Shared Spaces and Bicycle Culture    

A friend recently shared with me an article about the problems that Paris is encountering as it attempts to transform itself into a cycling city - clashes between pedestrians and cyclists, accidents, mayhem....

In the Netherlands, there is an ingrained bicycling culture.  Everyone knows the rules, they've all been biking since they were born and it is simply a part of every day life.  Cars are not a priority.  In Rotterdam, trams have priority, then bikes, then pedestrians and finally, cars.  Of course when gas is $8 a gallon,  it just does not make sense to use a car as your primary mode of transportation.

Here are two examples of traffic flow, the is first one taken from my balcony.  It is fairly typical of the traffic that I see every day, with the exception of the bus - that's a rare sight.  And note the tram tacks in the middle of the street - 

This video was taken on the local "shopping" street, where I do most of my errands, about a block from my house.  I would describe this street as "shared space", where bikes, pedestrians and cars are allowed and no one has priority.  People and cars simply move in cooperation with one another, without street lights and without crosswalks.

The Dutch have been at this for a long time - and it shows.  It helps when everyone driving a car is also a pedestrian and a cyclist.  Cars are in the mix but they are certainly not at the top of the food chain - as it should be!