With proper infrastructure, bikes can belong in cities

Ahead of Go By Bike Day tomorrow, the Netherlands ambassador Mira Woldberg reveals her love of biking and how the Dutch have made it integral to their lives.

Can you share your cycling story?

My family and I use bikes in the Netherlands for everything: to go to work, school, sport fields, to shop and for leisure. Most Dutch start cycling with training wheels about age four, and cycle to kindergarten. My older son learned cycling in Central Park when we lived in New York and was able to cycle without training wheels at three years old. In the neighbourhood, people were quite impressed! At the age of six, my two sons started riding their own bikes to school in The Hague.

In Wellington the hills and the wind are challenging, but as a family, we are determined to use our bikes in New Zealand. I use an electric bike myself to get around the city or to go to the nice cafe’s in Lyall Bay. The bike path around Oriental Bay is a favourite.

What are you looking forward to for Go By Bike Day?

I am very happy to meet with Wellington’s cycling enthusiasts and share my country’s experience of cycling. I am also delighted the Dutch embassy is taking part again with a special Dutch table with breakfast snacks.

I think the Go By Bike Day organised by the Wellington City Council is a great opportunity to promote cycling as a normal and sustainable means of transport.

There are many tangible benefits that can be enjoyed by everyone. Cycling shapes the Dutch culture; I am sure you have seen images of hordes of cyclists on Dutch city streets. Among them, you even can find our prime minister, Mark Rutte, and Crown Princess Amalia going to school.

Why should cities invest to enhance the use of cycles?

Investments in infrastructure are required to enable safe cycling. An increase of the use of cycles for daily commuting to work or school improves the quality of life in cities, addresses our climate change challenge, promotes healthy living, ensures more efficient mobility and moreover it brings people closer.

I see more and more Kiwis are using bikes as shown by the electronic bike counters across Wellington via bikethere.org.nz , which is also a consequence of active local government policy.

Annually, the Dutch government spends more than NZ$600 million on cycling policy. The central government provides 40 per cent of the investment grants with regional government providing the rest. It is our experience that, when you build cycling infrastructure that is fast and safe, people will use it.

What can the Dutch and Kiwis learn from each other?

Internationally, cycling and the Netherlands are always mentioned together naturally. However, even in the Netherlands it took many years of government policy to set up cycling infrastructure. It requires a long-term policy and we learned from mistakes in the past.

Both the New Zealand and Dutch governments are reviewing how to make cycling more attractive. We can join forces to fight congestion, improve the living environment and bring people closer together in our cities. We can assist each other in policies, education and planning to create safe and accessible cities.

Also, to address questions such as how to improve the alignment of bicycles and public transport. Alternatively, share ideas on smart ways to fund more bicycle infrastructural measures.