The Netherlands' Model
The Netherlands' Model
Let's pledge to follow 'The Netherlands' Model' (Bicycle and Public Transport Model with Multimodal Streets) and discard the 'US Model' (Private Car 'American Dream' Model).
The images on the left show the Google Maps* and 'Street View' of two parallel roads namely 21 Beemdstraat and 12 Mahatma Gandhilaan, in Eindhoven, Nederland. While the map shows the two roads having a separate bicycle trail, the street view shows cyclists using the bicycle trail and in numbers larger than automobiles.
*Google Maps offers a 'biking' layer that segregates bicycle routes into four different categories depending on the degree of 'bicycle friendliness'. Solid green lines for paved bicycle trails, solid black lines for dedicated bicycle lanes, dotted green lines for bicycle friendly roads, and dashed green lines for dirt or unpaved bicycle trails. Solid green and solid black line routes are the safest for bicycling. Environmental friendly cities and countries can be identified by visualizing the density of such lines. For comparison, we display below the biking layer (courtesy Google) for three different cities: Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Washington DC in the USA, and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Has the maximum density of bicycle trails and dedicated bicycle lanes. Bicycling is part of the Netherlands' culture. Citizens pedal to work, school or for grocery shopping. One of the most environmentally friendly countries.
Washington DC / Alexandria, USA
Washington DC has a reasonably good density of bicycle friendly lanes but fewer dedicated bicycle lanes. Alexandria has a few famous bicycle trails such as the Mt. Vernon trail. Citizens pedal for leisure and pleasure. It's not common to see them pedal to work, school or grocery mart. Less environmentally friendly.
Gandhinagar, India
Gandhinagar has just a couple of dedicated bicycle lanes. But absolutely no bicycle trails or bicycle friendly lanes or even unpaved/ dirt bicycle trails. Using the Google Map, 'bike' layer as a metric, India can be considered as the least environmentally friendly country and unlike other countries, has not begun, as yet, to explore ways in which the cities can be made liveable or safe for citizens/ children.
Benefits of Multimodal Streets (The Netherlands' Model)
Road fatalities (0.15 million/annum) or (1 in 10,000 population) in India is the highest in the world. If we, in India, wish to take important matters such as the quality of human life, or assign a higher value to human life, we need to start by studying the streets of other countries. We believe that it would be a waste of energy to educate the public about following traffic discipline to reduce the fatalities. It would makes better sense to choose the correct model and approach the authorities and decision makers after an analysis, study, debate and a pilot.
India is currently following the US (private car) model, while the rest of the world (even US is beginning to) is following the Netherlands (public transport and bicycle) model with multimodal streets.
Streets must be designed to serve different modes and provide multiple mobility options for its users.
Multimodal streets offer people options for safe, attractive, and convenient travel by foot & bicycles, on transit, as well as in motorized vehicles. Multimodal streets help to make cities more efficient. A reduction of private cars on streets has a direct link to reduced production of greenhouse gases, related to climate change. This shift also helps in increasing space for commerce and public use, and contributes to a better quality of life and economic growth.
Multimodal roads are roads that support multiple modes of transportation, such as walking, biking, public transit, and motorized vehicles. Multimodal roads are part of a multimodal transportation system, which is designed to be efficient and affordable, and to support the needs of all users.
Multimodal transportation can include:
Public transit: A well-integrated public transit system that's easy to access
Bicycle and pedestrian: Facilities that support walking and biking
Micromobility: Modes like e-bikes and scooters
Multimodal transportation can have many benefits, including:
Improved efficiency: Multimodal transportation can improve efficiency by combining the strengths of different modes of transport.
Reduced congestion: Multimodal transportation can reduce congestion by reducing the number of private cars on the road.
Lower costs: Multimodal transportation can be more cost-effective than other modes of transportation.
Increased sustainability: Multimodal transportation can reduce the environmental impact by reducing the number of private cars on the road.
Improved quality of life: Multimodal transportation can improve quality of life by increasing space for commerce and public use.
For more details on Multimodal streets and their benefits, click here.