Dorothée Lebrun

Cycling in the city

by Dorothée Lebrun (France)

www.photo-lebrun.de

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The Netherlands has more bicycles than inhabitants (22 million compared to 17 million), and about 27% of all trips made are by bicycle — compared with 2% in Britain, making it the undisputed cycling capital of the world for several years now.
This is a success story as many people use bikes to commute instead of cars or other means of transport. The positive results are less traffic jams, less pollution and less noise. People stay fitter as cycling is good for health.
Cycling has positive impacts on social interactions and thus democracy. On the bike you are present and not hidden away like in cars.
Experiencing cycling in Holland is a a powerful experience, which should be exported to many more countries and metropolitan areas. Setting up an extensive cycling infrastructure in urban and rural areas, that keeps cyclists safe from motorised traffic, e.g. by separate bike lanes, building cycle parkings should be commonplace and not an exception.