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7/22: AMSTERDAMMERS FIGHT FOR PEDESTRIANS

Two remarkable Amsterdam initiatives in June, I found them in city newspaper Het Parool. Market vendors, several times almost or actually hit by fast cyclists, protested collectively and then enforcers took action. And interest groups published a standard notice of mass protest against the plan of the new aldermen to make 900 extra, temporary terraces on the sidewalk permanent.

After injury protest

First to the famous Albert Cuyp market. After five o'clock in the afternoon this street turns into a bicycle highway. While market stalls are being dismantled, cyclists speed across the wide asphalt, injuring market employees. I have eyes and I can judge for myself whether what I am doing is dangerous, says a cyclist to reporter Marc Kruyswijk. His assessment corresponds to what many cyclists think, while piles of scientific literature point in one direction: the faster and more complicated traffic is, the less able you are to assess danger properly.

Raw husk, raw spunk

In December 2021, a market employee suffered a serious back injury when an e-biker hit him at full speed. Albert Cuyp vendors are the 'Love babes' of many media outlets ("Real traditional, tourist-friendly Amsterdammers"), but according to Kruyswijk also anything but finely tuned: "Rough diamond, rough stone." Their joint protest, after a long period of individual quarrels and even fights, led to the installation of fences at both ends of the market, including "No Bicycles" signs. In June, a large group of enforcers went on a week-long patrol to detain anyone who cycled on anyway. Lasting effect? Still unclear, but Amsterdam has a new group that stands up firmly for the interests of runners.

Against 900 terraces on the sidewalk

Reporter Hannah Stöve describes the increasing inconvenience caused by extra tables and chairs on the sidewalk, permitted since the Corona crisis. Inner-city resident Bernadette de Wit: "The walking space is greatly reduced. I can hop onto the carriageway, but what about older people walking down the street with a rollator? Or the pregnant woman or father with two children on her arm?" Due to the increasing crowding on the streets, some people are increasingly excluded from participating in public life, De Wit sees around her.

Protests in Inner City and West

The coalition agreement of the new aldermen wants to allow temporary terraces in principle permanently. The Friends of the Amsterdam City Center (Vereniging Vrienden van de Binnenstad) are up in arms about this. Board member Walther Schoonenberg: "We expect a wave of objections. According to him, the problem goes beyond nuisance: "Because of the terraces, public space is unjustly privatized and commercialized. A standard objection form that residents can use en masse is available from the Association. Also elsewhere in the city, in West, Amsterdammers turn against "terrassenterreur". Henk van Dijk, a professional resident supporter here, started a petition to withdraw all temporary permits.

Mayor surprised

Mayor Femke Halsema, responsible for security in the capital, seems "not amused" with the plan of the new aldermen. Her spokesperson in Het Parool: "Given the nuisance problems, the mayor read the sentence on extending corona terraces with some surprise”. The mayor is often the appropriate governor to be responsible for the public interest of pedestrians, is one of my advice: see at Tips & Tools, for organizations.

(1-7-2022)

MY eBOOK FOR FREE

You can download ‘Walking for me, you and millions more’, for free. It reads now like a classic. Written just before the pandemic, but all issues are more relevant than ever.

(1-6-2022)

‘Walk your Meeting’: guide for being productive, satisfied and healthy at work

The book is a guide to behavioural change and a must for every professional involved with walking issues. ‘Walk Your Meeting’ explains how organizations and teams function better when they walk for part of their meetings. During the pandemic, this approach proved extra to be a execellent form of collaboration that can also be used in homework situations. The book contains numerous examples. The personal tone by author Martine de Vaan makes the publication extra attractive. Only in Dutch, but you can read my review in the Dutch Blog of this site and translate. Worth while!

my Ebook for free now

You can download ‘Walking for me, you and millions more’, for free (see PDF). It reads like a classic now. Written just before the pandemic, but all issues are more relevant than ever.

(1-6-2022)

GUIDE FOR PRODUCTIVE AND HEALTHY WORKING HOURS

(1-5-2022)

During the pandemic the positive image of people going on foot got an enormous boost. More people walk more. But others get less exercise. Although walking is in, the implications of the pandemic are unclear. I was hesitated in publishing on this issue but I expect to write more coming year. Meanwhile I changed a number of Tips & Tools, like the tips to tempt teenagers to walk with their parents. Enjoy. My Corona Walking Kit (see below) is still a good list.

(4-10-21)

THE FIVE POINT CORONA WALKING KIT

The list for governments to do. And for the public ( so you, me and others) to lobby for:

Open up streets where people need space to move on foot. In places and spots with many walkers and many cars or cyclists, organize separate ways. Cars sometimes need to make extra detours.
At crossings with traffic lights: quit the buttons, so walkers get green light automatically. They need not touch buttons. A simple change in the system for engineers, but still many local governments are still not aware (of this necessity).
Offer much longer green traffic lights to walkers and cyclists, so they don`t form groups waiting and causing distance problems.
Ask pedestrians what problems they encounter and fix their sidewalks immediately.
Decide to limit speed: maximum thirty kilometers or twenty miles per hour. And twenty kilometers for bicycles. Many cities and villages have a large majority of the population in favor of speed limitations, all over the world.

Forget measures that are too extreme to many people. Concentrate on practical issues, easy to explain and do not take much time to implement. We face difficult times. A lot of people are in financial or health trouble. They foresee a difficult future for themselves or their loved ones. They feel insecure and hate experiments. Finally, also consider campaigning on this:

Showing your directions by pointing your hand left or right, as a walker and as a bicyclist. Why not? For many years already obligatory for bicyclists, but often forgotten. A positive way to make safer places for everybody.

This kit is based on my experience as an international expert in walking and a writer, looking around our globe.

(10-5-2020)

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