Out and About: Excursions in the Netherlands
Here in the Netherlands, afternoon excursions and day long field trips are as big a part of the curriculum as the lectures and they end up making up a large portion of our class time. After all, what good would it be to learn about Dutch bicycling infrastructure without actually going out on bikes to experience it. In order to do just this, we have guided bike trips (sometimes to further away destinations such as Houten and Amsterdam we take the train and then rent bikes) led by our professor, Peter Furth, that go through different towns and neighborhoods to take our own personal looks at all of the stressless cycle tracks, thoughtful intersections, and dedicated pedestrian areas that set the Dutch apart from the US when it comes to these fields.
In general, I have been happy to see how the Dutch are able to organize their entire road system as to cater first to bicyclists and pedestrians (their mode splits are quite representative of this as they average over 25% of trips on bicycle while Boston averages 1.5%) and learn how some of these concepts can be applied in places such as Boston to make the atmosphere more friendly to bikes and walkers and to subsequently encourage these modes of transportation. So far, my favorite class led field trip has been to Westland to visit the greenhouses in the countryside. Along the ride to the greenhouses we passed by several miles of gorgeous farmland including a huge field that, although currently being used, could potentially be used as an emergency storage container for water in the case of a flood. At the greenhouse, we saw the partially automated process of how they produce varying kinds of flowers using CO2 pumped underground from the Shell company to be consumed by the plants.
Potting machine at the greenhouse in Westland
Today, however, I had quite possibly my most enjoyable bike ride of the trip. For our current homework assignment, each person needs to do independent field research on a different aspect of systematic safety (the process of making infrastructure innately safe instead of dealing with black spots later) at a different location. My locations included streets in Delft, Rijswijk, and Pijnacker, so after class I biked to each of these locations to take pictures and notes on how they make commercial areas safe and how they enforce the speed limit using infrastructure. Along the way, I was overwhelmed by the peacefulness and beauty of a solo bike ride through the countryside. The perfect balance between life and tranquility seemed to fill the sunny day. I felt a great peace while riding along on two wheels through paths and over bridges, wishing that it would never need to end.
