Dutch Cycling Embassy

Hello BlueSky. We’re the Dutch Cycling Embassy. Our goal is to share our expertise and technology as the world's number one cycling country to facilitate cycling worldwide as the most modern, efficient and sustainable method of transport.

This beautiful cartoon by Dave Walker shows what happens when road design takes everyone into account, allowing people to cycle and walk safely and comfortably, while also giving space to those who need to drive 💌 Subscribe to Dave's newsletter: buff.ly/Cbw6mig

Before and after: 6 years ago, Utrecht restored the Catharijnesingel. Once filled in during the 1970s to make way for traffic, the historic canal now flows again around the old city, lined with pedestrian paths, bike lanes, and a park-like landscape.

Have you ever looked at a map of Europe through its bike infrastructure? 🚲 Every line on this map shows a cycle track, lane, or shared path. Where does your region stand? Map: VeloPlanner | Data: © OpenStreetMap contributors buff.ly/3nFHmfw

🚴 More incredible cycling news from Paris: 🟢 On 14 October, Paris presented a new cycling plan for the current municipal term, it includes 140 km of new cycle lanes, 220 km of contraflow cycling lanes and improvements to 420 intersections by 2032. buff.ly/meJI6Uo

👉 Read the full article to explore the lessons from Utrecht’s Stationsplein Bicycle Shed and what other cities can take from its experience: buff.ly/nrt78aq

Why do cycle bridges matter? Cycle bridges create safe, direct routes for people on bikes, especially across busy roads, railways, or waterways. They remove conflict points with motor traffic, reducing the risk of collisions and making cycling more enjoyable for everyone.

Do you know that 77% of all bicycle accidents occur sideways? Often, this is due to low visibility at night, but our network partner @ZIEMI has a solution for that: a biomotion light, ensuring you can be seen from the side! Discover more about Ziemi on their website:https://buff.ly/u3fiX1e

It's Saturday! Sit back and relax watching this video of an impressive two-ways cycle path in Hooglanderveen, Amersfoort.

Paris is showing how to make cities healthier and more child-friendly. More than 300 school streets are now car-free and give space to trees, play, and safe walking/cycling. The aim goes far beyond traffic safety: cleaner air, less noise, and more independence for children.

🚲 What are the world's best cycling cities? Every two years, the Copenhagenize Index ranks 100 cities around the world based on how well they create the conditions for cycling to be safe, convenient and a normal part of everyday mobility. 📊 buff.ly/sFgb2mu

A cycle highway (doorfietsroute in Dutch) is a high-quality bike route designed for comfort and speed. It's meant to connect towns and cities efficiently, without gaps or stops along the path, this makes it easier to cover short and long distances without a car.

How did the Netherlands become the cycling capital of the world? Chris Bruntlett of the Dutch Cycling Embassy shares lessons on safer streets, connected bike networks, & building cities for people, not just cars Discover how decades of change reshaped Dutch cities micromobility.io/news/how-the...

🚲 How to design a cycling tunnel like the Dutch! If you want to read more about this tunnel, read the article by BicycleDutch: buff.ly/YzZyKDe

Cycle commuters are less likely to receive prescriptions for antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication 🚲🧠 Source: Berrie et al. (2024), Does cycle commuting reduce the risk of mental ill-health? An instrumental variable analysis using distance to nearest cycle path, 🔗 buff.ly/tPSheDl

Here we are with another transformation in Den Haag! From a car-oriented boulevard, to a narrower space for cars, wide bike lanes, pedestrian-friendly paving and more greenery! This is how you build people-centred cities! © Gemeente Den Haag

For many residents in terraced homes and apartments, having nowhere safe to keep a bike is a real barrier to cycling. A BikeBunker removes that barrier using the space of a single car parking bay, an easy measure any city can adopt to get more people cycling every day.

Cyclists in the Netherlands take 300 million day trips and 5.85 million overnight trips per year, generating €3.6 billion for the economy and supporting 39,000 full-time jobs. Across Europe, cycle tourism accounted for 28% of the bike industry’s total economic and employment impact. bit.ly/47Gy7VU

🚲 From Osaka to Utrecht: exploring people-centred streets 🇯🇵 🇳🇱 From the 30th September to the 2nd of October, we welcomed a delegation of civil servants, academics and business leaders from Osaka for an intensive study visit to the Netherlands. Read more about the visit here: buff.ly/PGFPg89

A cycling route does not automatically create cycling tourism ⬇️ In our latest report, "Cycling Tourism: How the Dutch Cycling Vision Can Advance the Field", we explore the potential of the Dutch approach to cycling tourism. Read and download the full report here: buff.ly/zqZkaBo

On Friday 2 October, during the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference in Utrecht, the Dutch Cycling Embassy led a technical tour of the F28, the 21 km cycling highway connecting Utrecht and Amersfoort. 📖 Read the story here: buff.ly/tbhNQkK

Strongly inspired by Dutch best practice, Beijing has built over 3,200 km of bike infrastructure, introduced the Dutch "fietsstraat" (cycling street), developed a Dutch-designed cycling highway in Tongzhou, and rolled out one million shared bike!

How Bogotá is closing the gender gap in cycling. Bogotá is home to one of the most extensive cycling networks in the world, yet only 28% of daily bike trips are made by women. Read how the municipality aims to reach gender equality in cycling by 2039: buff.ly/BvPu7PR

Is ageing a barrier to cycling? On the contrary! In The Netherlands , people between 65 and 75 years old, cycle more than any other adult group. Source: CBS – Statistics Netherlands, How much do Dutch people cycle? (2023) Fishman, Schepers & Kamphuis (2015).

Our member @BIKEBAZE launched a new series: Steal This Tip, practical tips against bike theft. Episode one: take your battery out. Always. An e-bike battery is worth a few hundred euros and easy to steal, yet most riders leave it on the bike, even for short stops.

Rue de Rivoli: 1983 vs now In recent years, Paris has made leaps towards becoming a greener city. A big factor is the transformation of streets. By creating people-first environments, choosing the bike, walking or public transport is made easier and safer. 📸 via Ingwar Perowanowitsch

When it comes to road safety, cities have two choices: Adapt kids to traffic: keep them indoors and drive them everywhere. Or adapt traffic to kids: make streets safe enough to move as autonomous members of society. The choice says a lot about the kind of city we want to build. youtu.be/O_WjWRmQwtg

🚲🚆 What makes the Dutch bike–train connection work? In the Netherlands, cycling and public transport are designed to complement each other, and the bicycle + train connection is the most impressive feature of this seamless inter-modality. Want to read more about it? → buff.ly/3cMWWIX

🚨 New study alert, What happens when e-bikes become more affordable? 🚲 A new research from British Columbia, Canada, looked at the impact of e-bikes incentives across 1,004 recipients in an income-tiered e-bike rebate programme. Read it here: buff.ly/6GjyHW4

How do you make a city more liveable? Geemente Den Haag can definitely give us some tips! Here is a wonderful transformation of the main square of the city, from a parking lot to a public square! 1978: © Stadsonwikkeling en Volkhuisvesting 2016: © Gemeente Den Haag

🚲 On the 24th of September, Dutch municipalities, businesses, schools, and organizations raise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) flag to show support for the United Nations' 17 global goals. Read more about our commitment to the SDGs here: buff.ly/xZn4gre

What if rush hour in your city could look like this? 🚴‍♀️ Utrecht is considered one of the world's most bike-friendly city, with about 1/3 of all trips made by bicycles! In the video you can see one of the city's busiest cycling route, with over 33,000 cyclists every single day.

Cycling supports socialisation and happiness, by spending time outside and meeting people; while reducing our reliance on motorised transport and its associated emissions and externalities such as noise and occupation of space.

Investing in active mobility means giving space for what really matters! Did you know that single car parking space can accommodate up to 10 bicycles? And that cycling takes up to 28 times less space on the road than driving? source: buff.ly/xSe3zmf

Since 2021, Decisio Italia has been transforming mobility across Italian cities and towns, driving tangible change on streets and cycle paths across the country. As we celebrate their 5th birthday, we want to sow their careful approach to design and planning. Buon compleanno, Decisio Italia! 🚲🇮🇹

For children and teenagers, cycling opens up the world beyond the front door. Being able to cycle to school, meet friends, visit the park or explore the neighbourhood gives young people a greater sense of independence and freedom!

European Mobility Week is back! 🚲🌍 From 16–22 September, cities and organisations across Europe come together to promote more sustainable ways of getting around, including cycling, walking and public transport.

In 1951, Falco, began manufacturing bicycle parking solutions, shelters, and street furniture for public space. 75 years later, bicycle parking is more needed than ever, and Falco is still designing and developing innovative solutions! Happy birthday to our dear partner!

🚲 Have you checked your local bollard today? On Saturday, 19 September, cyclists across the Netherlands are invited to take part in Paaltjescheckdag (Bollard Check Day), an initiative by the Dutch Cyclists’ Union (Fietsersbond)! buff.ly/mYA6wWF

Last year, Montréal introduced its first dutch-inspired protected intersections. The design improves pedestrian and cyclist safety at intersections through a configuration that includes protective islands between cyclists and vehicles. 📸 @Patrick Murphy - Oh the Urbanity! buff.ly/vCAEZ8K

🚶‍♀️🚴 New research from Ireland's National Transport Authority confirms how active travel infrastructure is an investment that pays for itself many times over, benefiting people, the environment and the economy. read more about it here: buff.ly/tRlpIc0

In just six year, Javastraat in The Hague, has completely changed its aspect. 🇳🇱 From a car-dominated, congested road, into a one-lane street with dedicated cycle tracks. This is how you create a cycling city!

🚲 EuroVelo is one of the most ambitious cycling infrastructure projects on the continent: a network of 17 long-distance cycle routes, stretching over 90,000 km across 40 countries, from the Atlantic coast to the Black Sea. Learn more about it in this video! buff.ly/WXDq3AL

The Big Bike Film Night is soon arriving in the Netherlands!🇳🇱 A night dedicated to short films and documentaries on bicycles from around the world! Check out the website and the Dutch dates here: buff.ly/5I1JR5n

☀️ On the 7th September, the UN International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, we want to celebrate the contribution cycling can do for cleaner and healthier air. (Of course, air pollution has many sources (!), and transport is only one part of the picture)

How many forms of transportation can you count? The Snelbinder bridge was built in 2004 over the river Waal, connecting the city center of Nijmegen to Lent/Nijmegen Noord. It is a dedicated cycling and pedestrian bridge, "piggybacking" on the railway bridge structure!

As summer 2026 comes to an end, one question has become increasingly important for urban planners: how can we design cycling infrastructure for heatwaves? A recent piece by Mobycon’s Brett Petzer offers valuable insights, arguing that cities Read the full piece here: 👇 buff.ly/xk8gQWc

Rotterdam wasn't always a cycling city, it was rebuilt post-WWII around fast traffic. Now cycling on its main routes is up 45% since 2010. Cycling UK's Tomos Owens spent a day there with the Dutch Cycling Embassy and pulled 3 lessons for British cities 🧵👇 buff.ly/q6Y3nR2

In 2024, the suburban village of Pinecrest, Florida asked the Dutch Cycling Embassy for an introduction to Dutch cycling principles. Two years later, that curiosity shaped a comprehensive walking and cycling master plan Read the full story here buff.ly/Hi5Yxdr

The study used cycling-trip data in Montreal and combined it with street-level imagery to understand why cyclists choose particular routes. It challenges the idea that good infrastructure is the most determining element when choosing a cycling route. Read it here: buff.ly/z2MvIKL

Do you know in the Netherlands it is not uncommon to spot dogs on bicycles? Whether in the front basket, in a cargo bike or trotting along, dogs also enjoy the same freedom cycling gives their owners in the city.