Starting the 2024 Netherlands Trip in Den Bosch, we get over jet lag while exploring the centre on foot, some infrastructure highlights further out, ride to neighbouring Tilburg, and see a few innovative things I haven’t seen before along the way… There continues to be more lessons from the Dutch…

The final chapter of fietspad not only summed up the findings of that trip, it was the starting point to explore other Dutch ideas, beyond the protected bike lanes, protected intersections and continuous sidewalks that are already gaining traction.

Imagine a traffic signal that is aware you’re arriving on a bike and decides to adjust its timing to give you a green light without needing to stop. It doesn’t happen every time, but when it does, it’s quite special!

It might seem like nit picking, but what we call a street for bicycles is important, even more so if we can reflect that name in the signage and pavement markings, and maybe even convey the priorities a little better than a simple sharrow.

We’re talking Nice, the City in France here, but the infrastructure could also be described as nice. Take a wander and occasional bike ride along some of the protected bicycle infrastructure.

To date we’ve been doing them wrong in North America, or at least in the wrong places. Woonerf’s are most often found on residential local streets rather than commercial main streets in the Netherlands.

What it’s like to ride a folding bike straight from the airport, ride it relatively long distances, take it on the train, and even take it around the grocery store…