Roody

It sounds like what Bill Clinton called a "high class problem." But the ever increasing abundance of bikes really is a problem in the world Capitol of Everyday Cycling.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/wo...nt&tntemail0=y

no motor?

I saw that, what a nice problem to have! Certainly better than having too many cars.

Dahon.Steve

I believe what they need to do is remove all the bikes missing wheels or have been destroyed but remained chained to a bike rack. If they did this, hundreds maybe thousands of bikes could be removed. These bikes can then be move to a safe location where people can pick them up. After a certain date, they should be sold at auction in lots.

Simple.

Dahon.Steve

Someone listed numbers on another thread but as many people are on the trams, buses and trains as there are on bicycles. They should make a story on them.

dynodonn 

Sometimes, too much of a good thing can have it's consequences. I'll guess that I should be somewhat thankful for our city's low bike commuting numbers, since I'm able to find a place to park my bike without too much effort.

I-Like-To-Bike

Note that few of the people complaining in the article were typical NL commuters, and I don't think any said that there are too many bikes. The complaints included those about mopeds and not enough bike racks, not too many bikes.

I thought one might be a Dutch version of the WSJ's Dorothy Rabinowitz when he complained, “When you look at the large squares, on a Friday night the place is completely covered with bikes,” he went on. “There is also a question of aesthetic values.” Maybe he thought those large squares were "begrimed" by all those bikes.

dynodonn 

"Increasingly, some are saying what was simply unthinkable just a few years ago: There are too many bikes."

The people in the article may not have said it, but the article itself did.

More parking, more bikes will quickly take up the spaces.

Roody

You rarely see "too many" bikes in my city. There were hundreds at an Obama campaign rally at MSU in the late summer of 2008. It took about 20 minutes for everybody to get them all unlocked and untangled. There's also a hipster area on the east side of Lansing where there often wasn't enough parking even when people locked to every tree, pole and railing. Then they put in some racks, and now you can usually find a spot.

I-Like-To-Bike

The NYT reporter (AKA "the article") wrote/said it.

Since when is more bikes "a problem" except for NYT and WSJ writers?

Roody

Too many bikes or not enough bike parking. You can say it either way you want to.

And what is this WSJ article you keep mentioning? Seems like it really shook you up!

shurin

Just imagine the parking problem if every one of these bikes was replaced by a car, even a compact one!

As for Amsterdam having more bikes than people, well, it seems normal to me - horses for courses. I wouldn't take my road bike to a grocery shopping in the winter or go to a weekend tour on my singlespeed city bike. Having a spare bike for a visiting friend is also a great idea. And a trailer. And a towing vehicle for that trailer. N+1

dynodonn 

Very unlikely that will happen, just not enough space or infrastructure to accommodate that many cars, plus parking rates would be out the roof lessening the number of cars even more.

Just an added note: Recently, an 8ft by 12ft parking space in San Francisco just sold for 82,000 dollars or roughly 854 dollars a sq. ft.

shurin

That's actually exactly what I meant with "parking problem" Every time some guy on the Net laments about cyclists hogging the road I would like to tell him that he's lucky I don't take his parking space at the shopping mall, I don't cause any traffic jams, I don't create smog and I probably don't need insulin shots or heart transplant from the healthcare in the future.

I can get a decent apartment or even a half-decent small house for that money in my town...

dynodonn 

Even if you tried to replace every bike in the photo with a car, the infrastructure just wouldn't accommodate the number of cars anyway, causing many people to use an alternate means of transportation........New York City comes to mind.

Dahon.Steve

I don't understand why they don't use kick scooters like the Xootr instead of bringing a full size bike? What about a folding bike?

I-Like-To-Bike

Because bikes are far more useful. The typical Dutch cyclist is not complaining about too many bikes, just a few people specially selected by a NYT reporter looking for filler for her story.

I-Like-To-Bike

You should stop at not creating smog; your proclamations about biking being the sure cure for diabetes and preventing health disease make you sound foolish

I-Like-To-Bike

I thought I already posted it, just for you, but it is easier to post it again:

https://live.wsj.com/video/opinion-de...1-4CA50BDD8D4D

Roody

Boy, that gal has had one too many facelifts! I had to turn the video off when she said the word "begrimed."

shurin

That's why I said probably - there's no sure cure for anything, but you can reduce probability. There has been heart diseases in my family, so I might have the "bad genes", but if I live healthily there is less probability of getting heart attack than if eating fast food and living sedentary life.

But I agree I might have worded it better - like "I have less probability to need insulin shots or heart transplant from the healthcare in the future".

dynodonn 

The changing of the guard will always take place, and future generations will probably look upon this with amusement.

Snowman219

Or fat chicks.

I-Like-To-Bike

Sounds far more sensible now.

I-Like-To-Bike

Don't have to wait for the future. Ms Rabinowitz has already made herself a laughing stock over this video. It is a shame because she previously earned a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting of over zealous prosecution of people who were wrongly accused of child abuse.

Ekdog

No, he does not sound foolish at all. He said he "probably" won't need insulin shots or a heart transplant. There was no mention of a "sure cure".