David Hembrow

Last updated

David Hembrow is a Dutch cycling advocate who resides in Assen, Netherlands. In his English-language blog, A View from the Cycle Path, he describes how the Dutch cycling infrastructure works, how it has become the best in the world, and how this infrastructure encourages the Netherlands to have highest level of cycling mode share in the world. [1] His blog has become quite influential in the world of cycling advocacy. [2]

Contents

Hembrow is very critical of what he sees poorly executed attempts in his adopted home country of the UK to make cycling in London and in other towns and cities safe. [3] [4] He also sees these attempts as being far too slowly implemented to allow British cycling infrastructure to remotely catch up to anywhere near to even the poorest-serviced Dutch cities in terms of cycling infrastructure. [5]

Hembrow and his family moved from Cambridge, England (where he was once heavily involved in the Cambridge Cycling Campaign [6] ) to the Netherlands in 2007 so that they could live in a bicycle-friendly environment. [7] He used to conduct study tours to show people the cycling infrastructure of the Netherlands but no longer offers them because of the environmental impact of international travel.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groningen</span> City and municipality in Groningen province, Netherlands

Groningen is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The capital of the north, Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of the country; as of December 2021, it had 235,287 inhabitants, making it the sixth largest city/municipality of the Netherlands and the second largest outside the Randstad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drenthe</span> Province of the Netherlands

Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of November 2019, Drenthe had a population of 493,449 and a total area of 2,680 km2 (1,030 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assen</span> City and Municipality in Drenthe, Netherlands

Assen is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Sunday in June the Dutch TT is run; and also for the annual Assen Dance Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utility cycling</span> Bicycling as transportation

Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common type of cycling in the world. Cycling mobility is one of the various types of private transport and a major part of individual mobility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hook turn</span> Road-vehicular manoeuvre for turning across lanes of opposing traffic

A hook turn or two-stage turn, also known as a Copenhagen Left, is a road cycling manoeuvre or a motor vehicle traffic-control mechanism in which vehicles that would normally turn from the innermost lane of an intersection instead turn from the outermost lane, across all other lanes of traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dooring</span> Type of cycling accident

Dooring is the act of opening a motor vehicle door into the path of another road user. Dooring can happen when a driver has parked or stopped to exit their vehicle, or when passengers egress from cars, taxis and rideshares into the path of a cyclist in an adjacent travel lane. The width of the door zone in which this can happen varies, depending upon the model of car one is passing. The zone can be almost zero for a vehicle with sliding or gull-wing doors or much larger for a truck. In many cities across the globe, doorings are among the most common and injurious bike-vehicle incidents. Any passing vehicle may also strike and damage a negligently opened or left open door, or injure or kill the exiting motorist or passenger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling advocacy</span> Activities promoting cycling

Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typically include policy, administrative and legal changes ; advocating and establishing better cycling infrastructure ; public education regarding the health, transportational and environmental benefits of cycling for both individuals and communities, cycling and motoring skills; and increasing public and political support for bicycling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle safety</span> Safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling

Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle boulevard</span> Street designed as a bicycle route

A bicycle boulevard, sometimes referred to as a neighborhood greenway, neighborway, neighborhood bikeway or neighborhood byway is a type of bikeway composed of a low-speed street which has been "optimized" for bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor-vehicle traffic but allow local motor-vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to bicyclists as through-going traffic. They are intended as a low-cost, politically popular way to create a connected network of streets with good bicyclist comfort and/or safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in the Netherlands</span> Dutch mode of transport

Cycling is a common mode of transport in the Netherlands, with 36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day, as opposed to the car (45%) and public transport (11%). Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips nationwide. In cities this is even higher, such as Amsterdam which has 38%, and Zwolle 46%. This high frequency of bicycle travel is enabled by excellent cycling infrastructure such as cycle paths, cycle tracks, protected intersections, ample bicycle parking and by making cycling routes shorter and more direct than car routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in New York City</span> Overview of cycling in New York City

Cycling in New York City is associated with mixed cycling conditions that include dense urban proximities, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and streets with heavy pedestrian activity. The city's large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; cycling clubs for recreational cyclists; and increasingly commuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2018 there were approximately 510,000 daily bike trips, compared with 170,000 daily bike trips in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groningen railway station</span>

Groningen railway station, locally called Hoofdstation, is the main railway station in Groningen in the Province of Groningen, Netherlands. It is located on the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway between Zuidhorn and Groningen Europapark, on the Meppel–Groningen railway as terminus after Groningen Europapark, and on the Groningen–Delfzijl railway as terminus after Groningen Noord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Copenhagen</span> Means of transportation in Copenhagen, Denmark

Cycling in Copenhagen is – as with most cycling in Denmark – an important mode of transportation and a dominating feature of the cityscape, often noticed by visitors. The city offers a variety of favourable cycling conditions — dense urban proximities, short distances and flat terrain — along with an extensive and well-designed system of cycle tracks. This has earned it a reputation as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Every day 1.2 million kilometres are cycled in Copenhagen, with 62% of all citizens commuting to work, school, or university by bicycle; in fact, almost as many people commute by bicycle in greater Copenhagen as do those cycle to work in the entire United States. Cycling is generally perceived as a healthier, more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and often quicker way to get around town than by using an automobile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Amsterdam</span> Mode of transport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Amsterdam is well known as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities, with high levels of bicycle infrastructure, planning and funding, tourism — as well as high levels of bike theft, safety concerns and overcrowding in places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling infrastructure</span> Facilities for use by cyclists

Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure, the more people get about by bicycle.

The history of cycling infrastructure starts from shortly after the bike boom of the 1880s when the first short stretches of dedicated bicycle infrastructure were built, through to the rise of the automobile from the mid-20th century onwards and the concomitant decline of cycling as a means of transport, to cycling's comeback from the 1970s onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EV2 The Capitals Route</span> European cycling route

EuroVelo 2 (EV2), named The Capitals Route, is a 5,500 km (3,400 mi) long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from Galway, Ireland to Moscow, Russia. This east-west route passes successively through seven countries – Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belarus and Russia – and visits all their capital cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected intersection</span> At-grade road junction in which cyclists and pedestrians are separated from cars

A protected intersection or protected junction, also known as a Dutch-style junction, is a type of at-grade road junction in which cyclists and pedestrians are separated from cars. The primary aim of junction protection is to make pedestrians and cyclists safer and feel safer at road junctions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nescio Bridge</span> Bridge in Amsterdam IJburg neighbourhood

The Nescio Bridge is a cycle and footbridge in the Netherlands. This curved, steel suspension bridge, located in Amsterdam, is the country's first suspension bridge that carries only a cycle track and footway, and at almost 800 metres length it is also one of the country's longest cycle and footbridges. Additionally, it is the longest single cable suspension bridge in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle highway</span> Direct long-distance separated cycle path for utility cycling, without big intersections or detours.

A bicycle highway, also known as a cycling superhighway, fast cycle route or bike freeway, is an informal name for a bicycle path that is meant for long-distance traffic. There is no official definition of a bicycle highway. The characteristics of a cycle motorway mentioned by authorities and traffic experts include an absence of single-level intersections with motorized traffic, a better road surface and the absence of traffic lights. Bicycle highways are mentioned in connection with traffic jam. Owing to higher average speeds than normal cycling infrastructure, they provide an alternative to the car in commuter traffic. Often a cycle motorway follows the route of a railway or other linear infrastructure.

References

  1. Sarah Goodyear (October 23, 2013). "A Tour of a Whole Country That Has 'Transformed Itself for Cycling'". The Atlantic Cities website. The Atlantic . Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  2. "David Hembrow and Velo-City 2014". Bike Adelaide. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  3. "Has Britain progressed in the last six years?". A view from the cycle path. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  4. "Has London progressed in the last six years?". A view from the cycle path. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  5. "How much time do you have? Who are we doing this for?". A view from the cycle path. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  6. "The truth about Cambridge". A view from the cycle path. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  7. David Hembrow (22 November 2013). "Has Assen progressed over the last six years?". A view from the cycle path. Retrieved 29 November 2013.