Amsterdam’s fatbike ban starts today in the Vondelpark
From today, fatbikes are banned in Amsterdam’s Vondelpark. For the next two weeks, the city will just issue warnings. After that, anyone riding an electric bicycle with tires thicker than 7 centimeters will be fined.
If the ban in Vondelpark proves to be a success, the city council may ban fatbikes in other busy locations throughout the city. “It is a last resort,” traffic alderman Melanie van der Horst told AT5. The city has been asking the national government for measures since 2024, but according to Van der Horst, that is taking too long. “The rules from the central government are lacking, so we have to take action ourselves.”
The fatbike ban in the Vondelpark is arranged through an amendment to the General Municipal Ordinance (APV), the same way that beer bikes were banned from the city streets. Van der Horst is not overly concerned about legal objections to the measure. “We have one clear rule: the thickness of the tire,” she told the broadcaster. “And measuring a tire isn’t complicated.”
Whether the ban will reduce nuisance in the Vondelpark remains to be seen. Fatbike suppliers have already launched the skinnybike, basically a fatbike with tires just under 7 centimeters wide, and demand for these electric bicycles is skyrocketing.
Amsterdam’s ban follows Enschede, which banned fatbikes from the main shopping area in the city center during shopping hours, also based on the thickness of the bicycles' tires. Fatbike retailer La Souris has sued the municipality of Enschede, calling the ban “discriminatory,” among other things.
The national government has also decided on a stricter approach to fatbikes. Minister Vincent Karremans of Infrastructure announced last month that the government would give municipalities the option to ban fatbikes in specific areas, make helmets mandatory, and implement an age limit on fatbikes. What the age limit will be and when these measures will take effect remains unclear.
