An ongoing gathering of some of the more interesting cycling films online that we like.
Bike vs. Car vs. Transit
The Innovative Way Ghent Removed Cars From The City
Bremer Schüler schwänzen für den Klimaschutz
Beauty and the Bike
Oslo - The Journey to Car-free
Autoschreck Part 2 - Michael Hartmann jaywalking
Autoschreck Part 1 - Michael Hartmann carwalking
Systematic Safety: The Principles Behind Vision Zero
Homage to Auto*mat, Prague
Martha Roskowski at the ADFC 2016 Symposium
Groningen: The World’s Cycling City
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Bike vs. Car vs. Transit
The great New York City race between a cyclist, a subway commuter and a car driver. -
The Innovative Way Ghent Removed Cars From The City
Witness the transformation of Ghent, Belgium, who instituted the Traffic Circulation Plan in April 2017, which completely changed the way nearly every resident gets around the city and has inspired unheard of mode shifts. It encourages less car use, more bicycling and more transit use by splitting the city into seven distinct zones: a mostly car-free city center core surrounded by six zones which have been cordoned off with concrete or controlled by cameras. The only way to reach them is to travel to the ring road on the city outskirts, thus making it not impossible to use a car but motivates those shorter trips to be done via human power or mass transit. Bike mode share in 2012 was 22%, now it is 35% and growing! This swift, creative strategy of turning Ghent in to a place for people is such a phenomenal story it's a mystery as to why it has not gotten more attention worldwide. It is a city of 262,000 residents, so not a large metropolis, but not a small city either. The metamorphosis was achieved thru a sort of tactical urbanism approach by throwing concrete barriers and planters here and there (some backed by enforcement cameras) and altering the gateways into public spaces and safer places to walk and bike. (There are now 40% fewer cars on bicycle priority streets than before the plan!) Their main inspirations were the cities of Groningen and Utrecht, both in The Netherlands. And as Vice Mayor, Filip Watteeuw explains they did not have the funds or the time to spend 10, 20 or 30 years to catch up to where they were. So they improvised with interesting tactics and treatments and The Traffic Circulation Plan. And as I have said before what happened was stunning: almost never has their been such a rapid metamorphosis occurred in such a short time. And Ghent isn't stopping there. Ghent was a fabulous city for many reasons. I highly recommend a visit. It is quiet and lovely and nearly everywhere is attainable by multiple modes of transportation. You can even use a car if you like - but just remember it is a little more complicated. -
Bremer Schüler schwänzen für den Klimaschutz
Jeden Freitag heißt es für viele Schülerinnen und Schüler in Europa gerade: Schule schwänzen für den Klimaschutz. Und so haben sich auch heute in Bremen über 500 Schüler statt im Klassenzimmer vor der Bürgerschaft getroffen – um für eine bessere Klimapolitik zu demonstrieren. -
Beauty and the Bike
This is an 8 minute version of the 55 minute documentary Beauty and the Bike. The film follows two groups of young women from Darlington and Bremen. Between them, they discover what makes - and stops - teenage girls from cycling. The answer? "It's the Infrastructure, stupid!" The full DVD is available from www.bikebeauty.org -
Oslo - The Journey to Car-free
A StreetFilms video about the radical changes being made by Oslo's Red-Green administration to make the city more cycle friendly. -
Autoschreck Part 2 - Michael Hartmann jaywalking
Made in 1993. Second part showing Micheal Hartmann's confrontational approach to the Berlin care culture. Jaywalking and being branded mentally ill. -
Autoschreck Part 1 - Michael Hartmann carwalking
Made in 1993. First part showing Micheal Hartmann's confrontational approach to the Berlin care culture. Parking on pavements; wheelchair users and blind people - and Michael carwalking. -
Systematic Safety: The Principles Behind Vision Zero
This video is an explanation of the Dutch 'sustainable safety' policy by prof. Peter Furth of the Northeastern University of Boston, who feels Systematic Safety would have been a better name. Concept and narration: Peter G. Furth. Filming and editing by Mark Wagenbuur. -
Homage to Auto*mat, Prague
Beauty and the Bike's screening in Prague in 2011 coincided with a critical mass ride organised by local NGO Auto*Mat. Here we celebrate the great work of that organisation, and meet some of their enthusiastic young members. Prague is one of the most car-oriented cities we visited on our tour of the continent, in many ways even more of a nightmare than the UK. Auto*Mat combine engagement with local authorities through the production of cycling-friendly urban development proposals for the municipality, with direct action and participatory events like these monthly critical mass rides. Thousands regularly attend, making them an incredible celebration of a few hours of cycling/skateboarding/scootering on car-free streets. Amazingly, the majority of those take part will bring their bikes in a car or by public transport, rather than risk cycling in ones or twos. It's that dangerous. Visit Auto*Mat's English-language web presence, at http://www.livable-cities.org/en/prague/prague-about-us/ to get an idea of their work. Or if your Czech is up to it, try http://www.auto-mat.cz/ for the latest news from Prague. -
Martha Roskowski at the ADFC 2016 Symposium
New York: Complete Streets und das Green Lane Project Martha Roskowski | Vizepräsidentin des US-amerikanischen Fahrradverbandes People for Bikes und Direktorin des „Green Lane Projects“ -
Groningen: The World’s Cycling City
It's no secret that just about anywhere you go in the Netherlands is an incredible place to bicycle. And in Groningen, a northern city with a population of 190,000 and a bike mode share of 50 percent, the cycling is as comfortable as in any city on Earth. The sheer number of people riding at any one time will astound you, as will the absence of automobiles in the city center, where cars seem extinct. It is remarkable just how quiet the city is. People go about their business running errands by bike, going to work by bike, and even holding hands by bike. The story of how they got there is a mix of great transportation policy, location and chance. You'll learn quite a bit of history in the film, but essentially Groningen decided in the 1970s to enact policies to make it easier to walk and bike, and discourage the use of cars in the city center. By pedestrianizing some streets, building cycle tracks everywhere, and creating a unique transportation circulation pattern that prohibits vehicles from cutting through the city, Groningen actually made the bicycle -- in most cases -- the fastest and most preferred choice of transportation. It does feel like bicycle nirvana. When I first got off the train in Groningen, I couldn't stop smiling at what I saw around me. In an email exchange with my friend Jonathan Maus from Bike Portland, he described it as being "like a fairy tale." This jibed with my first thought to him -- that I had "entered the game Candyland, but for bikes!" In fact, for our teaser I originally titled this Streetfilm "Groningen: The Bicycle World of Your Dreams," before I talked myself out of it. Although there is a magical quality about being there, in reality there is nothing dreamy or childlike about it. With political will and planning, what they have done should and can be done everywhere. In our Streetfilm you'll see the 10,000 (!) bicycle parking spaces at the train station, some of the incredible infrastructure that enables cyclists to make their journeys safer and quicker, and you'll hear from many residents we encountered who go by bike just about everywhere they travel. But as one of my interview subjects, Professor Ashworth, wanted me to point out: the three days I was there were bright and sunny, and the hardy people keep up the bicycling through the cold winters. As with many bicycling cities, there area also big problems with cycle theft, and residents are always yearning for more bicycle parking. I think most of us would trade some of those problems for a city with 50 percent mode share (and up to 60 percent in the city center!!).