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nijmegen 7.04-7.07

5. Transportation Progress in Nijmegen and the Netherlands

Before entering Nijmegen, Netherlands, I had no idea what to expect from this next city. Walking down the cobblestone streets towards the hostel, I could tell this place has a rich history in the process of mixing with a more modern Dutch lifestyle. Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands, with the country’s oldest established street— but it wasn’t founded by the Dutch, it was the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago. 

I’m just starting to square the circle when it comes to the differences between transit infrastructure development and improvement in the US cities vs. European ones. Since Copenhagen, a theme I have noticed is a sense of urgency and action when it comes to planning. Every protected bike lane, new train station, or proposed housing development I learn about here simply makes so much sense. Though hard for me to always remember, these cities surpass any American city in age by hundreds of years. The European cities we have visited are not on their first round of mobility infrastructure; they are on their second, third, and fourth rounds. Unfortunately for us in the states, our earlier rounds of infrastructure like the street car have faded into the distant past with the advent of the automobile and major highway subsidies. 

Despite this, meeting with transportation planner Sjors for a bike ride instilled quite a bit of hope. I don’t want to become jaded as I find many transportation planners to be, but I don’t blame them considering the level of pushback projects face for poor reasons. Sjors was quite the opposite, with a bright outlook on transportation futures and a long list of ways to be successful when working on planning projects. He emphasized tailoring your language to each specific audience— people in three car households are going to have a staunchly different perspective on removing on-street parking compared to an avid commuter cyclist living on the same street. Though Sjors is an avid cyclist himself, with 13 bikes between his three-person household (one member is his 15 month old daughter and she has three bikes though she is too young to ride any), he does not consider himself an activist for cycling or infrastructure— he is a planner, and he presents the facts about a project to gain support or shift opinions. 

Hearing Sjors’ success stories on projects where he met resistance but was able to prove the benefits of proposed design changes to his audience were quite inspiring. I myself find it hard to stop myself from singing the praises of bike infrastructure when it may not be the right moment for it. I can still believe everything I do about the benefits of time on a bike and less time in a car, but some scenarios call for less pro-bike-bias and more listening. It was impactful and important to hear methods and positive outcomes of someone successfully making change in his community’s transportation network.