Beer bikes banned from Amsterdam city center
Beer bikes are no longer allowed in Amsterdam city center. On Tuesday afternoon the court ruled that the city is allowed to ban beer bikes from the city center, and Amsterdam implemented that ban on Wednesday, Het Parool reports.
Amsterdam planned to ban beer bikes in January already, but a number of beer bike operators took the matter to court. They argued that many of them are located in the city center, and if they are banned from the area, they will no longer be able to reach places they can ride. The court ruled against the ban late in 2016.
Over the past months, former Mayor Eberhard van der Laan and the municipality worked to better motivate their decision of the ban and also to alleviate some of the beer bike operators' concerns. For example, by giving the beer bikes one last summer in the city center, beer bike operators had time to finish or cancel their existing lease contracts with stalling locations.
On Tuesday the court ruled that the ban can be implemented. According to the court, the decision to ban beer bikes from the city center was taken correctly and with sufficient motivation. The city gave a thorough explanation on how the problems caused by beer bikes - shouting, public drunkenness and urination, among other things - are concentrated in one of the busiest parts of Amsterdam and thereby also affects public order.
"In addition, part of the mayor's motivation is that the beer bicycle is a slow and cumbersome form of transport that causes frequent jams. The image outlined by the mayor is confirmed by the number of nuisance reports received by the municipality", the court ruled.
