Brown’s photo diary of BAT’s bike tour in the Netherlands, which is the main post for this sidebar.
The camaraderie was fun. The cycling was a blast. The pannenkoeken was delicious. But lessons about bicycle mobility are what I’m bringing home. My big takeaways:
Bikes are driving urban planning in Holland. They’re not an afterthought. Everything from roundabouts to turning lanes must feature safe, signalized, comfortable, seamless transitions for bikes – the goal being to encourage greater cycling adoption now.
Holland is flat and relatively cool. It also has densely built cities. Atlanta is hot, humid and sprawling. So everything in the Dutch do may not immediately apply to a place like Atlanta. But a lot of their well-developed solutions do apply — particularly in an era when e-bikes are, in effect, “flattening and cooling” cycling trips and extending their practical range.
Cars are being deprioritized and pushed out of city centers to create more space for bikes, people and nature. For example, in Rotterdam only .3 spaces for cars per dwelling unit are allowed in multi-family buildings, but space for two bikes is mandated.
We need to greatly expand bike parking to support an increasing presence of bikes in the city. Mobility hubs are key to moving people from trains and buses onto bikes for last-mile connectivity. By focusing on bike-system connectivity, we can leapfrog other cities that already have better transit systems.
Metro Atlanta has grossly under-invested in transit for generations. We will never catch up by trying to imitate older systems in other places. We must, therefore, invest in new technologies and infrastructure for human -powered and small-electric vehicles. We can repurpose our vast car-centric rights of way to meet these smaller scale needs.
Atlanta needs to form a powerful alliance to seek greater funding and faster implementation of bike infrastructure throughout the city and region. ARC could lead this effort, but it needs to be a genuine and well-endowed effort.
The Beltline is the only place in Atlanta where we can quickly create the kind of safe, grade-separated, flat connectivity that is so emblematic of modern cycling in Holland. By creating a new “heels” trail and using the existing trail for “wheels,” the Beltline can become a trunk line for Atlanta’s micromobility revolution. Major cross streets and MARTA bus and rail stations would then become on-ramps to feed the Beltline.
Dutch-based organizations have wonderful information they’re willing to share with us. Check out the Dutch Cycling Embassy’s "Think Bike" Workshops, Maurits Cardoza’s presentation on Rotterdam’s bike-friendly plans and Tom Parr’s Cargo Bike Revolution. Anybody in a position to implement change could benefit from their expertise. You might even be able to meet them yourself – if you join us next year in Holland!
