Not Just Bikes
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2021–2024
3:45 · 452K views · Dec 2, 2019
A short Not Just Bikes video on continuous sidewalks in the Netherlands, where the sidewalk runs unbroken across side streets so cars must visibly cross pedestrian space. It places them within Dutch sustainable safety and Vision Zero efforts.
HN users point to it as a vivid example of how simple, intentional street design makes a big difference for pedestrian safety.
4 comments from Hacker News
My god, you weren’t kidding! I’ve been watching his videos since seeing your comment. His intro video immediately signals the fantastic quality of the channel. So far the guy did get me excited about sidewalks. this video
See the youtube channel Not Just Bikes[1], specifically videos like - "Why the Dutch wait less at traffic lights" - [LINK] argues that American traffic engineering is optimised for car movement, at the expense of pedestrians and bikes, whereas Dutch traffic engineering is to minimise conflict between vehicles and maximise movement of people overall. Leading to more complex but more efficient intersections. - "The Dutch solution for safer sidewalks - continuous sidewalks" - this video has crossings at junctions where cars and people intersect designed so the cars visibly have to travel over the sidewalk through the people's area, instead of designed so the people have to visibly travel over the road, through the car's area. - "Crossing the street shouldn't be dangerous, but it is" [in North America] - [LINK] talking about length of crossings on wide road, traffic signals, priorities, etc. [1] [LINK]
I remember I learned this on a "Not Just Bikes" YouTube video, but I can't find it now, but it blew my mind how simple intentional things make a huge difference. It was about the car lane, curb, and where people bike/walk in the Netherlands. In most countries, the car lane is lower than the sidewalk, and when they have to turn, the lane doesn't change - no bumps, or elevation. A pedestrian / cyclist going from their space into the car lane has to usually face a down slope, so it's very clear the person is entering another area. In at least this Netherlands city or video I watched, Not Just Bikes talked about how over there the car goes into ascent, as in, the car is entering the bicycle space. So it's not as smooth, or convenient, or the same mental model as the other way. edit: found the video this video
Good intention but car-centric infra is the worst example we can give to our children. You should teach how to build those streets for people first, bicycles second, public transportation third, cars last. Build for people not for machines. Bicycle are all age inclusive, all ability inclusive. Cars is the most discriminatory mode of transport. Those crosswalks should be continuous: this video