Voting starts to find the Netherlands’ most bike friendly place to live

Dutch cyclists union Fietsersbond launches its annual competition to find the Netherlands’ most bike friendly city on Wednesday.

But according to Amsterdam university urban planning professor Marco te Brömmelstroet, neither Amsterdam or Rotterdam are in with a chance.

‘Utrecht is doing good things at the moment,’ Te Brömmelstroet told broadcaster NOS. Nijmegen (which won in 2016) and Groningen (the 2002 winner) are also doing their best to improve the lot of city cyclists, he says.

This year the competition has been opened up to the entire country and cyclists can fill in an online form to have their say.

Among the subjects up for discussion: is a cycle through the city relaxing, are there enough bike racks and are the bike paths accessible?

Amsterdam and Rotterdam have many plans but few results, Te Brömmelstroet said. ‘They don’t have clear targets. They do a lot of shouting but achieve very little.’