…. wish we could be more like the Netherlands

Today city council will be discussing the future of the Bixi Bike Share program here in Toronto. It’s managing to cover it’s daily operating costs but can’t manage to pay back the loan. One of the problems here in Toronto is that the program isn’t big enough for a city of this size. We actually need to put more money into it to make it work properly.

My husband came across a great video from the Netherlands…..such a different bike culture. I wish we could be more like the Dutch but I can hear the arguments now….. “we’re too big, winters are too long, why should we subsidize bikes, bikes ’cause congestion'”, etc., etc… Our mayor actually believes that ‘bikes are a pain in the @$$’ and that there is a war against the car. Here’s a video of him when he was a councillor ranting against bike lanes.

My husband and I have used the Bixi bikes in Montreal, where the winters are usually colder and longer than here in Toronto. It’s a great system but I’m always concerned when I see people riding the Bixi bikes where I live in Toronto because there are no stations close by. I wonder if people realize that they’ll be paying more when they don’t return the bikes in the allotted time.

My son lives in the Netherlands and he rides his bike everywhere. As a tourist there’s a bit of a learning curve, especially in the bigger cities, when you’re walking and you have to cross a street. There are lanes for cars, bikes and pedestrians and sometimes special traffic lights for each lane but it works. One of the bonuses is that the citizens in the Netherlands are much healthier than North Americans. Here’s a great video from the Netherlands called King of the World.

Have a great day! Till tomorrow.