Maybe the authorities did the maths, and the initial payment for the brushes will save money in the long run in terms of how often the facility needs to be cleaned?
Thank you for making a video about our amazing parking garage! I work as an engineer for the city of Zwolle (unfortunately not for this project), and was really hoping you'd put this video online to show it to the world. So again thank you so much Mark!
Hey David, It would be nice when Zvole and Zwolle should start a 'special connection' between the two, as many cities have... Like Praha (Prague) has with beside the others Amsterdam, Brussels and Buenos Aires. (Source: Wikipedia)
Thank you for (I think) always putting subtitles on your videos. I almost always use them whilst watching and they are always great. The auto generated subtitles by RU-vid are never good as they contain lots of errors, the timing and pacing of them is always terrible to actually use and, most importantly, the lack of distinction between who is talking. So thank you for taking the time and effort to putting proper subtitles on your videos.
Thank you! Yes, I always adjust the ones YT tries to make. Although it gets better and better (proper names are still a struggle for YT) especially getting the timing right makes all the difference. At least some non-native speakers use the subtitles to better understand my videos I was told. I hope they are also helpfull for people with hearing issues or those who have trouble understanding my Dutch accent.
@@stangalucian331 we have OK infrastructure here but bicycle+train combo is not a thing here. Closest bigger city is 1,5h away so it makes sense that people don't cycle to train station I suppose
@obimk1 It should have looked like this everywhere back in the 1800's during the first bike boom; which Washington State started; New York is in the same boat as this city; the times are so far behind the bike culture and lifestyle
From Wikipedia: Citizens of Zwolle are colloquially known as Blauwvingers (Bluefingers). This dates back to 1682, when the St Michael's church tower collapsed. The authorities were strapped for cash and saw no option but to sell the church bells to neighbouring city Kampen. To make sure that Kampen would not make too much profit from the deal, the local authorities asked a high price for the church bells. Kampen accepted, yet after the arrival of the bells it became clear, they were too damaged to be played. In revenge, Kampen paid in copper coins of four duiten (the equivalent of two-and-a-half cents). Zwolle distrusted Kampen and wanted to be sure they truly paid the entire price. After the rigorous counting of this vast amount of money, their fingers had turned blue from the counting of money.
I'm so happy I see the map now. Wow, this is amazing. The news of the bike, parking, where the bikes are very good and neatly arranged. Thank you very much, always be healthy for your channel anyway
This is fantastic. Thank you. I'm going to try forward this video to the Toronto City Council who is currently looking into a bicycle parking lot. . Can you please elaborate on how they ensure no one parks a bike, then pretends to take it out again and then ... eventually abandon the bike (we have a huge problem with bikes being abandoned). Also can you discuss bike security. It is the number one theft item in our city. Do these facilities have any sort of guards to ward off suspicious characters, or cameras, etc?
To fight abandonment, every x days a tag is placed on the bikes. You can see some of them in the latter parts of the videos, its the orange tags on the bikes. If these are not removed in another x days the bike will be removed. Often taken to a depot where people have a month to pick it up or it will be sold/destroyed.
The dutch sometimes clean out abandoned bikes, when the parked bikes become a problem. They basically tag all bikes there with a 'remove within x hours please' ( I think its 24 or 48), if they are still there after that time: they will get loaded up by a truck (with heavy scissors for any locks), and you can still reclaim your bike there for a year I think, then it gets sold, either as complete bike, or as scrap metal. For the whole country its about 220.000 bikes per year that are abandoned and get recycled that way. These bikes are abandoned in Zwolle: www.destentor.nl/zwolle/honderden-weesfietsen-wachten-op-nieuw-onderkomen-in-zwolle~a2e6d1c0/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
@@MikeJordy1999 what they also do is mark tires with a little bit of white chalk and if they return to find that the white chalk (which is placed on the tire) hasn't been scratched away by riding the bike or moved due to using the bike, they take the bike out of the rack to clear the spot.
Proud to live in this beautiful city Zwolle 🔥 We’re called blue finger because we sold clockwork to our rival city Kampen in the year 1521. The price was too high and the jingles played by the clocks where called offensive by the inhabitants of Kampen. They decided to pay for the clock in change. A lot of coins. It took the people of Zwolle a long time to count the money and the story goes they got blue fingers because of it. At first it was name calling but they embraced the name blue fingers and the name is still being used.
Zwolle actually sold the clocks from the great tower that burned down after being struck by lightening, this is why the people of Kampen were not happy with the clocks.
We live in a smal village nearby Zwolle. My 2 sons go to school in Zwolle. They cicle 5 minutes to the trainstation in our village (Olst), can park their bikes there for free. 20 minutes by train to Zwolle and than take their other bikes in this underground bike parking to cicle 15 minutes to school. A lot of their classmates travel this way. They have their freedom, we don’t have to bring them. And it is healthy.
This looks like a great facility! I typically take my bike on the train with me to get to work since there isn’t secure bike parking at the station I get on at, just a few basic bike racks.
have you ever gotten trouble for taking it on the train durnig "rush hour"? (putting quotation marks because imo 6:30 to 9:00 is a ridiculously large window to call rush hour lol) orr are you not in the netherlands in which case sorry this question might not make much sense haha
@@essie23la haha you’re good! I am in Utah in the US, so it is a whole different story here! Our commuter rail trains have bike cars on them where about 12-14 bikes can fit in it, so we definitely don’t get in trouble. I have seen it get pretty full sometimes though! Our stations don’t have great secure bike parking, so I would never leave mine there. If more secure bike parking is developed, then that would change things.
Wonderful to see this. I was born nearby in Oene, and not too far from Zwolle. I have been there several times during my trips back to Holland from Canada, and it is one of my favourite places in Holland. I hope to return when Covid is under control.
So beautifull. It looks so clean. Even upstairs. In the past it was a big chaos outside (busses, cyclists, car) The busses are now at the back of the station, so there was room for this
I gotta say I dont like the entrance. I dislike bike parking facilities you cant ride a bike in. Having to get off your bike and walk into the facility is just annoying. But I'm from Groningen and our bike parking at the station is ride through all the way, it makes parking your bike superfast. Besides that it looks good!
I love it. In Germany it is horror with the traffic. A lot of stinky diesel cars. Big Suvs, big cars like tanks and no lanes for bicycles. I envy the Dutchs.
I haven't used the underground parking yet because the above ground parking was still open. Parking above ground is a lot quicker, the fact that this facility isn't accessible by bike is a big fault in my opinion.
@Robert Yeah, that's why: always get off your bike when you have to cross a bridge :) Seriously: when it is not too steep, and no obstacle at the end of the ramp would be fine ;) [living in Utrecht: here they made bike roads going through the parking lot, with different levels, see video 15 aug. 2017 ]
I worked in Zwolle and stalled my bicycle here. However, I’m fairly sure that the empty racks you showed were from before it was opened because as far as I can tell everything is used and looks more like the footage after that.
I want a safe place to park my scooter when I want to go some where by train..I can't walk to the train station, don't have a CAR and for me it is too far to bike to the train station of Zwolle...come on, the old bike parking also had places for scooters!!! can we have the old parking back please!
In the Netherlands a lot of bikes get stolen and vandalised as well. But we have build an infrastucture and a culture that deals with that. All bikes are locked up really well. We have supervised (and sometimes 'paid for' parking garages). Expensive bikes are ensured against theft and vandalism. People also have cheap bikes for situations in which bikes are at risk. We often call them 'student bikes', (old and cheap) bikes we use when we go out into the city at night, when the risk of theft is high. Our bike culture is multilayered and has been built up over decades. Bicyling is a primary concern in all infrastructural development. Bike usage, ownership and knowledge is second nature. And as a result of that biking is often the fastest, cheapest and most accepted option for travel. Bicycle theft and vandalism are a fact of life in the Netherlands, but cycling is a way of life. New York is a perfect place to embrace bikes in the same way. It would take major investments, but the results would be amazing.
You make me smile. Even these " safe" parkings are not safe in the Netherlands and I am definetely not leaving my battery in my e- bike. They stole a lot of e-bikes and batteries at the station in Arnhem ( and other cities too) Also your bicycle still needs about 3 high quality chains. Thanks to the Eurpean Union. Many thiefs from East Europe come to steal e - bikes. There are bike shops in Poland with only stolen bikes from the Netherlands. It is sad but I made my bicycle very ugly like spoiled paint here and there. Also it helps to put an alarm on it or remove your saddle.
@@lienbijs1205 lol, so you're saying we never had any problems with bicycle theft before the year 2000? It's all the fault of those Eastern Europeans even though they keep this country running?
@@bastiaan4129 Ravenfeeder asked particulary about e- bikes, there were not much e-bikes before 2000. I can't change the statistics and that there might be very good east europeans working here, doesn't mean we have to accept crimes done by east- european gangs.www.rtlnieuws.nl/tech/artikel/5213998/diefstal-e-bikes-met-37-procent-gestegen
@@lienbijs1205 all other crime has dropped and they're just stealing those horrendous e-bikes so it doesn't bother me much. I'm still not shure what any of this has to do with the European Union though.
@@bastiaan4129 I was only answering the question of Ravenfeeder and I am not interested to know if a crime bothers you or not. If you like to know what the EU has to do with rising crimes than you can search that in Google instead of asking me.
It will happen, it is happening. It is starting to spread to UK stations (same with LTA's), and their proximity to NL def plays a part. And you know why that is big? Because physical example of best practice design has breached the language barrier! Because of real world example in London, we are also starting to get some cool stuff in Auckland, New Zealand! Just keep on pushing, join groups, and run for local office if you can. Break down the barriers to a better quality of life!
Now try to park your scooter...in the old parking garage that was't a problem.... plenty car garages at the other side of the station, and bikes on this side... A bad case of discrimination again...:(
'free for every first 24 hours' is a bit ambiguous. What is meant is that you can park your bike there, and leave it for a full day, and pay nothing. Then when you come back: you can park it again for free: every time, for the first 24 hours. Not like: you need some kind of id, and can only park freely for the first 24 hours, then have to pay for it. You only have to pay if you leave your bike for longer then 24 hours, and its a very low price (think 2euro per day or something)
@@bastiaan4129 if there's a chance you park it there for longer than 24 hours, I guess that makes sense. But for me, who parks their bike when going to school, I always use it.
Bikes aren't locked to the racks ? What do you think of the Tokyo's ECO Cycle Park who save place on the street for pedestrian with a buried cycle parking, with a direct access in the street since an elevator just for the bike
Wouldn't be interesting in big cycle parks to have integrated locks for avoid to transport a bicycle lock ? I would be interested to see a study on bike theft in Netherlands and its causes. Bike theft could be a cause of abandon cycling in big cities
You manually pull out the top gutter using the red handle, and push it down to floor level. The gutter is then inclined, and allows you to place a bicycle on it. A set of pistons installed around the pivot point then helps you push the bike into place on top. Pretty easy to use from my experience.
Yep passive piston-powered and only but a slight hussle to get it up there,. being a well-mannered gentleman I always feel obliged to use the top bunks and leave the lower row for the grannys and children.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3HA7731W308.html in this garage the racks will have sensor clips that register how long a bike has not been moved..
These structures, while underground, are not at all built like prototypical air raid shelters. I don't expect them to hold up very well should such things be required again.
Upright bicycles are more comfortable. We also don't have any mountains to conquer and overal speed on a bicycle is not really a priority. Also, riding on a road bike in the Netherlands is like painting a bullseye on your back. Drivers will actively try to hurt you.
Some people do use road bikes/mountain bikes as a hobby, but they probably also have a upright bike for daily use. Like Bas says, they are more comfortable to ride, especially when you are wearing your normal clothes, with things like chainguards, fenders and such so that trousers, dresses and skirts don't get dirty. Or worse, get stuck in the chain or wheelspokes. But they are probably also safer (being upright your centre of gravity is not over the front wheel, so less likely to fly over your handlebars). They are less efficient, but most people cycle at lower speeds anyway. They are durable, mine is made of steel tubing and weighs about 19 kilograms (about 40 pounds or so) but I'm quite tall, so I need a bigger bike. Although aluminum is also used a lot. Handbrakes are quite common, but so are "kick-back brakes" since they require almost no maintenance. The last type is (almost?) always single speed: again, speeds are low, terrain is mostly flat and it requires less maintenance. If you want multiple gears then you can get them, of course. Nowadays mostly integrated in the wheelhub because... you guessed it... less maintenance. Since most bicycles are used daily just to get to work, etc, you really don't want to clean/lubricate/adjust your bicycle frequently. The less maintenance you have to do, the better. These upright bikes also lend themselves better for transporting stuff, I guess. Carriers above the rear wheel are standard, but also baskets above the front wheel (old fashioned but popular again nowadays). Children are often transported on bikes too, using specially designed child carrier seats. I think it also matters that we have good cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands, mostly separate from car traffic. That means that there is less pressure on cyclists to keep up with cars for safety reasons, so the less efficient upright design is more viable. So the sort answer is: they are more suitable for daily, utilitarian use.
@@bastiaan4129 I don't think drivers are specifically out to hurt them but some 'sporty cyclists' are indeed behaving like a-holes which infuriates some drivers, yes...
@@SatumangoTheGreat drivers don't differentiate between the lycra wearing a-holes and normal people who just happen to have a road bike. I've never worn lycra for a day in my life, but i get sprayed with windscreen fluid on a regular basis, i get garbage thrown at me and cars purposefully try to cut me off. All whilst just slowly riding a road bike and abiding to all traffic rules.
They are, but all bikes in the Netherlands are sold with a ring lock that is mounted on the frame of the bike. If you Google "AXA defender monteren" you can find a RU-vid video how it is mounted.
I prefer to wear a "regenbroek" (waterproof pants) with a waterproof coat. But if it's not a constant rain but showers people check apps like buienradar to see when it is dry so you can ride in between the showers. Also for short trips 1 or 2 km people just don't bother and accept a bit of rain.
All answers above are valid, but something like half of the cyclists ignore all of it and just cycle through the rain in their destination clothes and jackets.
and when you arive at your work with wet hair and damp clothes this is generally ignored by colleages, since you beat the weather like a true dutchman/woman
The fact that you have to dismount and walk down stairs is a fail in itself. You don't expect drivers to get out of their car and push it into a parking garage, so why should cyclists dismount to enter an underground bike parking? Those steps don't look so steep it couldn't be a ramp. Especially on the way down 100% of cyclists would prefer to remain seated.
Haha comparing pushing a car and a bike, no differences between them in size and weight obviously! Walking down the stairs works absolutely fine and making it a ramp would lead to accidents and people using it as a ramp for skateboarding. 100% of dutch cyclists are happy with this system, that’s why they made it this way.
@@kjeldsloot Then who is using a 3 or 4 wheeled bike for commuting? The main purpose of this parking for commuters who come by bike to the train station and take the train from there.
@@Hupjeflupje I know that. But you know like invalid people riding 3 wheeled cycles. And can't use the parking lot this way. So not good though true making only stairs. I know some parking spots where you just ride in. That is way better. But even that is sometimes a problem because they make an sharp corner at the end. 🤷🏻♂️
