Across The Canal In 3D

The Dutch ride bicycles more than just about any other  people in this world.

Their capital, Amsterdam, has more than one hundred kilometers of canals and about 90 islands.  So, perhaps, it's not surprising that the city has about 1500 bridges--or that some of those bridges are devoted to bicycles.

As an American, it's difficult for me to imagine any city in this country even envisioning a bridge for bicycles.  Hey, some of our major bridges, such as the Verrazano-Narrows, don't even have pedestrian or bike paths!

As an American, it's interesting--though not surprising--to me that the Dutch are also among the world's leaders in applying advanced technology to everyday life, and their infrastructure.  

So, perhaps, it was inevitable that the first 3D printed bicycle bridge would be built in the Netherlands.

Yes, you read that right.  The Eindhoven-based construction company BAM has collaborated with the Technical University in that same city to create a structure that will be 8 meters (26 feet) long and 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) wide when it is set up in the nearby town of Gemert, where it has just been delivered.  

The bridge is constructed in eight one-meter segments which will be connected with a special concrete mortar.  Thus assembled, it will be built between two bridge heads and secured by cables.

Cyclists riding across Peelsche Loop in Gemert can 
expect to see the bridge in place by October, according to published reports.

Paris In The Bike Lane

If you were to ask, "What is the world's most bicycle-friendly city?", the answers you'd most commonly hear probably would be "Copenhagen" and "Amsterdam".

It would be difficult to argue against either.  And, although it's more bikeable than most American cities, not many people would put Paris ahead of either the Danish or Dutch capitals.

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I thoroughly enjoyed cycling in the City of Light.  That is not to say, however, that there isn't room for making it an even better place for cyclists than it is.  Mayor Anne Hidalgo recognizes as much, and has said that she wants not only to improve the cycling experience in her city, but to make the French capital into "the world's cycling capital".

Although one sees many bicycles and cyclists along the banks of the Seine, the portion of the population that rides regularly, let alone every day, is still fairly low, at least in comparison to places like Copenhagen and Amsterdam.  Nearly everyone agrees that one of the goals in making a city more "bike friendly" is to get people out of their cars and onto bike for their commutes, and to shop and visit the sights of the city.  That can be done when cycling is made available, affordable, safe and practical for those who are not, and do not wish to become, hard-core cyclists.

From what I can see, Paris has succeeded with the first two priorities:  You don't have to go very far to find a Velib station (or other bikes to rent or buy), and rental rates and purchase prices  are relatively reasonable.  The availability of Velib even well beyond city limits at least partially addresses the practicality issue.  But another part of it ties in with safety:  a coherent scheme of bike routes that cyclists can actually use to get to work, school or anyplace else from their homes and is physically separated from vehicular traffic.

The new Paris bike expressway.  Photo from a tweet by Marie Fugain.

Such networks are what separates Copenhagen and Amsterdam from nearly all other cities, according to Mikael Colville-Andersen,a  planner who regularly works with cities around the world to improve cycling conditions.  Of his native city, Copenhagen, he says, "Visitors who come for the first time will easily find their way around by bike because the network is uniform. That is not the case in Paris," where he points to "incoherent" choices like putting buses and bikes in the same lane on some roads.  Then there are "utterly stupid" ideas, he says, like the bicycle lane in the middle of the Champs-Elysees that is scheduled for completion next year.  "It will fail," he pronounces, because it will "lead to accidents" which will "give ammunition to the bike haters."

He does, however, see signs of improvement, like the new bike expressway" along the right bank of the Seine.  The route was created by taking two lanes from the Voie Georges Pompidou, a motorway that winds past the Louvre and the garden of the Tuileries, across the river from the Eiffel Tower.  This new "expressway" meets the standards of "Copenhagenization" in that it runs in a continuous axis in both directions, has enough room for cyclists to pass each other and has a separator between the bike and auto lanes, according to Colville-Andersen.

He says it could be the start of a bicycle network that could take its inspiration from another network for which Paris is justly renowned: its Metro.

They Keep Going Even When There's No Gas

Here in the US, one normally expects to see a bicycle-mounted police officer in a park, on a college campus or in some other place where there are narrow alleys or paths, like large housing complexes.

It seems, however, that cities and towns are figuring out that such patrols can be very useful in downtown areas.  If you have cycled in such places, as I so often have, you know that you can often reach a given destination before a car or bus, especially when traffic is heavy.

That is basically the reason why there are still bike messengers, even when offices have scanners and e-mail systems.  Some things require that actual people physically sign for them, or have to be delivered by hand for other reasons.  When I was a messenger, I routinely made trips from Midtown to the Wall Street area in five to ten minutes that would have taken twenty minutes to half an hour in a motorized vehicle.

But I digress.  Now ever-smaller cities and towns are seeing the usefulness of bicycle patrols.

One such municipality is Wimberley, in the south-central part of Texas, between Austin and San Antonio. With less than 3000 residents, it doesn't have its own police station, so it depends mainly on deputies from the Hays County Constable and the county sheriff's department to respond to emergencies.

As often as not, those emergencies are the cause of traffic congestion in the downtown area.  Emergency trucks have an especially difficult time getting to the scene of an accident, explosion or some other emergency quickly.  In situations like those, saving seconds can mean saving a life.  And, as Constable Ray Helm explains, "those guys on their bikes can get there within 20 seconds" when it might take minutes for a first responders' vehicle. Also, "they can access different parts of the city trucks can't," he notes.

Also, those quick arrivals make it more likely for officers to de-escalate tense situations, like the ones that unfolded this weekend when gas stations ran out of fuel. Tempers flared, and the officers on bicycles avoided traffic tie-ups and were thus might have arrived just in time to prevent a fracas.

In sending constable's deputies on bicycles, the department was also able to use less of its own gasoline--which, of course saves money.  I am sure that would sway a few folks who might not be moved by the other benefits--such as improved community relations (Officers and the public deal with each other face-to-face rather than through a metal encasement.) that accrue from getting officers out of their cars and onto bikes.