I'm always disappointed when I see entirely #carbrain moments here in the #Netherlands. This is #Keukenhof, the popular #tulip fields. The line to park cars wraps around the area for probably 5 kilometers. The nearby town of Hillegom is complete gridlock.
There are nearby #train and #bus terminals. It's a #cycling distance from many cities, and a #bike is a great way to see the tulips.
Some of this is foreign tourists, but many #Dutch people have bought car propaganda.
Many #Dutch people online spout the same classist, pro-car, anti-cyclist complaints that are typical in North America.
#Cycling and #walking are for poor people. They must not have jobs.
Public transit is for poors. #Transit systems need to pay for themselves! (But roads and highways get a free pass!)
Rip out sidewalks for more streetside parking. More free parking! A local political party's sole campaign issue was free parking (BVNL).
And the car advertising here is relentless!
Dutch people don't seem aware that car companies are waging war on their communities and way of life. Car companies want to destroy the fabric of society in search of more profit and car dependence.
Why are kids playing inside more? Because the streets are less safe. Why are fuel taxes going up? Because we keep building more roads.
I give it 5 years before drivers start seeing no punishment for completely negligent vehicular manslaughter. Like North America.
The car propaganda is winning.
Oh I forgot, it already happened: a speeding driver killed an elderly couple and their grandkid. The judge gave the driver 120 hours of community service
The father of the dead child threw a chair at the judge. IMO, the man is completely justified.
https://www.l1nieuws.nl/nieuws/1289747/rechtbank-niet-onder-indruk-van-ophef-over-straf
@thijs I wanted to, but I try not to take photos with lots of strangers' faces (in the interest of privacy). The number of bikes there (this was yesterday, Saturday) was OK but not great. Maybe 50 bikes? Cars outnumbered the bikes by far. My local city hall has more bikes on an average day.
Of course, people were cycling all over the country lanes that surrounded the flower fields. In my opinion, that's the best way to see them!
smeg
PRW
Thijs