I lived for 4 years in mountain view CA without a car. My main forms of transit were walking, biking and the public rail (Cailtrain and Bart). I tried my best to avoid getting into a car often putting up with long and unsafe transit options. The one thing that always frustrated me was the lack of belonging on a bike.

I have often researched America’s obsession with the Stroad, first-class pedestrian transit and first-class bike transit. All of which always end up using Amsterdam as the gold standard for these alternative ways of moving. So going to Amsterdam was somewhat of a pilgrimage for me

Happily, the city did not disappoint. I marveled at the

  • sidewalks lined with bikes which still had plenty of space for pedestrians.
  • The raised and textured walkways are for people instead of people stepping down into the road
  • the multiple lane bikeways with dedicated turning lanes and curbs on either side protecting the cyclists from cars, buses, trolly, and pedestrians
  • the intersections with bikes stopping in front of cars ensuring visibility
  • the distinct lack of mixed bike and car lanes. including the dreaded intersections where the bike line blindly crosses over the turn lanes overall, I loved getting around the city. The dedicated lanes, clean public transit and short waits at all transit options made exploring Amsterdam a pleasure and added up to a safe and quiet experience. I noticed a distinct lack of the anxiety and fear that other cities leave me with

One thing that I didn’t expect going to the city was how many cars there still are. In all my research I had focused so much on the other forms of transit design. This discovery is starting to reframe how I think about cars. It seems that a city designed for cars and a city designed for humans are not mutually exclusive but the problem lies in designing a city where cars always have the highest priority in design.

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