Coronavirus could put export of Dutch cycle expertise into gear

DutchNews, May 14, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The coronavirus crisis could boost the export of Dutch cycling infrastructure expertise and products as countries are turning to the bicycle for a safer means of transport, RTL Nieuws reports. 

‘Coronavirus is accelerating the cycling infrastructure projects of many cities,’ says Lucas Harms, who heads the Dutch Cycling Embassy, a network of Dutch companies specialising in products like bike parks and other bike-related infrastructure. 

As coronavirus is turning people away from using public transport, the local authorities in Brussels have been turning car lanes into bike lanes over the last few days, as has Paris, RTL said. And in Milan, plans have been presented to limit space for cars in favour of bikes. 

‘We don’t yet know if this is a temporary thing. People may be just panicking and improvising but the good thing is that a seed is planted,’ said Harms, whose Cycling Embassy has advised hundreds of local authorities around the world on emulating Dutch cycling infrastructure. 

To build an infrastructure for cycling involves expertise in many areas, Harms said. ‘You need traffic experts, marketing people to create awareness,  and policy advisors. We have a lot of companies with specialised knowledge, just think of the multi-storey bike parks, like the one at Amsterdam’s main railway station. We are used to them but in other countries they are far from usual.’ 

It is not known how much the export of cycle expertise and products is currently worth but, Harms said, the 60 partners of his network are all involved in projects abroad.

Cyclists face €95 fine for using their phone while cycling

DutchNews, January 31, 2019

Cyclists caught using their mobile phone without a hands-free kit face a fine of €95 from July 1, the Parool said on Thursday, quoting sources in The Hague. 

The ban on using a mobile phone while cycling is due to be discussed at Friday’s cabinet meeting and ministers are expected to vote in favour of the fine, the paper said. 

The size of the fine is in line with other penalties for cyclists, which include €100 for cycling while drunk and €95 for cycling through a red light. Motorists face a €240 fine for using their phone while driving. 

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen published draft legislation in September making it an offence ‘to hold a mobile electronic devices while driving all vehicles [so including bikes]’. 

The words ‘mobile electronic device’ rather than mobile phone were deliberately chosen to take developments in the future into account. 

Nearly half of cyclists are said to use their phones while cycling, and phones are said to have played a role in 20% of bike accidents involving the under-25s, the transport ministry said last year.

The Biro is a car and should be on the road, magistrates say

DutchNews, January 28, 2019

Photo: DutchNews.nl

A magistrate’s court in Amsterdam has ruled that the Biro, a small electric car, will no longer be classed as a vehicle for the disabled but as a moped, thereby banning it from the city’s cycle paths, the Parool reports. 

The decision was announced in a tweet by the infrastructure ministry, which, the paper says, had long been annoyed at the disabled label which effectively gave Biro drivers the right to drive and park anywhere they liked. 

The vehicle is not dissimilar to the Canta, which is meant for people with mobility problems. It is mainly popular with the well-heeled in the south of the city but its use has given rise to complaints about them blocking access to pavements. 

Pascal van den Noort of cycle advise bureau VeloMondial welcomed the news. ‘The decision means the Biro is really a car and as such it can no longer park on the pavement or drive on cycle paths. It is allowed on the roads and will have to pay for parking,’ he told the paper. 

Traffic alderman Sharon Dijksma said she hoped the decision would lead to better policing but that much remained unclear. ‘This is a magistrate’s court decision and it is not in writing so we don’t know what it is based on. We will talk to the public prosecutions department and the junior infrastructure minister,’ the paper quotes her as saying. 

The Biro ban is the latest move in an effort to establish a clear pecking order on the country’s cycle paths. In December last year Amsterdam announced that slower mopeds, known as a snorfiets in Dutch, will be banned from some of the city’s cycle lanes from next April and Utrecht is bringing in a similar ban at the end of the next year.

Going Dutch? Berkshire site tests Netherlands cycling model

Experiments gauge how British pedestrians and motorists react to pioneering Dutch-style bike infrastructure

The Guardian, Peter Walker, Monday 26 August 2013

The Transport Research Laboratory, near Bracknell, Berkshire, tests a
Dutch-style roundabout. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

It is a sunny morning in the Berkshire woodland and a small group of men and women clutching clipboards are lurking behind trees or amid the ferns, looking alert and expectant. Then the object of their attention comes into view: not a shy songbird or a rare mammal, but a cyclist clad in a fluorescent bib.

Followed closely by a small car, the rider stops by traffic lights at a road junction set somewhat incongruously amid the trees. Another bike-and-car duo rolls into view at the other side. The various lights turn green, and everyone heads cautiously on their way.

This is the test ground of the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) near Bracknell, and the closely watched traffic flows are part of a pioneering project that could fundamentally change Britain's inner cities over the next few decades.

TRL, formerly part of the Department for Transport but now a world-leading independent research group, is conducting a £4m test programme for Transport for London (TfL) to see how Dutch-style cycling infrastructure, such as segregated lanes and cyclist-priority roundabouts, can be adapted to British road conditions.

Work has already begun to reshape some London roads and junctions, part of a grandiose£900m plan unveiled by Boris Johnson earlier this year. Campaigners hope other areas could follow suit, tilting life in urban Britain away from decades of car dominance.

The trial being observed that morning was for low-level, cycle-specific traffic lights set a couple of metres forward from those for cars, keeping riders ahead and visible. When they are introduced, the cyclists' lights will probably turn green a few seconds earlier than the standard traffic lights, giving riders a head start. Participants receive minimal information about what to expect and the TRL researchers keep out of view, hence the hiding amid the shrubbery.

Elsewhere on the vast TRL campus, a series of other bike-friendly layouts are being tested, including a "bus bypass", which places bus stops safely out of cycle lanes, a bike lane separated by intermittent "armadillo" reflective humps rather than a kerb, and, most ambitiously of all, a Dutch-style roundabout with a segregated gyratory flow for bikes. There is also a computer simulator in which people "drive" a real car around a bike-filled cityscape projected on to surround screens. The scheme has already used 2,500 paid testers and is seeking more all the time.

Such extensive testing is necessary, not least because innovations need regulatory approval, said Dana Skelley, director of roads for TfL. "Pretty much everything here is a layout that we're not permitted to have on national roads under the current legislation. We realised that if we wanted to attract more people to cycle, more safely and more often, it was necessary to create a more cycle-friendly environment, and we looked towards Europe for that."

Domestic road users were generally not familiar with all this, she added: "Just because it works in Europe doesn't mean it's going to be OK. We needed to understand how British drivers understand these new road layouts and how they behave."

This is particularly the case with the roundabout, where drivers have to learn that the circular flow of cyclists has priority, not only over vehicles joining the system, but those turning to exit.

Commenting on the first tests, Peter Vermaat, a TRL engineer, said: "The drivers don't really know what to do, so generally they give way to the cyclists. We've had some sudden braking a couple of times, but nothing worse."

The test site is the physical manifestation of a long-running campaign by cycle groups for infrastructure that is not just well designed but sufficiently continuous to tempt a wider range of cyclists – children, or older people, especially women – on to urban streets.

The message of the London Cycling Campaign's Love London, Go Dutch project seemed to have been absorbed, said Mike Cavenett from the group. "I always liken TfL to one of those enormous oil tankers. It's a big, £7bn beast with thousands of employees and it takes time to turn around. But it is turning. There is a change in attitudes."

He added: "I think TfL are realising that. There is still inertia, and some elements are still deeply conservative about the changes. But other elements get it."

While some Dutch-style infrastructure will arrive soon – a new section of London's previously criticised cycle superhighways is being built with segregation and redesigned junctions – other innovations could prove more problematic.

Chris Peck, from the national cycling organisation CTC, argues that Dutch-style roundabouts are reliant on traffic flows much lower than the 50,000 vehicles a day seen on some roads in inner London. "That's far beyond the advised capacity for a Dutch roundabout. It's far too high to allow priority over side roads," he said. "If you had a platoon of cyclists coming all at once, which tends to be how traffic moves, and they have priority over traffic trying to get off the roundabout, that could lock up the roundabout very quickly. They will only work along with measures to reduce motorised traffic."

Bicycles demonstrate Indonesia's new spending power

BBC News, By Karishma Vaswani,  Jakarta, 20 November 2011

Indonesians can now afford to spend more money on their expensive hobbies

It's just past dawn on a Monday morning and the streets of Jakarta are still and quiet.

It is a vast contrast to what this city of 12 million is like during the day, when the roads are packed with cars and motorcycles buzz around the streets.

Only the sounds of the call to prayer, wafting through the suburbs and slums of the capital of the world's most populous Muslim nation, breaks the silence.

In Jakarta, there's no time to breathe. The stresses of work and life are felt deeply by some in the country's middle classes.

But some have found novel ways to unwind.

Adrianka, a digital imaging artist who runs his own successful business in Jakarta, is one such person.

A couple of times a week, the 27-year-old and his friends hit the back streets of Jakarta to relax - by going mountain biking.

He works in the advertising industry and is always rushing to meet deadlines. It's an expensive sport - but he thinks its worth it.

"The first I was shopping for bicycles, I thought even spending $500 was too much," he says as he takes a break from the rigorous morning bike ride. "But then I tried my friends bicycles that cost more - and they felt very comfortable."

"So I kept buying more expensive bikes - because the more they cost, the better they are. When my parents heard how much my bicycles cost they said I was crazy. But my work is very demanding - so I need this hobby to let off some steam."

Posh bikes

Foreign bicycles were rarely seen in Jakarta's shops just over a decade ago.

But now the latest models from Europe and the US are becoming increasingly common.

Most of the bicycles on these roads are relatively inexpensive - but some Indonesians willingly pay up to $5,000 for one.

Jimmy Lie started a series of upmarket stores selling branded bicycles a few years ago, because he recognised a growing trend amongst affluent and aspirational Indonesians.

They were taking to the streets on Sundays, to find some way of working out the stresses of daily life and biking was becoming fashionable.

So Mr Lie capitalised on the new expensive tastes of his consumers and is now in the midst of opening another branch in the city.

Mr Lie says Indonesians these days are far more exposed to what's going in the rest of the world, and want to have access to the same standard of goods they see their counterparts enjoy overseas.

"People nowadays, they get a lot of their information from the internet, or from watching the Tour De France," he says in between serving customers in his busy store.

Growing middle class

Just over a decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for an average Indonesian to spend a few thousand dollars on a bike.

Today though Indonesia's middle classes are far more confident about the future.

Indonesia has one of the fastest growing middle classes in the region - up from 80 million five years ago to 130 million now.

That's more than half of this country's 240 million strong population. 

Not all parts of Jakarta are experiencing a boom
in living standards

And that number is expected to grow - by 2020, many think that Indonesia's middle class will be wealthier than many in Asia.

Indonesia's economy has been one that has managed to continue to grow, despite bumps in the global economic environment.

Largely insulated from the troubles overseas because of strong domestic demand, economists say Indonesia will see growth rates stay stable or possibly even rise next year, at a time when many in the region are cutting their growth forecasts.

All this has meant Indonesian consumers are feeling far more confident about their prospects than ever before.

They consistently rank as some of the most optimistic in Asia about their economic future.

And you can see signs of that all over the streets of Jakarta these days - but especially on Sundays.

The local government has made some Sundays in a month a car-free day - an opportunity for Indonesians to get some fresh air after a busy week at their desks.

Indonesia's next generation has the ability and the desire to spend money on what it wants and not necessarily what it needs.

Not so lucky

But while the future may look bright for some Indonesians, for others not much has changed at all.

In the district of Menteng Dalam, just outside one of the poshest areas in Jakarta, life still moves at a much slower pace.

Tiny shacks are packed densely against one another, and people living in them spill out on to the streets.

The strong economic growth that is so visible just a few kilometres away has yet to touch this part of Jakarta.

Sewi, 62, has lived here for the last two decades.

He has owned his tattered, worn out and old fashioned bicycle for just as long. 

Sewi says he prefers to look after things from the past

Even if he wanted to he wouldn't be able to buy a new one - he just doesn't have that kind of money.

"I've always liked old bicycles like this," he says as he tinkers with his rusty old machine.

"I'm not tempted by newer models. The young generation - they like to change their bicycles all the time and throw the old ones away. But I like to look after things from the past. "

Sewi doesn't understand how some young Indonesians are so eager to spend their hard earned cash.

He's from a generation that still remembers the hard times here. Millions like him have yet to taste the benefits of growth.

Indonesia's future generations need to ride the waves of prosperity for this country's economic rise to be considered a true success.

Sixteen elderly people to bike from Jakarta to Surabaya

Antara News, Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Surabaya, EJava (ANTARA News) - Sixteen elderly people are going to travel from Jakarta toSurabaya on their bicycles to celebrate Indonesian Heroes Day and the 50thanniversary of the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS), Gunawan (62), an ITSgraduate, said here Tuesday.

"Theevent which will have the full support of the Association of ITS Graduates ofEast Java, Jakarta and Central Java, is aimed at socializing efficient andprosperous lifestyle to people by cycling," a member of the steeringcommittee said here Tuesday.

Gunawanadded that motivation is necessary because people need to walk 3.2 kilometersper day, but in fact they just walk 500 meters per day and ride a motorcycle.

"Theteam will start to bike on Sunday (7/11) at 6 am at National Monument Square(Monas), and they may arrive in Surabaya on Sunday (14/11)," said Gunawan,who is also a participant.

Accordingto him, the cycling trip will take seven days covering more than 100 kilometerswith a speed of 15 to 20 kilometers per hour.

"Thelongest distance will have to be covered on November 13, when the team willhave covered 136 kilometers from Cirebon to Pekalongan," he said.

"Mostof the participants are accustomed to bike for long distances," said thecommittee chairman who started cycling after his doctor said he suffered from aheart disease.

Anotherparticipant, Edy Margono (58), Deputy Manager of Bank Indonesia, Malang office,said he started cycling to keep healthy after entering retirement.

Meanwhile,another participant Sartono (78) said there is a great philosophy behindcycling and it makes him to love cycling.

"There`sa special satisfaction, especially when I ride a bike alone for a longdistance. There is also special private feeling with God, so I can contemplatethe meaning of my life," the oldest of the participants said.

Reigning Champs Set Quick Pace for Tour d'Indonesia Field

The Jakarta Globe, Ami Afriatni

DKI Jakarta riders passing through the Semanggi area in Jakarta during the opening team trial on Sunday. DI Jogjakarta emerged as the fastest local team in the first stage, finishing fifth overall. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Defending Tour d’Indonesia champion Tabriz Petrochemical wasted little time setting itself apart from the rest of the field.

Averaging 48 kilometers per hour, the Iranian team blew away the field in the first stage in Jakarta on Sunday and won the opening team time trial in 15 minutes.

Another Iranian team, Azad University, finished second in 15:28.368, with the Japanese national team third with a time of 16:02.659. Plan B of Australia was fourth in 16:03.045, and DI Jogjakarta was the fastest Indonesian side after it took fifth in 16:14.757.

Tabriz’s riders are confident they can continue having success in the race, including the sprint events, despite one less mountain stage this year.

The Iranians dominated in the mountains in 2008, but organizers removed a steep climb from the fifth stage, from Purwokerto to Yogyakarta, because of safety concerns.

“We’re not really happy with the route because basically we’re all climbers,” 2008 individual champion Ghader Mizbani Iranagh said.

“But we’ll also try in the sprints. I hope we still can win the yellow jersey and I myself can defend my title.”

Mehdi Sohrabi of Tabriz, who claimed top spot in the Asian rankings this month, won the yellow jersey after posting the fastest time. Azad sprinter Amir Zargari took the green jersey for being the top sprinter.

Though there was no climb in the first stage, organizers awarded the polka-dot jersey to Kazuki Aoyanagi, who was the fastest on the third-place Japanese national team. Nugroho Kisnanto of DI Jogjakarta took the red and white jersey, which is awarded to the top Indonesian rider.

Nugroho, runner-up for the green jersey last year, said he has a chance to do one better after 2008 sprint champion Anuar Manan of Malaysia did not enter this year’s race.

“This is a good opportunity for me. I want to win the green jersey this year,” the 25-year-old said.

The 19 participating teams were transferred to Bandung following the time trial. Today’s second stage runs from Bandung to Tasikmalaya, West Java.

Sunday’s results

1. Tabriz Petrochemical (15:00.068)
2. Azad University (15:28.368)
3. Japan National Team (16:02.659)
4. Plan B Racing (16:03.045)
5. DI Jogjakarta (16:14.757)
6. Polygon Sweet Nice (16:21.158)
7. United Bike Kencana Kota Malang (16:28.000)
8. Putra Perjuangan Kota Bandung (16:33.327)
9. Road Bike Phils-7 Eleven (16:34.331)
10. Customs Cycling Club (16:35.017) Cycling
    
    

Related Article:

New route for Tour d'Indonesia cycling race

Tour d'Indonesia offers cyclists challenges

Niken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta  | Sun, 11/23/2008 10:31 AM  

The organizers of newly resumed 2008 Speedy Tour d'Indonesia are confident the event, which starts Sunday, promises cyclists greater challenges. 

"We have 17 teams participating. The minimum number of participation for the event is between 10 and 15 teams, so 17 teams is an OK number," race director Sofyan Ruzian told The Jakarta Post over the phone Saturday. 

The annual event, which was listed on world cycling body International Cycling Union's (UCI) calendar in 2003, was absent last year due to sponsorship woes. 

In 2006, 24 teams from nine countries took part in the Tour. Initially, 10 foreign teams and eight local teams were expected to take part in the event this year. 

Following the withdrawal of three foreign teams -- Jajo Spirit of Switzerland, Mes Kerman of Iran and Nordland Hamburg-Palmares of Germany -- the organizers allowed two additional local teams to take part, taking the number of participating teams to seven foreign teams and 10 local teams. 

The German team Nordland Hamburg-Palmares signed up for the race, but reportedly canceled their participation because they could not afford the soaring airfare prices as a result of the global economic crisis. 

Jazy Sports Beacon of the Philippines, National Team of Japan, Tinelli Collosi of Australia/New Zealand, National Team of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Cycling Association and Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team of Iran will be among the participating teams. 

The Tabriz team is one of the strongest teams on the Tour. Its cyclist, Mehdi Faridi, came out as the King of Mountain at the 2006 Tour. The team was also crowned the best Asian team in 2007. 

The US$100,000 tour will run from Nov. 23 to Dec. 5. The cyclists will travel a 1,726-km route, from Jakarta to Bali. The route this year is longer than that of the 2006 tour, which was 1,352.2 km and completed in nine stages. 

The tour's 80-km Jakarta stage will kick off at 8 a.m. at the South Plaza of the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Central Jakarta. 

Two cyclists from the Kuala Lumpur team were disqualified because they were below the 18-year-old age requirement, Sofyan said.

Pedestrians enjoy car-free streets

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With his feet dangling in a water fountain on Jl. MH Thamrin, four-year-old Riski could not wipe the smile off his face.

He had been there since 6 a.m. on Sunday with his mother, brother and friends after walking for about an hour from his home in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

"I want to see delman," he said, referring to horse-drawn carriages.

With Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman closed to motorists for several hours on Sunday, small groups of people, cyclists and joggers took advantage of the situation.

The city's environment management board, transportation agency and police organized Sunday's Car Free Day in line with efforts to control air pollution. It ran from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event is held on the forth Sunday of every month, with only public transportation vehicles permitted to pass through the specified zones.

Budirama Natakusuma, chairman of the Jakarta Environment Management Board, said the program was aimed at encouraging people to take public transportation, leaving their cars or motorcycles at home.

He said Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin were chosen as car-free zones because police would easily be able to redirect traffic down streets such as Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Muh. Yamin.

"And we will allocate a car-free zone in each municipality," he said, adding that plans to expand the program were still being discussed.

Cyclist Sunarno said he supported Car Free Day as it allowed him and other cyclists to use Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin without the fear of being hit by motorists.

"I hope more streets will be closed each Sunday," the 56-year-old said. (ewd)

President calls on local administrations to provide space for cyclists

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the regional administrations to provide adequate spaces for cyclists including those who use bicycles to work.

The head of state made the call at the National Monument here Sunday morning when seeing off cyclists who are engaged in an environmental campaign along a trip from Jakarta to Bali bearing the theme `Bicycle for Earth Goes to Bali`.

"The mayors and district heads across Indonesia should provide spaces for cyclists including those to work," the president said.

According to him, not only does cycling save the world due to less air pollution but also human beings as they inhale fresher air.

"The other advantage of cycling is to reduce our daily expenses as bicycles need no fuel oil which is costly," he said, adding that cycling could make people healthier and far from diseases.

Thus, the head of state encouraged the public to popularize cycling activities in Indonesia.

On the occasion, State Minister for the Environment Rahmat Witoelar said Bicycle for Earth Goes to Bali would take place from November 11 to December 1, 2007, as part of the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held from December 3 to 14, 2007 in Bali.

The cycling event is being participated in by 50 cyclists consisting 15 participants of the main team who will be running the Jakarta-Bali route and 35 members of the cycling community from cities where they will pass through.

The route will pass through the cities of Jakarta, Karawang, Pamanukan, Cirebon, Tegal-Pekalongan, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo, Madiun, kertosono, Surabaya, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, Tabanan, Denpasar, Nusadua.

"The cyclists will take the distance of 1447 kilometers passing through 44 cities with stopovers in 16 cities," the minister said.

The 15 cyclists in the main team have passed a selection test as they were able to take a nonstop trip from Jakarta to Bandung (West Java).

"The event is intended to campaign and popularize the use of bicycles in support of the people`s daily activities," he said.

Rahmat said along the route, the campaign team were scheduled to make socialization on impacts of the climate change and alternative solutions to the issue through mass media as well as discussions with regional leaders and people among other things.