Call to move e-bikes to public road as bike paths grow increasingly crowded

The bike paths in the Netherlands are growing more and more crowded and increasingly dangerous, Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN) and the Fietsersbond said to AD. They called on the government to widen the bike paths, reduce their speed limit, and move e-bikes to the roadway.

According to the two organizations, the situation on the bike paths is getting more dangerous because there are more different vehicles on them, like e-bikes and pedelecs. "We see more accidents on bicycle paths. The large differences in speeds and weights of bicycles - a cargo bike is much heavier than a racing bike - play a role in this," a spokesperson for VVN said to the newspaper.

Widening the bike paths to give everyone more room to maneuver is a good solution. According to VVN and the Fietserbond, about 60 percent of bicycle paths in built-up areas don't even meet the current standard. But that alone won't fix the problem.

They therefore also argue for a lower speed limit in built-up areas. And for e-bikes, which can go much faster than a standard bicycle, to be moved to the public roads like Amsterdam did with scooters.

Other solutions include bicycle streets, where bikes have the right of way and cars are "guests," and bicycle highways, the organizations said.