An accident of history? How mopeds boosted Dutch cycling infrastructure (1950–1970)
Open Access
- 28 April 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in The Journal of Transport History
- Vol. 42 (3), 420-443
- https://doi.org/10.1177/00225266211011935
Abstract
This article argues that mopeds played an ambivalent but ultimately positive role in the long-term success of Dutch cycling. Unlike in many other countries, Dutch cycling levels dropped but remained significant throughout the 1950s and 1960s, partly because cycling infrastructure continued to be constructed. One underexplored factor explaining this is the role of mopeds in the 1950s. The Netherlands constructed a significant network of cycle paths before the 1950s. When mopeds became popular, the existence of this network raised the question of where they should ride. Engineers and politicians classified mopeds as bicycles, assigning them to the cycle path. As a result, engineers decided to build more and wider cycle paths. Despite the danger and discomfort of sharing cycling paths, cyclists therefore also benefited in the long run from the decision to reframe cycle paths as cycle-and-moped paths.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- ‘Resistance was futile!’ Cycling’s discourses of resistance to UK automobile modernism 1950–1970Planning Perspectives, 2017
- Roads Were Not Built for CarsPublished by Island Press ,2015
- Taking path dependence seriously: an historical institutionalist research agenda in planning historyPlanning Perspectives, 2014
- When Cycling Gets PoliticalThe Journal of Transport History, 2012
- Chapter 2 Cycling Cultures in Northern Europe: From ‘Golden Age’ to ‘Renaissance’Published by Emerald ,2012
- Contested SpacesTransfers, 2011
- Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and GermanyTransport Reviews, 2008
- Studying Obduracy in the City: Toward a Productive Fusion between Technology Studies and Urban StudiesScience, Technology, & Human Values, 2005
- Politics in TimePublished by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,2004
- Path dependence in historical sociologyTheory and Society, 2000