It took Amsterdam 40 years to become the bicycling city we know today. London is taking on that change now as well, confronting the challenges of cultural shift, changing demographic demands and urban roadway redesigns. Take a few minutes to read this BBC News report and watch this in-depth video. See any parallels to Seattle?
If yesterday's editorial in The Seattle Times is any indication, Seattle has looked in the mirror and is ready for change, too. It's going to take more than editorials and letters and rides. It’s going to take an adjustment in our priorities, funding and political will to get where we want to go: a connected network of all-ages and abilities bike infrastructure where it's safe for everyone to get around by bicycle.
In the Netherlands, a huge spike in fuel costs and in cyclists' deaths, including the horrifying figure of 450 children, brought people together to demand change. They looked in a mirror in the 1970s, didn't like what they saw, and committed to the hard work of making changes. The video below documenting their pathway through change gives me never-ending inspiration. I have watched it many times and never tire of it.
As the narrator says: "The Netherlands were and are not unique. Their solutions, then, should not be either."
And neither are Seattle's.
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