The total population of the Netherlands is 1.7 million, and the total number of bicycles is 2.2 million.As per a 2019 report.
This makes it 1.3 bikes per person—nowhere else in the world is bike density as high, and, therefore, the Netherlands is called the kingdom of cyclists.
Bicycles were popular in the Netherlands before WWII, but with the post-war economic boom, car ownership increased, and the number of cyclists began decreasing (by 6% every year).
This changed again and people started preferring bicycles, in part because of the people’s sensitivity towards road accidents.
So, when in 1971, 3300 people (including 400+ children) were killed by motor vehicles, a social movement demanding safer cycling conditions for children was formed.
The social movement was called Stop de Kindermoord (meaning Stop the Child Murder), and it brought the advantages of cycling (over cars) to everyone’s notice.
The movement was in its early stages when the Middle East oil crisis hit the Netherlands in 1973.
During this crisis, oil-exporting Arab countries stopped exporting oil to countries that were perceived to support Israel during the Israel-Arab countries war.
The social movement and oil crisis pushed the Dutch government to invest in improved cycling infrastructure, and introduce car-free Sundays.
The Dutch urban planners also changed their focus from the car-centric road-building policies that the rest of the western world was focused on to bicycle-centred policies.
Over the years, the Netherlands developed a vast network of safeEven toddlers, elderly and pregnant women use bicycles as the easiest mode of transport. cycling paths (smooth, and wide enough to allow side-by-side cycling and overtaking).
At several locations, the cyclists don’t have to share paths with motorised traffic, and wherever they have to, there are signs with messages such as “Bike Street: Cars are guests”.
Cars give way to cycles at most locations, and in accidents with cyclists, the car driver is considered to be at fault as a matter of principle.
Today, the Netherlands has more than 35000 kms of cycle paths, and in cities like Amsterdam and The Hague, up to 70% of all journeys are made by bike (on average, the Dutch cycle 1000 km in a year).
There are designated posts of bicycle civil servants tasked to maintain and improve the cycle network.
