Holland: Paving The Way for The Road Network of The Future?

[Bipin 3,402]

In Sim City, many of the revolutionary or groundbreaking modifications are the products of Dutch community members; Mandelsoft and Riiga some other Dutch member(s) you have heard of but didn't know they were Dutch for instance. Coincidentally, this also seems to be the case in the real world:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20942340

 

Engineers in Holland have created a photo luminescent paint for use in road markings, among several other transit infrastructure innovations. Could this be the advent of what we expect to see in several years time as a global standard, or at least within the more technologically adept nations?

[timmie 988]

Ah yes, the Dutch, they sure invest a lot of money in their roads (or maybe it just seems much because we Belgians invest very little in roads?).

(I always thought Riiga was Swedish, by the way? )

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Yes, Riiga is Swedish.

Anyway, the dutch have kind of a love relationship with bike traffic. We used to be the only Western country that uses the bike en masse as a mean of transport. Experiences with bike traffic have been good and it's really common around here to not only see bike lanes and paths within the city, but in rural areas too. There is a vast network of bike infrastructure around in the Netherlands. We forget how special that is, because it has become so common to us...

Nowadays, other cities in the Western world do see the potential of bike traffic for solving traffic problems. And who do they hire? Correct! Dutch planners! We already have tried out quite some things with bike infrastructure and we do have data about what's safe and what's not. Therefore, we can export this concept to foreign countries and I think they can benefit from the bike as an urban transport mode. It's clean, cheap and it is personal (so you can go where you want to). I think American cities can benefit from it. I can imagine NYC building bike lanes in Manhattan, since there is already a market for bike traffic there (and when you build, they will come).

Get away with the four wheels in the street jamming up traffic and make room for the two wheels!

Best,

Maarten

[Bipin 3,402]

Ah yes, the Dutch, they sure invest a lot of money in their roads (or maybe it just seems much because we Belgians invest very little in roads?).

(I always thought Riiga was Swedish, by the way? )

 

Quick, name another Dutch NAM member...

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Ah yes, the Dutch, they sure invest a lot of money in their roads (or maybe it just seems much because we Belgians invest very little in roads?).

(I always thought Riiga was Swedish, by the way? )

 

Quick, name another Dutch NAM member...

Joris (jmvl) and mtg (the OTHER Maarten of the NAM Team) (both of which are inactive nowadays). Joris (jmvl) taught me the skill of making puzzle pieces, the Other Maarten worked on L1 MIS.

[timmie 988]

And who do they hire? Correct! Dutch planners!

 

Looking at how Flanders handles bike paths, I can tell we don't hire Dutch planners (which is a pity)... Luckily, things are changing and standards for bike paths are becoming higher (they're even planning a network of 400 km of bike paths around the city of Brussels, which is incredibly ambitious compared to Belgian standards)

[dazza262 133]

I've often thought that underground heating for roads has to be the way forward.

 

I realise the cost could be quite substantial, but I would have thought that the benifits would far outweigh the outlay.

 

Here in the UK we have just had one of the longest winters I can remember, and with every snow flurry and icy morning causing traffic chaos, surely the cost to business warrants a bit of forward thinking.

 

Hats off to our Dutch friends.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The Netherlands is rather small and compact.  You wouldn't care to try that on the TransCanada Highway, now, would you?

 

North America is full of concrete spaghetti, and one concludes that in order to do this, the roadway must be ripped up and replaced with both a new infra-structure and new paving material.  God knows it is needed in many places, and it would most certainly put America to work.  If the Fed is going to print money, why not use it on some such project?  I think the work would last several decades.

[Bipin 3,402]

The Netherlands is rather small and compact.  You wouldn't care to try that on the TransCanada Highway, now, would you?

 

North America is full of concrete spaghetti, and one concludes that in order to do this, the roadway must be ripped up and replaced with both a new infra-structure and new paving material.  God knows it is needed in many places, and it would most certainly put America to work.  If the Fed is going to print money, why not use it on some such project?  I think the work would last several decades.

 

I agree with you there. Even if it was feasible, I doubt Americans would do it anyways, they have other priorities to spend it on (or so they say). Now what about smaller steps towards modernization? What about those photoluminescent paints?

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Well, even in countries that aren't compact, you could at least start in the cities. That's how other countries try to start their bike network. This happens in e.g. Paris, London, Copenhagen and various Swedish cities. And I think it already happens in the US too in some cities (I can confirm Minneapolis). Heck, even China is promoting the bike again now they're facing car traffic troubles...

[Duke87 1,070]

Normally the solution to making things visible at night is to make them reflective so that headlights light them up real well. But bikes don't really ever have much in the way of headlights, so photoluminescence makes things more amenable to them, and fits on bike paths. The drawback is that as the night goes on, it fades. With photoluminescent paint, what lights up nicely at 9 PM won't be so nicely lit up at 3 AM. Now, granted, road paints can be made to hold light better than your average "glow in the dark" toy (none of those last much more than an hour), but they will still fade.

 

As for heated paths, it's been done. The sidewalks on the Penn State main campus in State College, PA have steam pipes running underneath them so they don't ice over and the school doesn't have to cancel classes due to winter weather. Even more interestingly, this happened completely by accident! The intent was merely to pipe steam from the central plant to various buildings.

[Bipin 3,402]

One thing I just thought of that would be interesting is bioluminescent paint. If you could put bioluminescent algae or another similar organism inside some sort of paintable/pliable substrate, you get luminescence that doesn't die off after 9:00, as well as the conversion of CO₂ to O₂ as a small bonus. Then again, algal organisms are the largest photosynthesizers on our planet.

[LexusInfernus 908]

Ah yes, the Dutch, they sure invest a lot of money in their roads (or maybe it just seems much because we Belgians invest very little in roads?).

(I always thought Riiga was Swedish, by the way? )

Yeah, you can literally tell when you have crossed the border into Belgium by looking at the quality of the roads

 

 

I think this is a brilliant idea though. In my parents city there is this new neighborhood and they literally build a street light like every twenty meters, at every side of the road. It looks incredibly ugly and I can only imagine the pure wastage of energy when they ever turn it on. Im all for road safety, but I don't think you need street lights at such intervals. And like the guy in the video said, it might save quite a bit of money if you no longer need street lights like that. 

 

@Duke, yeah sure it won't be that clear at 3 am. But how many people ride bikes at such a moment? Not that many, and cyclists are still obliged to have a working light on their bike. Besides, it is never so dark in the Netherlands that you can't see where you are going. 

[timmie 988]

Besides, it is never so dark in the Netherlands that you can't see where you are going. 

 

I say hooray for light pollution! (The Dutch are also performing research about light pollution by the way: they are researching what colour of light disrupts the behaviour of animals the least, but I don't know at which university they are doing it.)

[Alex_1210 189]

Where i live in Toronto, the city has already made efforts to implement a more bicycle friendly transit system, and so far its working quite good, although many people still prefer to use their car then bike... 
Also, you cant compare Europe to North America when it comes to transit choices. Europe is a crowded and small continent, with country side dotted with numerous towns and villages, and the cities are compact and people live close together. In North America, its the opposite, you have to remember before the Europeans came, everything here was just forest, so everything here is big and spaced out, the cities extend for what seems forever... so its hard to introduce a bicycle plan when most people live in suburbs or in low density buildings on the outskirts of the city, and have to commute an hour by car to get all the way downtown to their jobs.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

It's not like you can plan your cities more compact. That's what we dutch do and this was to prevent sub-urbanisation. A happy side-effect is that you can bike your way through the city pretty easily and bike plans are pretty doable here. Planning can do much, you know

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, much of Europe got rebuilt entirely after WW II.  Would you say that the urban planning kicked in then, or were things restored antebellum?

[timmie 988]

We Belgians sure experience the importance of planning everyday when we are standing in traffic jams or when we are driving on the most hideous roads. Funny that the two most extreme countries in Europe (Netherlands: extreme planning, Belgium: extreme lack of planning) are neighbours. What a contrast

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Oh yeah. Going from the Netherlands to Belgium by car often sounds like bssssssssssss...RATTLERATTLECRUNKohmygawd.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Well, much of Europe got rebuilt entirely after WW II.  Would you say that the urban planning kicked in then, or were things restored antebellum?

That's true. After WW2 we have a housing crisis. Quite some of the housing was assigned to the existing larger cities, but there were also some towns assigned as rapid growth cities, like my home town Zoetermeer (which boomed from like 1000 - 2000 inhabitants to 120 000 inhabitants in just 50 years!). But we also had the reclaimed Flevopolders, where we could design entirely new cities. Prime example is Almere, which is currently on its way to be the fifth largest city of the Netherlands.

But even in the older cities like Amsterdam and the Hague, bike traffic is pretty important. Even there you have medium density suburbs.

[timmie 988]

Oh yeah. Going from the Netherlands to Belgium by car often sounds like bssssssssssss...RATTLERATTLECRUNKohmygawd.

 

Oy, our roads aren't that bad Most highways are okay nowadays. Nothing great, but okay. Other roads, on the other hand... And in Wallonia, the roads are even worse. The roads of the municipalities are generally the worst.

[AkemiAzula 280]

Well this new technology certainly looks promising. I cycle to work, but I go along tracks as well as roadways, across fields. Don't think it has much applicability in the countryside unless you were to make surfaced roads where the bridleways exist now. However naturally I encourage all mechanisms to improve the safety, taking up, and usefulness and ease of cycling as an alternative transit means.

 

I have never been to the continent so I can't speak as a witness of their ways, but it sounds like there is much regional and national variation. Hopefully one day efficient and effective cyclepath infrastructure will become commonplace worldwide and the issues of motoring will become less severe.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

'Tis not th' clop 'n' clatter that 'urts th' 'orses 'ooves:  Its the 'ammer, 'ammer, 'ammer on th' 'ard 'ighway.

 

Compacted earth is as good a path as any except in wet weather.

[AkemiAzula 280]

Yes. And that last bit is the problem. In my area it gets REALLY muddy when it rains, especially in Winter. I was knee deep in the stuff last Winter riding over the Downs to Storrington...

 

However idealistically I envisage mudtracks as the future and villages and towns as replacing suburbia. I also get a certain triumphant feeling whenever I hear the clipclop of the one horse and carriage that uses my road.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Ever consider getting a horse?  Horses are great, and they don't make bad companions.  A little work and expense to keep them going, but you can have a lot of fun riding them places others can't get to.  Does your local have a hitching post?

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Nah, who needs a horse in the Netherlands when you have the steel horse (AKA the bike). Besides, the Netherlands has the following boundary conditions:

- Wilderness? There isn't any. All "natural" areas are managed and there's always a town in a range of 3 kilometers

- Bikes don't need food. They only need maintenance every now and then.

- In the Randstad, you can't have a horse at your house. I mean, how can you possibly give enough space for a horse in your 50m² garden (including brick shed). Bikes are easier to store. Horses are only available on riding schools or when you live in a rural area...

- Why would you need a horse with such an extensive bike network laid out throughout the land, even in rural areas?

- Where can you ride your horse with all this asphalt and ditches?

This is why we dutch embraced the bike in our lives

Best,

Maarten

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, Maartin, unless I am mistaken, Mark is in the English countryside.  Your iron horse is all very well since it doesn't need any fuel other than what you eat.

 

There are definite disadvantages to hay burners, both in supplying the hay and handling the ashes along with the necessary housing and grooming.  However, maintaining your organic ride has the advantages of giving you something to do while you think about things.  And you can't cuddle your bicycle when you are feeling down, either.  Country living should, of course, include a nice loving puppy as well.  I recommend class I dogs, as these usually have a rollicking personality, lots of energy and will actually go hunting with you and make themselves generally useful.

[Fresh Prince of Wmbg 44]

Surprised I've not heard of many biking racing events in the Netherlands since y'all are famed as two wheel commuters..

[Bipin 3,402]

Here's one solution to those pesky streetlights, Lexus:

 

http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/glowing-trees-could-light-up-city-streets/

 

I'd be happy to see something like this really take off. Even for those who voice concerns against GMO (albeit nothing likely being wrong with this case) I'd imagine the same effect can still be achieved with the addition of chlorophyll working outside the host plant's normal photosystems. This would cause any additional light absorbed by the plant to be emitted later. Basically, the same principle at work.

[AkemiAzula 280]

Well I live in a 'village'. Technically if it had a few more shops and was surrounded by farmland for miles it'd be called a town, although back in my grandfather's time it was a proper village. His house in which I live was built circa 1950 when he moved in and bought it from the council. So I technically live in a 'suburban' semi-detached house, with a regular sized garden. So not much space, no. My bicycle takes up half the space in the lean-to. 

 

To the south is the coastal conurbation of Littlehampton, which has the usual 'urban' (low density, there's only one proper medium density building in town) issues. The place I work at is on the northern outskirts of Wick, a suburb known for drugs, teenage pregnancies, violence and drunkenness etc. However just to the north is Lyminster, a pleasant enough village (still a proper village) with only one pub and one church (where my mother did bellringing back in the 80s).

 

To the north are the South Downs, proper countryside, and the Sussex Weald of mainly rural land. So I live on the border of the countryside. I cycle to work across fields but often return home along the main road to go to Sainsburys. I try to keep to the country as much as possible as I am not of the 'urban street' persuasion. 

 

At any rate I wholeheartedly approve all improvements to cycle infrastructure. Where I live there are a few bikepaths (in an incomplete network which requires plenty of road-cycling or illegal footpath cycling to complete it). Yesterday I got a puncture so today I'll be using my two feet. The place I work is only an hour's walk away, thankfully. Mind you a man in a hoodie was complaining he had to walk from Goring to Worthing (barely 3 miles) because he hadn't a valid train ticket... 

 

I definitely think cycling should be encouraged. I signed a petition to make roads safer for bicycles at the Sunday Times website.