our traffic system, this is very detailed university transportation technology. always start with a function of the road. if you want to change infrastructure, just keep in mind what is the function of the road, what do i want to do with it? so the function is determined here in the city hall or somewhere else, it is determined by policymakers. if the function is described well then the design will follow. technicians, the engineers can design a street according to the >> i want a comfortable high- speed connection, low resistance, and they need a motorway. the use will be correct, and if something goes wrong in this circle, you have to start again.

are there other people wanting to move, is the design correct?n five the safety principles. the recognized ability and state awareness. these five together are the basis of our infrastructure. and a road classification is very important. in the netherlands, we had a huge discretion in the late 90's and early thousands. we have the motorway system, and other important connections. we have distributors and access roads. he access roads are the residential areas.

and distributors does impact of the rural areas and urban areas to the main road system. we do not allow bicycles and on through roads or near through roads. we don't even make a separate bike tracks. we have distributors along access roads. the infrastructure not only needs to be safe, but coherent, direct, and comfortable to attract and bicycles. it can be safe, but if it is not comfortable or direct, they will not use it. they have in mind that they can take care of their own safety. that is not always the case.

what do i mean by coherence? consistency of route, it is part of the mobility change and access to the railway station, taking the train to what ever destination city, continue on the other side. directness, we mean it detours faster with a constant speed. there is nothing slowing down or speeding up again. and with a minimum of delays. what makes a bike route attractive, it is a psychological element. it is different for every person. we know that people like to

cycle along the waterways or railways. but not along the motorways. and they like a scenic route more than an infrastructure area. it needs to be wide enough to cycle a side-by-side. it is a social events. what we say in the netherlands, car drivers are all the time aware of cyclists. and when there are too many trucks, a high traffic volume, then we should worry. it is for you to decide what you want, if you want to introduce a cycling, maybe it is better to start with separation and to get the cars used to of the cyclists.

they can go in the streets and let them deal with us. avoid hard conflicts, make a safe infrastructure, but take care that the vehicles are safe with l breaks, and make sure that the cyclist's keep the traffic rules, they don't ignore red lights, they got used sidewalks, and etc.. the surface, as i explained, a smooth surface, issuing great findings, priorities, and the gentle slopes are a bit difficult here. that is why it is growing in popularity.

[unintelligible] the people that are doing the workshop can see it again. we work with a great structure in urban areas to connect all of the destinations. i will advise you to do something here and there. back to them. keep in mind were the cyclist comes from and where they want to go to. look for connections. and make shortcuts for cyclists. it was very handy. and you don't have to wait for the traffic lights. working on the system of bicycle highways, you have priorities for the rural area between urban

areas. it moves wide and you can cycle as fast. a bicycle can go very fast. in needs to be social safe as well. that is sometimes difficult. for the bicycle street, some of you might have seen in as part of the cycle route. the cargo in the streets with two types. you can see them on the pictures, the car in the middle had the the car on the side. they work pretty well. they are introduced more and more all over the country. when we separate bicycles from cars, we prefer parking on the

left side. you don't have the chance of enduring so much. for intersections, i have seen the traffic circle here and they start shouting, round about. the others say, it is just the wine. maybe you could introduce more, because the roundabouts are a very good facility for bicycles. it increases the capacity for crossing. it is so much safer than a traditional crossing. we have four types of bikes.

you need space for yielding cars that are leaving the circle, they have a separate path. traffic lights, they have a face for cyclists the they can make a left-hand turn without going straight and then turning left. it is safe, but the discretion at the traffic light, i saw some here in san francisco. sometimes we make a right turn to go left. it is beneficial that you go on to the right. and across the street.

we have traffic lights, and it saves a lot of lives. these are technical things, but what i can say, they prefer tunnels over bridges. as you live in this area, you know is easier to go down and with the speed you get, to go up the hill again. then to go down and break at the bottom of the hill. down first, up with the energy, that is better. they can be socially and save.

the parking here, do not forget. they want to go to some destination, to take care that people can park their bicycles there. safe and well fitted space, one thing as a whole. and also important, is maintaining the opening. does that get the bike lanes, where the bicycles can keep the surface smooth. i saw small street sweepers here. it is very good, and if there is a road block, don't make a detour for more than 3 miles.

there is a law to protect cyclists. the car driver who is always the guilty party. if you can prove that he did his best not to hit the bicycle, he can get away with a 50% killed. but he is always partly guilty because he should be aware that he is using a vehicle that can kill others and he should be aware that cyclists are not the best road users there are. i think that is a very good rule in the netherlands. i think cyclists should also be aware of how vulnerable they are, and they should take care of the rules that apply to them.

it is not a pedestrian on wheels, they do not allow on the sidewalks, facilities need to be tailor-made. i don't copy all of the things that are in the book. keep in mind that you want to plan for san francisco, and that san franciscans have to deal with it. but look to it for inspiration. inhibit is not just a sport, it is a mode of transport. the bicycle is not the poor man's mercedes. i want to end my presentation with this picture that i love to show. it is our former queen, her present queen, and future queen on bicycles. [applause]

>> thank you so much for the inspiration, words of wisdom, and the help that you will share the next few days. i am the executive director of the san francisco bicycle coalition. we're thrilled to be cosponsoring this event. for your support, enthusiasm, commitment, bringing fantastic talents. we will work hard in the next few days. huge thanks to the political family at the support.

this would be an exercise in vision and dreaming. if it weren't for the fact that myself and so many others have the faith that we will actually produce results in the next few days, this will not just be draining envisioning. we will take many, maybe all of your ideas and to move forward. because we have such tremendous political support. i want to recognize and the mayor in the last 67 months of working with him, i can't tell you the difference. we're thrilled to have such a partner. i want to thank you for the support and enthusiasm. i want to thank you from the police department, the port, and we really have the commitment we needed to move forward. that is why i am very optimistic. i want to say thank you to the

teams that put this together. big thanks for jennifer with the dutch consulate. i was fortunate to spend eight months in the netherlands, and we got to test ride the thing that many of you have been working on for some many years. we have this idea, a belief that san francisco can be a great bicycling city, internationally recognized. sometimes that vision gets challenged and that belief and waver a bit, i will be honest wit. my time in amsterdam, i could

test that vision. is if all i make it out to be when i talk to folks. what i saw and what i experienced let me feeling without a doubt that you have succeeded in a way that is amazingly admirable, and in a way that we should be striving for here in san francisco. and most importantly, that i know we can reach. that was my biggest take away. there is a wonderful presentation of all of the elements, many of the elements they are using to make the netherlands said world-renowned bicycling environment. i saw that san francisco has some many of these elements already in place. we are so far down the line, what we need is to bring it together. what i saw were similarities, and it was impressive to learn the meeting with dutch planners

and local city officials that amsterdam and san francisco -- i will focus on amsterdam because that is where i spent most of my time, but these cities are very similar. similar populations, similar population densities. they are laid out very similar in terms of residential density. we're centers for strong regional economies, similar in economic drivers. tourism is number one. viking is part of their tourism. also big finance, creative technology, that as part of the economic driver. also big similarities in terms of cultural or political persuasions. we are a population that values environmental sustainability. it values and social equity. we are cities that understand

the benefit of the greater good , and are places where sometimes we are out lyras for the rest of our country. there are places that can be models for the rest of our country. in our cities, i can't talk about it without addressing the flat this issue. as flat as amsterdam is, when you are riding on a really heavy by with no barriers over countless little bridges, he really start to feel that on your knees. it is not as flat as i expected. of what we have going for us, we have years. thank you to the bike makers in the room. we also have great public transit to accommodate bicycles. we also have great routes to get us around the hills.

as we showed our dutch friends, most of us know how to get around those hills. the weather is another major difference. this one we have going in our favor. they do not slow down with the snow. with howard gorges temperate climate, we are several steps ahead of the netherlands and where we can go when bicycling. what i learned most of all is what i think many of us already know. when you build it, they come. when the government has done, what the community has done is invested in great bikeways. when you create a dedicated to save space, this man and his kids ride. this woman and her dog variety. this man and his daughters ride. this man and his daughter ride. there is one on the back, you can barely see her foot sticking out.

it was difficult to not get photos of multiple children on bikes. three people with kids loaded on the bikes. grandparents picking their kids up from school, their grand kids from school. this is a typical traffic jam outside of the school. we struggle with traffic congestion in our city, this was the traffic jam outside of a local amsterdam school. they have made investments, they have seen the fruits of that labor payoffs. again, even in the snow, even when the little hills were a little bit slippery, they pushed that have the bike up the hill. because they made this the easiest way to get around, the most convenient way to get around. in the beginning of my stay, i

started talking to folks, why you bicycle? they look at me with these crazy blank faces as if i had asked, why do you put shoes on in the morning? whitey you eat? literally, there was no answer because, of course they bicycle. just like we get up in the morning in eat cereal. it wasn't a political choice for a social choice, it was the easiest way for most people. not everyone, but for most people that i talked to. you saw the numbers she shared, but it has not always been this way. the biggest lessons, number one, it is true that when you build it, they will come. it is not just a committed person like me. it is all the families, the children, the kid riding alone,

the teenagers. i was impressed with the number of teenage girls riding alone, the independents. the kids riding the school or with their parents. the number of senior citizens, you are seeing children and senior citizens in a way that i don't see them. they are here, but they are out in the community, interacting more because they are more welcome. they are able to access more in the city. it wasn't always this way. the great history that i learned, after world war two, the netherlands craft backwards and started to emphasize the car as many of the communities did and did that at the expense of bicycling and walking. a little secret part of me was really happy to learn this. now for your harm, but it made me feel better that it hadn't

always been this way, because when those of us that fixate on these things think about the netherlands, denmark, all of these great countries, it is in their blood, they somehow mixed into the heavier and the bread and this way of life, this spirit must be in their blood. we can never learn this because we are from america and we weren't raised that way. i learned it is wrong. they have invested in the last 30 or 40 years. this was a great picture. the very center of the city. i believe this is the latest 60's. it is a seventeenth century old way house. this is where the ships would come in and check their goods before they went out to sell them. over the years, it began a public gathering square, public market, i believe there were be

heading is there, all sorts of grand things in the public square. after world war two, in these days of the automobile encroaching and pedestrian amenities, it became a parking lot. right outside this beautiful building, a very central and community oriented face. this was, at the time, the highest of good that the government sought. i was shocked to find this photo. it made me happy inside because i saw how they could change. all of that area that was back 40 or 50 years ago is now public space. every day, there is a public market, people are walking, biking, shops are thriving. it is one of the most central places for tourists and locals alike. it is unrecognizable from this.

this is the museum in the back, a beautiful granite building, one of the most beautiful museums and the world. at a very wide street running and write down the middle of that grassy plain. it went right through the middle of the museum, there is a big archway. under the archway, cars drove through. it is unimaginable to me to think that. the side of a road, it is grassy. this is where people picnic, play soccer, football, throw a frisbee. you can just barely see the archway, that as a bike way. it is a way for people to connect through neighborhoods throughout the city. this was the choice up until the 1970's. the place that we really look at as a model of bicycling was not

very much so just 40 years ago. they have made choices, i am happy that you referenced in the local business aspect, because i think it is something that we can learn a lot from. the value that more people bicycling brings the business in san francisco. as we think about how san francisco can stay, a regional focus of the bay area, how we can keep jobs, businesses large and small, how we grow with 100,000 new residents, we will need to think differently. i am glad for the mayor to be unleashing secrets. i think the secrets can be found in the other cities doing it right. we need to look beyond our own city borders at national borders. this used to be a regular street for cars and was made a priority streak. you can see the silver in the

front, those are lower at times when needed for deliveries. it is primarily a biking and walking the streets. these are the busiest streets in the city. if you go to the streets with lots of car traffic, those areas are just popular. they don't seem as busy or successful. these are the streets that are thriving. whether they are doing it just with paint, some of them are simply paint, or if you are doing it with full separation, that is the way that we need to be moving on many of our streets. if we are to reach the 80-year- old, the grandparents, will need this kind of infrastructure. this is our goal. when these folks are not making a conscious choice.

it is just about what is the best way to get the little guy to preschool. it is mindboggling at how the verse the number of users were. you don't have an image of bicyclist. you have an image of people, and sometimes they ride a bike. i hope we will learn a lot from that and steal it, but they are not shy about their love of bicycling. this is the 10,000 by a station in front of the central station and in the center of amsterdam. you see the amsterdam of the viking posters all over the city. very proud of the strong black culture. --