Pre-class assignment

Before I begin posting about content ON the trip, I want to talk about what I did before leaving for Europe. 


Our pre-class assignment consisted of 3 options, Data Collection, reading, or YouTube videos. I had already done a lot of data collection for the LiveMove (an on-campus student group focused to transportation), so I decided to go with the YouTube video option. (another reason I chose this option was so I could get a sense of what to look forward to!)


Before watching the videos, I came up with a list of questions (stuff to look out for). Most of these questions asked how the cycling abroad compares to the US, and how they vary between the two countries. I also wanted to know more about the safety and history of the infrastructure.


Luckily, there is no shortage of videos about biking abroad. I ended up watching several videos about bikes in Denmark, bikes in the Netherlands, and even some videos that directly compared the two. 


The biggest thing that most of the videos emphasized was that in Copenhagen (and other parts Denmark) there are several places where cars and bikes are close to each other with little protection. They seem to also have much wider roads which might make it a little more intimidating for bike riders. The other big thing was that in the Netherlands they use red asphalt for their bike lanes, which are made with a material that make it easier for bikes to petal on, as well as being red to attract the attention of drivers. In both countries, safety is like 40 times better than the US. 


After watching the videos I took away a few questions. One was about the term ‘living streets.’ I’d like to know more about these and why they exist. The second is, I would like to get a better sense of what biking is like in the smaller towns. Not many of the videos I watched emphasized bicycle transport in the smaller cities that we will be visiting. Then lastly, I hope I can find how these principals apply to the US.


Most importantly, watching these videos made me very excited for the upcoming trip! Can’t wait to see it all in person!

Comments

  1. Marc SchlossbergJune 24, 2023 at 12:24 AM

    Great observations from the videos - and now it is time to start answering those questions, asking new ones, and reflecting on things that were in those videos but hard to see util experiencing things!

    ReplyDelete

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