Aspirations for the Class

My aspirations for this class are ultimately to take what I learn, see, and experience in each of the cities and bring those ideas to the US to contribute to successful cycle infrastructure here in some way. I would love to eventually use what I learn as a transportation planner to help bring more sustainable and safe transportation options the US in the future, and I think getting to experience the infrastructure and learn about it in person is going to help me understand how this can happen. I am studying Environmental Science and Policy, so looking at what I learn through that lens would allow me to take a different approach to viewing the sustainable bicycle infrastructure and its contribution to the wellbeing of not only the people, but the environment surrounding them, and the policies that make this possible.

I am also generally excited to feel safe and connected while biking places, which is a luxury we don’t often have in the US. It will be nice to not feel like I can’t ride my bike to get someplace because it is too unsafe. Additionally, I hope to learn more about traveling alone and abroad, as I’ve never been out of the country before and don’t get the chance to travel often. Going to a new country and being immersed in a different culture is going to be an interesting learning experience, from the bike culture to other things that I wouldn’t be used to coming from the US. I think it will be especially interesting to learn about the history of the bike culture in these places and how connected that is to other differences from the US.

The one place that I’m the most excited about going is Houten, because the reason that I discovered this program was originally from finding a youtube video about Houten and its design, which caused me to dive deeper into the cycling infrastructure of the Netherlands. As I continued to learn about it, one website led to another and eventually I found out about this study abroad, so it will be cool to go to the place that got me interested in bike infrastructure in the first place.

Overall, I think this study abroad is going to be a huge learning experience for me with lessons that will be applicable once I arrive back in the US, and I’m very excited for the learning to begin!

- Lauren

Transportation Pre-Assignment Summary

For my transportation pre-assignment, I observed a site in Columbia, MD, specifically a suburban residential area near a park, a high school, and some businesses with a new two-way protected bike lane on one side. The protected bike lane is 9 feet wide in total, with 5 feet for one side and 4 feet for the other, and it is the only protected bike lane in the town with bollards. There are sidewalks along both sides of the road, but there are not crosswalks on every side of the intersection. Because the bike lane was new, I observed it on Bike to Work Day (May 19, 2023) from 7 am to 9 am.

My goal was to compare the vehicle type, vehicle vacancy, and road use to the infrastructure provided on the road during the morning rush, however there was no school for the public schools on this day. I calculated the types of vehicles used, as well the vacancy in each of them, whether they were missing the cargo they were built for or the passengers they were made to carry. Calculating this, especially which vehicles were driven by only one person with no cargo, could show how many of these trips could be potentially replaced with something more sustainable, like bikes. I also wanted to observe the recreational uses of the road, which would show how safe people feel using active transportation.

There were 1006 total vehicles in the two hour time frame, not including recreational uses of the road. 86.19% of them were cars, 11.53% were trucks, 0.80% were bikes, 0.70% were school buses, 0.60% were buses, 0.01% were taxis, and 0.01% were motorcycles. There were no pedestrian commuters. Most people were using a car to transport only 1-2 people, which is not a sustainable or efficient way to be transported. Despite the lack of commuter cyclists and pedestrians, 16 people felt safe enough to use the road for recreational purposes, but given the percentage of car use, they may use a car if they were going somewhere specific. Most of the trucks were carrying cargo, but a large amount were not, and there were many pickup trucks being used as if they were passenger cars, rather than to carry anything. This reflects the suburban stereotype of a bigger car as a status symbol, but is inefficient and unsustainable for actual transportation use.

This caused me to wonder why so little people are using more sustainable forms of transportation if there are only 1-2 people per vehicle. Specifically for the lack of bikes, I came up with some of these possible reasons:

• It was cold outside, which might not motivate people to ride, even on Bike to Work Day
• There was no school for public schools, which means parents might have taken the day off of work to take care of their children, and children were still asleep
• People might not know about the new protected bike lane, and they might already have other established routes
• Issues with the protected bike lane:
• It is very small for a two-way bike lane and seemed to have debris (sticks, glass, etc.) in it
• It is not connected well to businesses outside of this road, and is instead connected to parks and lakes, as if it was only built for recreational purposes
• A two-way bike lane can be inefficient, especially with one way getting a smaller lane; I saw people outside of the bike lane because they had to make a turn across the street, and things like that may discourage people who want to commute on their bikes but are worried about safety
• Overall, the bike lane is better than nothing, but it could use improvement

- Lauren