In recent years, various reports and studies have provided quantified estimates of the distribution of road space among different transport modes in various cities worldwide. In doing so, and inspired by broader discussions on transport and urban justice, they have sought to point out the unfairness of existing patterns of road space distribution. Although intuitively tempting, this paper argues that appeals in favour of a 'fair' distribution of road space are inherently problematic. In order to illustrate this point, the distribution of road space in Amsterdam is measured using GIS cartography and discussed in relation to various transport-related indicators.

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Although place-specific social norms play at least as important a role as physical factors in encouraging cycling in mature cycling cities, few studies have explored these factors in detail. In order to address this research gap, this paper offers a qualitative exploration of what makes Amsterdam a "cycling city". Through semi-structured interviews, the article explores the main factors which encourage cycling uptake among international newcomers to Amsterdam. Instead of relying on a division between "hard" and "soft" factors, we approach the city as a sociotechnical system, arguing that the material and social factors which encourage cycling in Amsterdam are co-constitutive. We identify seven main factors encouraging cycling, whichtend to be mutually reinforcing and highlight the critical role of the "human infrastructure" formed by cyclists themselves in encouraging cycling. Finally, our analysis uncovers a temporal dimension of cycling uptake, showing that many newcomers become increasingly reliant on cycling over time.

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Cycling is increasingly seen as a solution to a large variety of urban problems, and as such continues to inspire innovations that aim to upscale cycling to unprecedented levels. Taken to the extreme, these ideas promise a future 'Velotopia' in which cycling constitutes a dominant or single mobility mode. Focusing its attention on Dutch cycling innovations and two recently envisaged cycling utopias by Steven Fleming and Cosmin Popan, the present paper offers a critical exploration of current velotopian urban imaginaries. It does so by tracing their ideological ancestry back to two visionary urban designs of the 20 th century: the dense city of speed and efficiency of Le Corbusier, and the endless Babylon of Constant where mobility is a means of discovery, play and human interaction. Our analysis shows that both Corbusian and Constantian understandings of mobility are reflected in current velotopian imaginaries, not only in opposition but also in combination with each other. This combination of Corbusian and Constantian velotopian imaginaries, we suggest, has largely become part of mainstream urban discourses instead of providing a radical alternative to them.

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The combined use of the bicycle and the train in the Netherlands has risen steadily over the past decade. However, little is yet known about the underlying processes driving the growth of bike–train use in the Netherlands. Are new bike–train trips replacing car trips, or are they primarily an extension of existing train travel and cycling practices? The present study investigates this question by exploring the main trajectories of bike–train uptake in the Randstad area. Following a mobility biographies approach, our study seeks to identify the triggers or “key events” which lead to the uptake of bike–train use, and explores their relationship with existing travel behaviour. To this end, we carried out an online survey aimed at people who started commuting regularly by bike–train. Our results show that trajectories of uptake are varied, with a similar proportion of respondents starting to commute by bike–train in order to replace cycling, driving and public transport. While in some cases people shifted to bike–train on their existing commuting trip, most respondents started travelling by bike–train following a change in work or residential location. Overall, our findings suggest that most people do not start commuting by bike–train out of particular preference, but merely because they consider it provides the best available option. Nevertheless, the large proportion of respondents with access to a car suggests that the bike–train system is able to provide an attractive alternative to car-based interurban mobility.