Amsterdam - most miles per capita

We just got back from Amsterdam - and yes, it does seem like cycling heaven. But something that I had never noticed before is, as our friend pointed out, "NOBODY here is fat!" Which seems to be true - either they have a better overall diet, perhaps they are just more body fascist than the British, or people just simply cycle off everything that they eat.

I did notice that they go everywhere at a gentle pootle and seem to struggle going over the canal bridges, so I wondered if it's just a lot of short trips they make by bike rather than cycling all the way across the city, etc. So a lot of bikes for sure, but total mileage per cyclist might not be that high.

So it set me wondering if any of you cycling statisticians know if there are comparative figures of how much mileage people do in different cities.

Like, I would expect London cyclists to do a lot of miles each on average, whereas Bristol, which has plans to become Britain's cycling capital, is so hilly that I would expect the average total mileage to be less. But I would expect the percentage of cyclists to be pretty low. So how does that compare with Amsterdam or Paris or New York or Beijing, etc, in terms of percentage of cyclists and numbers of miles per cyclist?

Does anyone have any idea what these figures are? Or is that what things like the TfL Cycle Challenge are all about trying to work out? And is there really such a thing as a "cycling capital of the world".

I think the Northern Europeans, excluding the UK are just more physically active and eat better, go to Norway too, all the fat people are British tourists.

The Dutch are taller so in actual fact they're just as fat but it's stretched out over a greater distance.

Fact

I'd be slim if I lived in Amsterdam.

My diet would be magic mushrooms and I'd sleep for 25 minutes a night.

dont have any stats to hand, but this is the Dutch policy makers site that helps persuade the government to invest in cycling for the health of the nation, our lot are still labouring under under the illusion that personal mobility freedom = car ownership, glad you got inspired! wierd but ace isnt it when all the motor traffic yields to you!
http://www.fietsberaad.nl/index.cfm?lang=en

I did notice that they go everywhere at a gentle pootle and seem to struggle going over the canal bridges
Are you sure they were locals who appeared to be struggling over the bridges? I ask only as it's not my experience of being in the dam.

dont have any stats to hand, but this is the Dutch policy makers site that helps persuade the government to invest in cycling for the health of the nation, our lot are still labouring under under the illusion that personal mobility freedom = car ownership, glad you got inspired! wierd but ace isnt it when all the motor traffic yields to you!
http://www.fietsberaad.nl/index.cfm?lang=en

That's largely because this country seems to operate on conservatism for conservatisms sake. Screw the evidence from other countries and opinion of experts.

Wouldn't surprise me if london cyclist do more miles per person per trip. Considering the down sides with cycling here (traffic, safety, theft) I find it's quite often easier to walk if it takes sub 30 mins to get somewhere.

That said, no one walks though, since there's bus stops every 100m everyone takes the fuckin bus. One thing this town would benefit from on a whole is less bus stops. Heck, it might even making it quicker to take the bus for 2 miles than walk it

as well as less buses - fucking useless mode of transport.

I disagrees, some buses should stop at every stop, good for the elderly and other people who have problems walking, some should be "express buses" which stop less frequently. When I live in west London there was an express bus that went through Acton, it was good.

I'm living in Netherlands at the mo and the locals def don't do such long trips...everything's a short hop....10-20 mins tops. When I explain about Camden to Croydon after 8 pints their jaws drop.

I disagrees, some buses should stop at every stop, good for the elderly and other people who have problems walking, some should be "express buses" which stop less frequently. When I live in west London there was an express bus that went through Acton, it was good.

Yeah that's a good idea too. Currently I walk faster than the bus between dalston and shoreditch, coupla years ago when I always walked it even happened that I didn't get over taken by a single bus for 2 miles

Of course elderly and those in need should have all the buses they need to get around, but when you see a mother with two kids (in walkable age) waiting at a bus stop for 5 mins, just to go one stop, instead of walking the 100 meters, it's fuckin sad

plenty here to get you going:-
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/category/transport/

Just looking over the headlines reminds me of so many things that get me mad, car scrapage scrappage scheme is one of may top hates!

Lots of generalisations and speculation here. Bottom dollar is simply that more people in the Netherlands cycle on a regular basis than in the UK. There is the infrastructure to support this, with ludicrously good bike lanes and plenty of free guarded parking 24/7. Bikes are the way of life. But if you think Amsterdam is bike-friendly you should visit Groningen!

Sure, for plenty of people cycling is just a pootle to the shops, but it is wrong to say that all Dutch cyclist just potter about on Dutch bikes. Then there are many roadies, trackies, and also cyclocross is very popular. Plenty of omas and opas do weekend touring here - we've met a number of them. Since it is so flat, anybody can do 20km to the beach or out to the polder.

The pro-cycling attitude is reflected in motorist behaviour. Since so many are regular cyclists, drivers can put themselves in that position and empathise with the vulnerability of being on 2 wheels.

You'll probably find it is the stoned tourists who can't get over the bridges, not locals.

dutch cuisine is not great. they probably don't eat that much....

the bikes are really heavy.

Not on topic but this sums up a lot of my opinions on transport in this snipit.

Underlying these questions is a much bigger one: what’s it all for? The department argues that high speed rail is necessary because economic growth encourages people to travel more. High speed rail, it says, will stimulate economic growth. This will encourage people to travel more, which will … For how much longer can this go on? At what point do we decide that this crowded little island is busy enough?
The answer from old and new governments appears to be never. The Department for Transport expects flying to increase by 178% between 2008 and 2033, driving by 43% and train journeys by 150%(12). It does not seek to reduce this demand, only to accommodate it, until England becomes a giant transport corridor. Progress is measured by the number of people in transit. Civilisation will have reached its apogee when the entire population of Manchester takes the train every day to London and the entire population of London takes the train every day to Manchester. Perhaps we should resolve Britain’s railway network into a single orbital system, so that we can all remain in constant circulation. Then we’ll know we’re getting somewhere.

dutch cuisine is not great. they probably don't eat that much....

lol....too true

Maybe we don't have stats about trip lengths, but we do have stats about modal share in Ams (the app is in Spanish, sorry):

http://modalkombat.demimismo.com/amsterdam-versus-madrid

As you see, they have a still high car (Coche) share (comparing with Madrid), but a rather low pedestrian (A pie) share... so I think that your theory about the length of their trips may be true: the bike in the Netherlands is mainly an alternative for walking and using the public transport system, they still depend on their cars to make longer trips.

Here you can see a comparisson of two cities with similar sizes, again one from Spain (Oviedo) and another from the Netherlands (Eindhoven):

http://modalkombat.demimismo.com/oviedo-versus-eindhoven

Same trend!

Its because they are tight...

I had a dutch gf for 2 years. Fucking 'ell they are so mean/careful/conservative. Boterhams* for breakfast lunch and dinner some days... (maybe she just could not cook)

Mind you she was well kinky, so who needs cooking..?

boterhams = Sandwiches. Literal translation is butter and ham.

Lovely people though, raving mad the lot of em.

Heck, it might even making it quicker to take the bus for 2 miles than walk it

It is.

When the missus move to London 3 years ago, she naturally hasn't any experience in London let alone the eastern part of the world, she took the bus from her student ac in King's Cross to get to Holborn, it took the bus 30 minutes to get there, appear to be the most logical journery.

Now remember 30 minutes on a motorised transport make it appear that it would take even longer to walk there.

One day she lost her oyster card, end up walking there in haste worrying that she'll be late for university, only to realise that it took her 15 minutes to get there by walking.

Amazing how much nearer places are when you choose to walk/ride a bike.

2 miles in 15 minutes?

that's running ed, not walking.

2 miles? I though it's at least under a miles?

It is.

When the missus move to London 3 years ago, she naturally hasn't any experience in London let alone the eastern part of the world, she took the bus from her student ac in King's Cross to get to Holborn, it took the bus 30 minutes to get there, appear to be the most logical journery.

Now remember 30 minutes on a motorised transport make it appear that it would take even longer to walk there.

One day she lost her oyster card, end up walking there in haste worrying that she'll be late for university, only to realise that it took her 15 minutes to get there by walking.

Amazing how much nearer places are when you choose to walk/ride a bike.

can you tell that story to every American tourist who catches the tube between Covent Garden and Leicester Square please

Hah!

That remind me that I had a couple of friends from Flagstaff (Arizona) staying in London for a couple weeks 4 years ago.

We met outside Leicester Square tube, as they're about to go to Covent Garden, they said they're going to take the tube there and for a moment there I though it would be worth telling them that you can just walk instead, but decided against it.

"Oh don't worry I'll see you soon"

"but why aren't you're coming?"

"I want to grab a milkshake first" (Ed's Diner was in Leicester Square at the time).

So I went to grab a chocolate malt milkshake to take away, walk down to Covent Garden tube, and sat on the bollard.

10 minutes later, they came out looking rather slapdashed and befuddled at the sight of me sitting on a bollard finishing off my milkshake.