Infrastructure

Dafne is an athlete from the Netherlands who holds the 200 meter world record sprint (photo Lee Jin-man/AP)

“Dafne Schippers” Bridge Ramp Built over a School

April 6, 2017 Hansonthebike 2

Reading Time: 3 minutesMark Wagenbuur wrote about it already a while ago when the bridge was being constructed, but now the new Dafne Schippers bridge in the Netherlands is officially in use. The bridge crosses the important Amsterdam-Rijn canal, connecting Amsterdam’s harbours with its hinterland in Europe. The canal is a considerable barrier and with a growing number of people living across the canal, this bridge was needed as part of the bike route from Leidsche Rijn (I loosely call it a suburb) to Utrecht Centre. The Amsterdam Rijn canal is a 72 km waterway and opened only in 1952. The part north [Read more…]

Rain water management in western Netherlands is vital.

Rain sensors to adjust bike signals before it rains

March 28, 2017 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesAlthough it doesn’t rain that often when I want to bike, I do try to plan around a rain shower if possible when there is even a threat of rain. One of my best sources is the weather radar at the Environment Canada website. By estimating the speed of the incoming rain from the 7 images displayed, I can usually work around getting soaked. Rain sensors in the Netherlands are going to help getting you home dry. Rain sensors installed Netherlands’ cities installed rain sensors already a few years ago. When they detect rain, the computer adjusts traffic signals in [Read more…]

bike share Vancouver

The Battle of the Bike Share Behemoths

March 9, 2017 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 2 minutesBike share might be slow in taking off in in Ottawa, but in other parts of the world it is serious business. There is currently a bit of showdown happening in China between the two main bike share behemoths in the bike share world: Ofo and Mobike. Ofo The two largest Chinese bike share companies are looking to expand. Ofo just announced it will start a bike share system with 500 bikes in Cambridge, UK. In February 2017, Ofo raised no less than 450 million USD. It is also working on the introduction of bike shares in Silicon Valley and Singapore. [Read more…]

A bike street in Utrecht, Netherlands running along the Rietveldhuis.

Speaker at Winter Cycling Congress 2017: Montreal

January 26, 2017 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 4 minutesI was asked to talk about winter cycling for a Montreal winter cycling congress. I decided to take a different take and will talk about winter cycling to train stations in the Netherlands, because I don’t remember ever having to cycle in snow in the Netherlands.

A Closer Look at the Bronson Improvements

September 20, 2016 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 5 minutesThe city got a lot of flak for the Booth Bridge Boondoggle and rightly so, as the design goes against all the modern road design principles. Big intersections, 4 lanes, no bike infrastructure, despite the connection to Quebec, the Zibi developments, the future Senators stadium and the Ottawa river pathways, even though there have been dire warnings from different sides years (!) before it was built. Once the opening came closer, the general public woke up and started to ask questions. The city scrambled a team together and a temporary provision for cycling was made. All you can do is roll [Read more…]