Several mobility plans have been introduced recently. Among other things, the multi-year road safety plan 2016-2021 tightens the multi-year cycle plan 2021-2022. At the end of 2019, there was already a plan for a car-free city. The promised infantry policy still does not exist.

This pedestrian policy has been completely suspended since April 2020. Meanwhile, there is always a new policy in which other methods claim space, time and money. Special. You first expect a coherent approach before giving up that space, time and money. You can only do this once. Creating more space for one is no longer possible without at the expense of the other.

I only thought of the bike

In the evaluation, the experts stated: “The current multi-year plan for bikes is somewhat unilateral in its thinking: it thinks aggressively from the perspective of the bike alone.” There are two trends that require a different perspective: the increasing struggle for limited space and the increased movement of the chain. The pressure on space manifests itself not only in the growing conflict between styles (types of traffic), but also in the growing struggle between mobility and survival.

The evaluation also indicates that the bike is increasingly seen as undesirable in central car-free areas. Autoluw’s agenda is to reduce vehicle footprint on the Ring Road. In parallel with this, more stringent measures may be required than in the current MJPF to mitigate the downtown density of the bike.
Is the bike the new car? I do not wish. A healthy and attractive Amsterdam needs a bike.

Basic options are now required

There are now separate and incomplete plans for the bike, walker, and car. If you add these plans together, the common space should be two times larger. Then of course it is not possible. The coalition learned of this when he took office. The city council now has to make basic choices: coherent, resilient to the future, with a good balance between relocation and survival, which doesn’t have to be the method but the people at its center.