The fastest route in the Dutch city of Nijmegen isn’t for cars. It’s a direct bus and cycle corridor from the train station to the university and hospital. Cars go the long way round - designed that way on purpose.

Molensteeg, Amsterdam in 1980 and today

The surroundings are much greener than when this overpass was opened in 2015! youtu.be/-fo3m0hiZbg?...

Palmgracht, Amsterdam in 1974 and today

How do you make a high-capacity roundabout safe for cycling? You don’t manage the conflict - you remove it. 📍‘s-Hertogenbosch, NL.

😭

My latest YouTube video shows a typical school run morning in the Netherlands, with a Dutch school bike park going from empty to full in minutes as students arrive for the day. youtu.be/a21gygVQ0Ig

Avant / Après la rue aux écoles Avenue Lamoricière dans le 12ème arrondissement de Paris

Bellamystraat, Amsterdam in 1981 and today

One of the Netherlands best daily spectacles is the school run: every weekday at around 08:00, streets in cities, towns, villages, as well as in the countryside, fill up with children cycling to school. Made possible by safe, seamless bike infrastructure and plentiful school bike parking.

Reguliersbreestraat, Amsterdam in 1979 and today

One of the Netherlands best daily spectacles is the school run: every weekday at around 08:00, streets in cities, towns, villages, as well as in the countryside, fill up with children cycling to school. Made possible by safe, seamless bike infrastructure and plentiful school bike parking.

Warmoesstraat 1980

The Bourne Identity (2002) / The Hidalgo Legacy (2026)

Quellijnstraat, Amsterdam in 1982 and today. A sea of parked cars replaced by trees, greenery, and outdoor seating - turning space for storage into space for neighbours to meet and socialise. A street redesigned for people.

If you want seamless bike-to-train travel to actually work, start with the basics: put ample bike parking right next to the platform. Convenience isn’t a bonus - it’s the whole point.

Haarlemmerstraat, Amsterdam in 1981 and today

Marnixstraat, Amsterdam in 1980 and today, cars have been removed from this road entirely, now only able to be used by those on tram, foot or on a bike.

The Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, Washington DC

Cycling in Maastricht

Frans Halsstraat, Amsterdam in 1992 and today, with car parking replaced by cycle parking

Wijde Kerksteeg, Amsterdam in 1980 and today

5 teenagers, 2 bikes

Removing through traffic from your city centre ensures mums and sons can safely cycle through the city side by side. Design streets for people, and people will use them.

ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST STARTER PACK! These are accounts with unusually effective communications or marketing/branding of issues and ideas for better city-building. Sharing the truth more persausively, and calling out disinformation & lies! Please follow & SHARE WIDELY! #UrbanTruth go.bsky.app/47w5jKk

Ceintuurbaan, Amsterdam in 1969 and today. Redesigned with a red, clearly marked cycleway, and a continuous raised footway across the side road that gives priority to pedestrians and cyclists.

Removing through traffic from your city centre ensures mums and sons can safely cycle through the city side by side. Design streets for people, and people will use them.

Valeriusplein, Amsterdam in 1984 and today. From an actual road running under a school building transformed into a busy cycle only route.

Here is my latest Drone video, filmed last year in the Netherlands, of Nescio Bridge in Amsterdam youtu.be/5Bwiu986aZs

Here is my latest Drone video, filmed last year in the Netherlands, of Nescio Bridge in Amsterdam youtu.be/5Bwiu986aZs

Safe cycling for everyone, through motorway intersections, is perfectly possible.

Typical Dutch street design: narrow city-centre streets where cars, pedestrians and cyclists share the road paving is used, alongside build-outs and tight geometry to naturally slow motor traffic. Then, once on main roads, clear red cycle tracks keep bikes and motor vehicles safely separated.

Bellamystraat, Amsterdam in 1969 and today. I can't stand in the exact same spot as the photographer did then as it is now someones front garden!

Frans Halsstraat, Amsterdam in 1992 and today

Nescio Bridge, Amsterdam. It allows people to cycle from the city centre over the Amsterdam-Rhine canal to the new housing distrcit IJburg. Built in 2005 it cost €9.5m and was designed by British architects WilkinsonEyre.

Any of the environmental justice or fanatical ex councillors got anything to say about visually impaired crossing this cycleway in Hackney? Or is it only 1.5m wide cycle lanes that work them up? 🤔

In Utrecht, the city centre isn’t dominated by motor traffic - it’s shaped around people. You see families riding side-by-side, conversations happening in the street, cafés spilling outdoors. When cars are restricted, streets come alive: quieter, safer, more welcoming, and better for everyone.

Some interesting London cycling stats in this TfL FOI, if that's your thing tfl.gov.uk/corporate/tr...

Bus stop taxi lane bypass that strangely seems to have avoided being labelled a social injustice

Not far away we have a fairly comprehensive set of actual traffic counts (i.e. fewer estimates than usual - there’s a count point outside the Mosque but that’s nearly all estimates). Getting on for a 10-fold increase in cycling since 2000 🤯

Saw at least three families on the school run on cycleway 2 this morning. This scheme, on a road that was previously a deathtrap for anyone cycling, was transformational. Time for protected cycle tracks on all main road

This week I pushed the Government to do more to make it safer and easier for children to cycle and walk to secondary school in the UK as they do in the Netherlands.

Halvemaansteeg & Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam in 1979 and today. From car-choked streets with little space for people to a lively car-free area with only trams, pedestrians & bikes permitted. Cafes and outdoor seating dominate the area. A reminder to politicians: design streets for the city you want.

Protected cycle tracks with floating bus stops make streets safer for riders of every age, whilst keeping buses moving without getting stuck behind slower bikes. Add signal priority for trams and buses at junctions, and you turn good street design into a truly high-performance city transport network

After coming back from the Netherlands the absolute joke that is Hackneys "Cycleways" is profound.

It’s not just about what you remove (cars, noise, dirty air). It’s about what you add (people walking, a lot of bike parking, trees, outdoor dining, and room for kids to play safely). Amsterdam: 1986 and today. Streets for people. HT @hackneycyclist.bsky.social for the great before-and-after

Back to the UK on the ferry, a route I'm very used to but my daughter's first time sleeping on a ferry so she's very excited

Dinner in London, Eurostar to Brussels sleeper train, breakfast in Berlin 👍

I can't explain the sheer joy of safely and comfortably cycling side by side with your child through the streets of Amsterdam on cycle tracks and low traffic streets. Just joyful travelling, absolutely everywhere. If you haven't experienced it get a train or ferry over here booked!

A balancing act