Commuter Life - Netherlands & Portland Style

I thought you might enjoy seeing a glimpse of commuter life in our (The US) bike city of Portland and a video showing part of the morning commute in the Netherlands.

The picture below from Bike Portland shows cyclists waiting at the Hawthorne draw bridge during their morning commute in Portland. I like that it's bikes as far as the eye can see. Ian Stude who along with the picture added this commentary.

"…the Hawthorne Bridge saw a huge traffic jam of cyclists today… When I came to a stop I was probably half way between the start of bridge (by the firestation on the east side) and the lift span. I snapped a quick photo of the long line of bikers and walkers in front of me [image below]. Within minutes…many more cyclists began to queue up behind me.

By the time the bridge finally came down, there was a line of cyclists at least 2 abreast stretching from the lift span all the way back to the firestation. It was awe-inspiring! I noticed several other people dismounting their bikes and looking at the long line of us with big grins on their faces… What a site, indeed. And just another day in BikeTown, USA."


The video is via Copenhagenize. It's just an average dad dropping the kids at school. It's a nice little video that shows the unhurried morning commute of the danes. I'm willing to bet that this bike thing is a contributing factor for why the Danes are classified as the happiest people in the world.

Take notice of not only the infrastructure. But that this appears not to be taken in an urban core setting. It looks to be in your standard European suburb. And now imagine what that line of cars that starts lining up around 1 pm everyday. Blocking the streets around your local school and neighborhood would look and feel like if they were on bikes instead.