vimeo.com/.../76207227

I really don't have a car or else.

I don't like cars,
I hate cars.

I love my bicycle.

All my shopping
is in my "fietstassen".

How much
does that weight?

Well, I think 20 kilos.

Distances are short.

Especially here in town
it's easier by bike than by car.

A lot easier actually.

Now we are in Groningen.

I lived here from 1979, quite a long time.

It's a town
with 190 000 inhabitants

and 50 000 of all the people
here are students.

So, we've got a lot of young
people in this town.

PROFESSOR ASHWORTH:
This is

or was a fortress town

for a thousand years.

It was the town that guarded
the routes into Germany.

The "Fortress of the North".

Consequences of that,
the city was contained

within the military fortifications.

Until very late
in the 19th Century.

So, there is no explore.

It didn't expand outwards.

Which meant to cost that now we say:
"Hey we have a wonderful compact city

and we can reach everything
by foot, or bicycle or whatever".

In 1972 Groningen gets
a left-wing local government

and it's the start of the bicycle culture.

PROFESSOR ASHWORTH:
A small group of young,

enthusiastic, left-wing
ideological people said:

"Right, we're gonna
change everything radically".

And one of the things
they picked on was transport.

In September 1977, they introduced
a traffic circulation plan.

Which means the city center
was diverted in four different quarters.

Cars couldn't go from one quarter
to the other quarter.

They have to go
around the city center.

But cyclists and pedestrians
can go through.

You put a ring-road
around the inner city.

You prevent traffic
from crossing the inner city.

You divide it into sectors,
you pedestrianize the center,

you move all your car parking
out to the edge,

you have parking ride
schemes, etc., etc.

If you're making a journey
inside the city

then you can start and finish

in a different part of the city
taking a direct line between the two.

But if you go by car
you have to take a detour.

This is not really an anti-car measure,

This is making the neighborhoods
where people live more pleasant

and making cycling
a viable option.

PROFESSOR ASHWORTH:
Everyone said: "It can't work, this is impossible".

The shopkeepers said:
"We'll leave the city immediately".

"Everyone must park in front of our door,
otherwise we'll lose all our business".

And then, wonder of wonders,
the world didn't collapse.

The shops
didn't leave the city.

The police found: "Yes, people could
learn how to handle this plan".

People adapted to it,
and that was 1977.

VAN DER KLAAUW:
In the last couple of years

the area of calm traffic
has increased.

So, nowadays it's just normal

that you go on a bike to the city center.

In Groningen, the average person
cycles 1.5 times a day.

That's how it goes, ten times a week
people ride a bike somewhere.

It's a very comfortable
way of transportation.

Above everything,
it's very economical.

So, you don't have to pay
for buses or train.

WOMAN:
With a bike, I go

downton, through
the center of Groningen.

And at my work,

when I use my car, I have to go
through the "ring weg",

they call it here,

and it takes, I think,
about half an hour.

With my bike
it's ten minutes.

STUDENT 2:
You need your bike here, definitely,

because you need it
to go to your residence,

you need it to go to party.

You can transport
everything on a bike

so you see people
here riding a bike.

You can even transport
a fridge if you want to.

Better put the fridge on the back
of the bike and push the bike.

Bring it somewhere somehow.

VAN DER KLAAUW:
We arrived to the central station of Groningen.

We call it "hoofdstation",
main station.

We've got three different places
where you can park your bike.

Now we are just in front
of what we call "stadsbalkon".

Town balcony,
you can call it.

With free parking place
for about 5 000 bicycles.

It's free, you don't
have to pay.

But people
are looking after it.

So, it's kind of a guarded bicycle park.

All the place
has got a sensor.

The "stads" balcony
is diverted in different areas.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

You can see the sign over there.

It shows you how much
places are still free.

But the one over here,
on the right-hand side.

That's the formal bicycle parking.

Which is a guarded one.

You have to pay for it.

A day ticket,
a month ticket.

And it's open till
the last train

arrives in Groningen
round about 2 a.m.

And then,

we've got further back
what we call a bicycle "flat"

which is free but is nobody
who looks after it.

And on the south side of the station

there are also parking places.

So, the total amount

of bike parking facilities
is round about 10 000.

And on the weekend,
it's all full.

That's an OV-fiets, a shared
bicycle system in the Netherlands.

You can pick up those bikes at
340 stations around the country.

So, it's probably the biggest
bike-share system in the world now.

It's intended to people
who use public transport.

So, the idea is that

if you have cycled to the railway
station in your own town

and then you've taken the train,

you can use one of these
bikes on the other end.

As the other part of your commute.

STUDENT:
Why ride a bicycle?

Because it's much easier
than taking the bus

and the car is way too expensive
to have in the cities.

The infrastructure is great,
bicycles are everywhere.

So, that's basically the reason
I ride my bike everywhere.

I have to go,
good luck filming.

You're not going
to get a cycling revolution

by having a few 30 km/h streets.

And you're not going to get it
by building just a few cycle paths.

And you're not going to get it
by traffic coming just a few streets either.

You have to do everything
and you have to do it everywhere.

You never have to ride more than
a few hundred meters from your home in the NL

in order to find yourself
on facility of such quality

that you will be happy to cycle on
and you'll be happy for your children to cycle on.

VAN DER KLAUUW:
We tried to make new areas

around the town
within the boundary of 5-7 km.

Out of a point of a compact city
and to mobility aspects

it's much better taking
the bike or walk into the town

instead of using car.

This bridge is one of the projects
which gives you the opportunity

to use your bike
or go on your feet

to the shops which
are on the other side.

So, it's a very easy
and the quickest way

to go from the new area
over here

and to go to the other area
down there

not using your car,
but go on the bike.

PROFESSOR ASHWORTH:
Employers must submit the local authority

a plan, a scheme, a set of ideas

on what are they doing
in order to encourage

their employees
not to use motor cars.

And this can come
in all sort of forms.

It could be they do
no more than putting some

covered bike parking
and some showers or lockers.

But some places have offered
free public transport.

Others have offered
a bonus to people that

are not using their motor cars.

So, the idea is to discourage parking.

HEMBROW:
This Ikea is one of the largest in the world.

It's the largest,
the size of Berlin's.

So, there is also
a lot of car parking.

But the cycle path in here
is still quite generous.

Here you can see
there's a special cycle path

just right into the entrance.

We go straight on and we cycle
just right into the shop.

Although it's summer.

As you can see how much people are using the bike to go into the Ikea.

So, I presume that maybe in the next couple of years they will put some more.

This is the parking place
for the employees of Ikea.

And you can see that most of them
are coming on the bike

and use the bike place to park the bike.

Yeah, I think it's great.

Cause, one: you save room for the customer
because we don't park there.

And if you haven't private still in place,
it encourages people to go on.

It's quite common to see students
moving house with these

because there are
50 000 students in Groningen

and you can hire these
for just €2.50 an hour.

So, people will hire
one of these to move house.

So, you'll see students riding through
the town with all of the worldly goods

on the bike "fiets".

We are growing up with a bicycle.

When you are three years old in Holland,
you learn how to bike.

It's easy, you are
quick everywhere.

I'm used to go
on bicycle, it's cheap,

it's good for the health,
for your movement.

Bye!

On the car
you're always alone.

And on the bike it's funny,
you interact with other people.

On the streets
you talk, you laugh.

You can study for an exam on the way
to the campus if it's necessary.

You go all around
on a bicycle.

You go there
or you go there.

With a car
you can't do that.

You can't park here,
you can't park there.

Or you get fined
by police here.

One thing you'll find is very apparent
when you're here is that

it is almost completely silent.

This is the quietest city
that I've ever ridden a bike in or been in.

For example,
in this street

you could stand on the roadway for minutes
at a time without seeing a car.

HEMBROW:
The reason why is pleasant to cycle here

is because the infrastructure removes conflicts.

So, you don't have people cycling

in close proximity
to fast cars or large trucks.

Not terribly often anyway.

So, this is relatively peaceful.

And by having the streets

as streets mainly
for bicycles as this is.

We have enormous
numbers of people

using the streets
and able to get to the shops.

We can make the whole place
look more attractive.

So, the first thing you see
when you come out of the train station is

this massive bike parking structure.

The taxi stand is located
away from the front of the station.

Over there, that very small parking lot,
that's where you can get a taxi.

You don't have taxis
jostling for customers.

If you want a taxi,
you have to go and seek it out.

We are here in the north-western
part of Groningen.

The Korreweg bike, it's built in the 1930's

and behind me you'll see
the canal Van Starkenborgh.

It's the canal which leads
from Amsterdam to Germany.

So, it's an important canal
and lots of ships are here.

The whole day and the whole night
it's open 24h six days a week.

Behind here there's a suburb area

with lot of young people
with young children.

They all have to go to work or go to school,
they have to pass the bridge.

Each day 30 000 cyclists
pass this bridge.

It's an old bridge,
it's a swing bridge.

It opens sometimes ten minutes
so it will take a long time to pass.

That means we have made this separate bridges
you can use when the bridge is open.

So, you can never say
when you have to go to school:

"Well I'm late because
the bridge was open".

It gives you options.

Some people will wait,

some people will take the bridges
just behind the swing bridge.

In the morning hour

you might see that a lot of people
will use the separate bridge

to go to their work.

But then you go home and you think:

"Well, I have been working
for a long day, I will wait".

There are so many things
that have been done

to improve livability here in Groningen.

As you've seen everything
is attainable by bike.

With a smart transportation planning
all obstacles have been on goo.

The result is a beautiful city
that's quiet, healthy, fun and pleasant.

Say if you want to go to the movie theater

there are hundred
of bike parking spaces out front.

And hundred more protected
if you reach out back.

But that's just something
that's not remarkable.

Look at the quality of the pathways
throughout the city.

Grip pavers
are flawless and on spot.

It's hard to find a defect anywhere
or spots where’s uneven.

Mainly, this is a priority because they want
people to have a smooth ride.

That's because the city
does not encourage travelling by car

and thus, the money they save,
they can continue to build

beautiful places that you can walk on,
bike on, take transport on.

And yes, you can even drive
your car when you need to.

PROFESSOR ASHWORTH:
A bicycle isn't considered to be a strange toy.

It's not a sporting object.

It's a simple method of transportation.

You no longer think about cycling

any more than you think
about your feet when you are walking.

Well, we came here because we look
for the best place in the world to cycle.

Therefore, we ended up
moving to Groningen.

Cause when you've looked
everywhere that there is.

There's simply nowhere quite like this.

VAN DER KLAAUW:
So, because using your bike

you can go to the town,
have a drink like the students.

Go to the town,
go to the market,

go to your work,
go to see your friends.

So, it's a mode of transport
that keeps you alive.

Subs transcription and correction:
RICARDO SANZ