Bikes and starlings ...

[Grelinette]

Hello,

Comparing bikes and starlings may seem incongruous, but this metaphor becomes very interesting and appropriate when we see the documentary Why we cycle !

So I attended the screening of the film Why We Cycle which deciphers the Dutch model concerning the incredible development and use of cycling in this country: it has become a culture deeply rooted in the minds of the Dutch population, younger to older. The infrastructures and the cycle facilities are of an incomparable level to those of France where the cycle paths often amount to a simple white line delimiting a track of a few tens of cm on the edge of the roads.

The consequences in terms of reduced accidentology and urban pollution, and increased social relations and respect for others are beyond what a French can imagine ...
For example, Holland has voluntarily removed all signage on numerous crossroads and road crossings where hundreds, even thousands, of cyclists and cars mix ... without tension or accident, and even conversely with more contacts and respect between users. It surprises and it makes you dream!

Indeed, France and Holland have taken diametrically opposite paths, and it is not only a question of relief. Today France appears to be a very bad student whereas only forty years ago France and Holland were at the same level concerning the use of the bicycle ....

A debate followed this fascinating documentary in which local associations promoting the use of bicycles in town, local elected officials, users, a lawyer participated.

Very very interesting!

Here is the trailer for this documentary (unfortunately still in English in English):

To return to the title and the comparison "Bikes / Starlings", we see in this documentary (and in the trailer) a great flight of starlings in the sky flying like a huge cloud, apparently anarchic, but nevertheless very harmonious and without clash: it's a metaphor that explains how and why the thousands of Dutch cyclists come together in a perfect and orderly balance, while at first glance the whole appears rather disorderly.

Besides, do you know how starlings fly in this way? ... Scientists have studied this phenomenon which can therefore be applied to the human species!

[Grelinette]

I take this opportunity to give you the link to the FUB website (Federation of Bicycle Users) who is doing a national survey called Barometer-of-cycling cities"to assess urban cycling facilities.

It's here : Barometer-Bike

and you can see here the number of participations for your municipality: https://public.tableau.com/profile/fub4 ... 8940/Carte

[Ahmed]

The big difference between the Netherlands and France lies in the importance and the place of the automobile industry. This is why, faced with the same problem of urban pollution and congestion, one is massively oriented towards the use of bicycles, while the other favors the development of road networks, less emissive engines and, ultimately, the switch to electric; the bicycle playing only a marginal role, to optimize the flow of heavier vehicles ...

[Grelinette]

The big difference between the Netherlands and France lies in the importance and the place of the automobile industry. This is why, faced with the same problem of urban pollution and congestion, one is massively oriented towards the use of bicycles, while the other favors the development of road networks, less emissive engines and, ultimately, the switch to electric; the bicycle playing only a marginal role, to optimize the flow of heavier vehicles ...

That is true !

It has also been explained in part why this difference in orientation between Holland and France for the development of cycling, when in the 70s and 80s these 2 countries were almost at the same level:

- a powerful French automobile industry with a great influence of lobbies with politicians,

- a different individual culture: French expresses their social level mainly through their car, while the Dutch do not have this desire (need) to stand out by contributing to others,

- Dutch politicians who are less "pretentious" than in France: a number of Dutch politicians go to work by bicycle and thus show the example to their fellow citizens,

- and another very surprising reason: French is very creative ... and quickly learned how to improve the displacement of 2 wheels by adding an engine: Solex and mopeds quickly took the place of bikes, especially among young French people!

Finally, there would have been in the 70s, when pollution and road insecurity began to arrive in European cities, a beginning of disapproval of the population, followed, in Holland, by an accident where a child was fatally hit by a car. This highly publicized case would have tilted the Dutch population towards a refusal to develop the car in the city.

[Christophe]

Good remarks Greli!

The geography and the unevenness of the terrain must also play a role ... Holland is much flatter and much denser than France! Cycling 5 km regularly is fine, 15 is much more difficult for ordinary people ...

Cities like Brest are just impassable by bicycle (not electric) ...

[perseus]

Hello,

I had to make a bad manipulation and lost the message that I wrote: '(
Good for short and for once I doubt the car lobby is the first to blame. There is an important parameter such as the population density (5 times higher in the Netherlands). In addition, France is very much more extensive, with a much more varied geography, an enormous crumbling of the Communes, a cultural tendency to the suburban residence rather than to the vertical construction, certain big cities very structured by the rivers. ..

@+

[Ahmed]

Of course, as noted above, other factors also play a role. One of them was not mentioned, which is the difference of dominant religion: Protestant on one side, Catholic on the other; this is what largely explains the difference in perception of the automobile (without being an absolute determinant).
If we take the example of Germany, the influence of the automobile industry, oriented towards large displacements, is manifest in that it has never allowed a general speed limit (in a country, however very concerned about security issues) ...

[GuyGadebois]

If we take the example of Germany, the influence of the automobile industry, oriented towards large displacements, is manifest in that it has never allowed a general speed limit (in a country, however very concerned about security issues) ...

France is 12th in the list of cycle paths while Germany is 5th.

[Ahmed]

Because of its history, Germany, belatedly unified, has a much less centralized territory than ours, hence probably this difference. In large urban centers across the Rhine, there is an important practice of cycling (as in Berlin). Large sedans and bikes do not seem in opposition to the level of social representation ...

[GuyGadebois]

Because of its history, Germany, belatedly unified, has a much less centralized territory than ours, hence probably this difference. In large urban centers across the Rhine, there is an important practice of cycling (as in Berlin). Large sedans and bikes do not seem in opposition to the level of social representation ...

It is also because they put a lot of money in this branch, unlike France.