My Visit to Amsterdam - Where “Micromobility” Reigns
June 8, 2022
On Friday I returned from a 4 day trip to Amsterdam for the Micromobility Industries Europe conference with 1,500+ innovators, entrepreneurs, engineers, and dreamers, who are also passionate about the future of mobility being more sustainable.
I couldn’t think of a better city than Amsterdam to host this conference. It truly is a model city for what the “micromobility” industry is striving for - a less car dependent society and a more sustainable future. I put micromobility in quotes because as I mentioned in this post while at the conference, the standard Dutch-style bicycle is still the primary form of mobility here. There definitely was a visible dichotomy between micromobility newness and the old bike culture, which is very much alive and thriving all over Amsterdam’s streets. However, the amount of different form factors and types of micromobility vehicles that I saw riding around the city was unbelievable. I would estimate that almost 20% of bikes in Amsterdam are now e-bikes - especially Van Moof (the “Apple of e-bikes” and headquartered in Amsterdam) with their sleek, recognizable design. What’s even more amazing is that since my last time in Amsterdam (and Europe for that matter) in 2013, it was noticeable how many more people were riding on 2 wheels now. Cargo e-bikes delivering everything imaginable, shared electric motorbikes, e-mopeds, fast moving e-bikes, and the occasional e-scooter, although they are technically illegal in the Netherlands (again that new mobility clash with Dutch bicycling culture).
From the moment I got off the train at Centraal Station, it was an incredible first scene of Amsterdam. What struck me the most was the quietness of the city. Walking through the large plaza towards my hotel, I saw people - walking, riding bikes, boarding trams. What I didn’t see or hear was cars and trucks, virtually anywhere. This wasn’t a public square with people sitting and having coffee but a plaza, a tramway, and cycle track with people traveling to where they needed or wanted to go, unshackled from cars. I rented a Dutch-style bicycle almost immediately after checking into the hotel and sleeping maybe two hours on the plane, and rode all over the city to explore - feeling significantly safer than I do biking around Boston and other cities in the U.S. - the abundance of separated bike paths and safety in numbers made riding very comfortable.
Now on to the conference:
As a co-founder of a micromobility tech startup and consultant for clients that are working on increasing micromobility adoption, I was particularly interested in learning from other startups and the innovations they’re creating. One of my main takeaways was that as much as it is important to address city stakeholder needs and concerns, don’t forget to design for the end user - build what users want. It sounds kind of obvious but it’s a mistake that entrepreneurs and startups make often.
What do micromobility end users want? In no particular order, they want micromobility to be safe, reliable, convenient, and fun. Guess what? The public sector wants the same thing! Safety and reliability are obviously important for cities, but also more people that enjoy their commute because it’s convenient and fun is a boon for improving well-being and quality of life (happier commuters = happier citizens). So if end users and the public sector stakeholders want the same thing, then what holds back so many communities from advancing micromobility adoption forward more quickly? More to come on that in an upcoming blog post.
Micromobility is finally breaking beyond shared e-scooters and following the footsteps of a well established transportation sector - the auto industry. When you want a car for yourself, either you buy, lease, rent, or share. The micromobility industry is diversifying with all options for consumers and I heard a lot of discussion about lowering the barrier to entry for buying and leasing (marketed as subscriptions, with shorter commitments). More consumer financing options and flexible leases/subscriptions will reduce the barriers for more middle and low-income riders who are interested in their own e-scooter or e-bike. Relying on a shared vehicle might not be as convenient or affordable, especially for longer rides. Bike and scooter sharing has introduced many new people to the benefits of micromobility and will continue to do so, but the adoption pie is growing and doesn’t need to be carved up between shared/rented and owned/leased. Most importantly, with this growing pie, we all need to ensure that sustainability takes precedence - especially with the full lifecycle of vehicles and batteries.
Micromobility is still just scratching the surface of the potential impact of how we move around cities. Although it’s so prevalent in Amsterdam, and much of Europe, riding a bike, e-bike, or e-scooter for utility is still not very mainstream in most of the U.S. This difference is reflected in our American culture. To put it bluntly, in the last couple decades, we have built walls, gated communities, and sprawling suburbs in America, keeping people away from each other. The culture I observed in Amsterdam was communal; people were seeing each other, riding bikes together everywhere, and looked happy (the late spring sunshine helps). The way we design and partition our land impacts more than we realize - our safety, quality of life, physical and mental health, impact on climate change, and more. Having more public spaces where a diverse group of people see each other is healthy for our culture and our society versus hiding behind personal automobiles and being stuck in traffic. Mobility is freedom and it is in our human nature to be free - Amsterdam really exemplifies this image.
As much as new technologies will nudge the shift towards more sustainable mobility, it really is a cultural shift that needs to take root. A more sustainable future depends on us reclaiming our streets to be designed in ways that we want as citizens. Dutch citizens advocated for changing their city streets starting in the 70’s; we can learn from them that we as citizens own the public space and if we want to change it, we have the power to do so. Policymaking for financial incentives and infrastructure improvements can be helpful, but it’s too slow. Cultural changes need to be made, and as Dr. Natalia Barbour said in one of the sessions at the conference, “For utility trips, high oil prices change behaviors and a change in behaviors changes norms.”
As I adjusted myself back into American culture after a whirlwind 4 day trip, I couldn’t help but have this feeling of a longing for seeing a sliver of Amsterdam here in the U.S. I realize that may never be the case, but there is a lot we can learn from places likes Amsterdam and The Netherlands, and no doubt, the leading cities of the future will be more human-centric and not car-centric.
My intention for the trip was to learn, observe, and connect with others in the micromobility industry; it’s safe to say that I checked off all of those boxes. I sincerely hope my next trip to Amsterdam is not 9 years from now.
#bicycles #urbanplanning #micromobility #Amsterdam #cities #Dutch
