The Netherlands (aka Holland) is the biking heaven of Europe. Here you can bike anywhere in or out of the city. There even are bicycle lanes close to the motorways.
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But why do the Dutch bike so much?
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One answer could be that the Dutch are really civilized people, that they care about the environment, that they want to keep themselves healthy etc. Well, all of these are good reasons why the Dutch bike so much.
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But, in my opinion, these are not the only and even the main reasons. Here is what I think is the explanation.
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First. There are a lot of bicycle lanes (at least in Rotterdam, but I’m sure it’s the same in other places). This creates the (infrastructure) premises for developing a behavior.
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Second. Related to the richness in bicycle lanes, where there aren’t bicycle lanes the drivers Respect the bikers. No one is blowing the horn or does anything aggressive towards the people that bike.
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Third. If you want to go by car you have some problems: a liter of gas is 1.45 – 1.55 Euros; parking in the center of Rotterdam is 3 euros per hour and in other areas it decreases to 1.5 Euros per hour.
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Fourth. Going by public transportation could be quite expensive- at least one euro or up to 5-7 euros.
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Fifth. Going by car o by tram (in Rotterdam) takes longer than biking on the same way.
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Sixth. (Thanks Dad for reminding me) The Netherlands is a flat country. There is only one hill. So going by bike doesent requier a lot of effort.
So the care for the environment and for one’s own health could be good reasons to bike, but I believe that they are not the main ones.
