Cycling in the Netherlands is great. How great, you ask? Well, we can now confirm that it’s the greatest in the world in this Dutch city. Hoera!
The results of PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings for 2023 are in, and the winner is… The Hague! 🎉
How are the rankings calculated, you may be asking? PeopleForBikes’ data-driven programme identifies, evaluates, and compares the bike network quality of 1733 cities globally.
Not only does a Dutch city take the number one spot against a whopping 1733 other cities, but two more are in the top 10. Go Nederland! 🇳🇱
Dutch fietsen for the win
Based on data about streets, speed limits, bike infrastructure, and destinations documented in OpenStreetMap, the City Ratings have given Dutchies a reason to celebrate.
Why? Dutch cities come out on top, natuurlijk. The Hague tops the ratings at number one, with Almere landing in fifth place, and Utrecht at number eight. Gefeliciteerd!
But, we can’t say we’re surprised with how hard the Dutch have worked to make cycling in the Netherlands easy and attractive.
@notjustbikes What happens when you quickly build a cycling city? #cyclingcity #cyclingtiktok #notjustbikes #netherlandstiktok #iloveamsterdam #urbanplanningtiktok #publictransportation ♬ original sound – Not Just Bikes
If you’re wondering what other cities have cycled to the top, check out the top 10. 🚲
| Ranking | City | State/Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hague | South Holland, Netherlands | 89 |
| 2 | Provincetown | Massachusetts, United States | 88 |
| 3 | Crested Butte | Colorado, United States | 87 |
| 4 | Bromont | Quebec, Canada | 87 |
| 5 | Almere | Flevoland, Netherlands | 85 |
| 6 | Blue Diamond | Nevada, United States | 85 |
| 7 | Leuven | Flemish Brabant, Belgium | 85 |
| 8 | Utrecht | Utrecht, Netherlands | 84 |
| 9 | Brussels | Brussels Capital Region, Belgium | 84 |
| 10 | Murdock | Nebraska, United States | 84 |
A sprint for bike-friendly cities
Each city receives a City Ratings score on a scale from zero to 100, where a low score indicates a weak bike network and a high score indicates a strong bike network.
What is a bike network? A bike network is a connected system of protected bike lanes, off-street paths, slow shared streets, and safe crossings that enables people to comfortably bike around a city.
So, how were the scores determined? The Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) is software that measures the quality and connectivity of a bike network and assesses six factors of a city in the acronym SPRINT.
- Safe speeds
- Protected bike lanes
- Reallocated space
- Intersection treatments
- Network connections
- Trusted data
With all that in mind, we can’t help but have pride shining in our hearts for the country that makes it possible to flex our innovative cycling muscles. 💪
What do you think of the ratings of bike-friendliness? Tell us in the comments!
Having lived in Den Haag for a while, I don’t agree.