As previously mentioned, Meredith Glaser of the University of Amsterdam assigned us on a little scavenger hunt. We spent about half our time in Amsterdam doing as much of the scavenger hunt as we could. There were a variety of missions on the scavenger hunt. Most ask us to visit neighborhoods, make observations, interview neighbors, or use Google Streetview to get a glimpse at how the street has 'evolved' over the years.
Some of the missions on our scavenger hunt
After getting our bikes, my teammate and I wasted no time getting around the city, crossing off as many from the list as we could. Myfavorite activity was visiting the Waterfront ferry terminal. It was fascinating to watch the scramble of pedestrians, bikes, mopeds, and more as the ferries arrived. With our limited internet, it is next to impossible to upload longer videos onto the blog, however, this video gives a good sense of what kind of multimodal activity is in the area. (note: this area has been slightly re-developed since this video was shot, however, the activity near the tram terminals functions about the same now as it did in this video).
Interviews
As I mentioned, a few of our questions had us interview local residents. This was a little awkward (especially because we were worried about how many locals would actually speak English), however, it gives good insight into how they view the city.
One is a laundry shop employee. He said he lived in the neighborhood where the laundry shop is his whole life. He actually grew up in the apartments across the street from where he now works. While he slightly understands the concept of the bike infrastructure and the 15-minute city, he is still worried about what the impacts on his business will be when they convert the road into a bike-priority road (where cars are 'guests').
Another, an older resident in the Oude Pijp neighborhood stated how she was first skeptical about the changes, but was overall happy with the outcome once changes were implemented. However, she said it's still a little confusing for cars due to the many dead-end streets. (For reference, this neighborhood has almost completely eliminated on-street car parking in lieu of bike parking. Most car parking is done either by permit - which is extremely valuable - or underground car parking).
Underwater bike parking at Amsterdam Central Station. We talked with a few users of this bike garage and got their opinions on it.
Comparing the past to the present
The Google Streetview assignments gave us a great insight into the history of some of the (now) bike-heavy streets in Amsterdam.
What was once a tram stop with an adjacent car lane...
Now bike parking (tram stop moved). The adjacent road is now closed to cars and is bike-only
Observations: Inside the city versus outside
Another thing that Meridith emphasized was to look at life inside this ring versus outside. Amsterdam has the A10 freeway circling around it. As we got further away from the city it actually got less chaotic. We looked at a grocery store inside the city and outside. Inside the city, there were many bike racks with little to no above-ground car parking. It seemed like most people walked or biked to the grocery stores within the city. Outside the city, we noticed a lot more car parking and an older clientele. (While most of the people in the city were younger or middle-aged). Even though there were more cars the farther we go away from the city, the bike infrastructure remained. There was still ample bike parking at the grocery store outside the city. It still felt extremely comfortable to bike there. I feel like this is the opposite of the US. Most of the biking infrastructure in my hometown of Portland deteriorates the farther you get into the suburbs.
All in all, this scavenger hunt made me realize just how different the culture is in Amsterdam. While I realize this class is about bikes and bicycle transportation, Meridith made this activity out to be more of a multimodal exercise. However, none of the questions explicitly required/requested us to use the metro, bus, or tram. I would have preferred if this were the case, as I don't feel like I got to properly experience all the different modes that Amsterdam has to offer.
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...
For the weekend our group made a brief visit to Malmö, Sweden before we head off to the Netherlands. While many used it as a weekend of rest (between big cities), I still made it out a considerable amount and would like to share my impressions about the city as a whole. I also want to note that our entire time here it was overcast and rainy (which, honestly for me was a little nice to get a break from the heat. The weather reminded me of springtime in Oregon). First of all, the train ride over was extremely easy. We all gathered at Copenhagen Central Station and hopped on a very clean and modern train that would take us the Øresund, into Malmö. Even though this is technically an 'international' tain, being in the EU makes the whole process so much easier. Other than a quick crew change at Hyllie - the first stop in Sweden - (and unless you have a trained eye you wouldn't even notice this) we were in Malmö in no time. The train to Malmö After getting our bags dropped off a...
Heads up, this post might get a little technical. Copenhagen's infrastructure has so much to it. (probably more so than I will be able to explain). In this post, I hope to highlight the key pieces of infrastructure that I noticed throughout my time in Copenhagen. I had initially thought that (because of how many bikes there are) there would be few cars on the road and many bikes on the street. Yet, I was surprised to find that is not the case. The amount of cyclists on the road is equal to (if not a little more than) cars. Copenhagen's City Center is set up so cars have to pass through it in many instances. Therefore, there are some roads that are 4 or 5-lane (as wide as some of the roads in Eugene, such a Franklin Blvd, for those who are familiar with that area). However, as I have mentioned in previous posts, one thing that makes Copenhagen stand out so much is its bike lanes (or cycle tracts). They are on almost every road. Even though they parallel the car asphalt, they ar...
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