AI6YR Ben @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
Public

Oooh, a prior oil crisis is what turned the Netherlands from a driving country to a bicycling country.

The Guardian: Do we want to keep fixing the same issue? Unlearned lessons from the first big oil crisis

As energy prices tripled in the 1970s due to Middle Eastern wars, Scandinavia, France and the Netherlands sped up green transition

theguardian.com/environment/20

Dutch cycle lanes “Holland saddle-sore but fume free” was how Guardian editors headlined an article in November 1973 after oil price spikes led the Dutch government to ban cars on Sundays. The three-month measure was followed by a number of structural steps – from segregated cycle lanes to designing people-friendly cities – that got people on their bikes and out of vehicles that chugged foreign fuels. “The decision of not using cars on Sundays made it clear that societies could do without them for one day,” said Jan Wittenberg, the first chair of the Dutch Cyclists’ Union, which was founded 50 years ago. “And it looked fantastic. There were picnics on motorways and kids playing in the street.”
0
6
0

If you have a fediverse account, you can quote this note from your own instance. Search https://m.ai6yr.org/users/ai6yr/statuses/116222041124878107 on your instance and quote it. (Note that quoting is not supported in Mastodon.)