Utrecht

Utrecht, centrally located

On Monday, 7/7 we visited Utrecht, in the heart of the Netherlands. We were met at the train station by two gentlemen that work for the municipality and also by Mark Wagenbuur, a filmmaker who has made a number of videos documenting cycling in the Netherlands. We were taken to the new bike parking facility at the train station called Jaarbeursplein. It was located on the edge of a plaza, underneath stairs that people use to access the train station. The facility itself was very large and impressive - room for 4,000 bikes.




Entrance to the Jaarbeursplein

We then attended a presentation given by a planner for Utrecht. Utrecht is signifiant because as it sits in the heart of the city it is a large transit hub. It has the busiest train station in the country, recieving more passengers than the main airport, Schipol. Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the country with 310,000 inhabitants and also has the largest university. It is also a very old city, founded in 70 A.D. by the Romans on the River Rhine (which as since shifted course). 

Some interesting modal split numbers include 41.3% of the population travel by car, 13.7% by public transit, 26.3% by bike, and 17.2% by walking. 

Utrecht's focus has been on intregrating cycling in infrastructure and policy. This includes establishing more and better bike parking, such as at the main train station. And policy intiatives such as a National Bike Rental System(OV Fiets) of which as of 2013 there were 160,000 members that took 1.3 million trips. 

Parking for 4,000 bikes!

After the presentation we were teamed up in groups to explore and document certain facilities throughout Utrecht. I was paired with Kayla and Emily and were were given the Jaarbeursplein bike parking facility. We visited this before the presentation, but we wanted to walk around the entire station, and see what other bike parking facilities were there. There was plenty of bike parking on the east side of the station with both outdoor and indoor facilities. But you could see how so many bikes take up valuable real estate along buildings and in sidewalks. Jaarbeursplein was constructed to remove bikes from outdoors and put them inside, creating a large open public space that is immediately accessible and viewable when you exit the station. It offers a great example of how to creatively integrate all transportation modes, including walking as pedestrians can now walk through the square.