Electric cargo bikes full of children, speed cameras or groups of students speeding past with their Van Moof or Fatbike: thanks to the many different types of e-bikes is busier, tighter and above all more dangerous on the bicycle paths. Melanie van der Horst, alderman of Amsterdam, sees a solution in a maximum speed of 25 km/h on the bicycle path.
With the arrival of electric bicycles, it is busier on the bicycle paths, which creates more dangerous situations. That is why the Amsterdam city council wants to introduce a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour. A recent poll by AT5 shows that three quarters of the people who completed the poll say that the safety on the bike path has deteriorated since the arrival of e-bikes. 80 percent think the introduction of a maximum speed on the bicycle path, as proposed by the new city council in the coalition agreement, is a good idea.
License plate requirement
Although responsible alderman Melanie van der Horst (Traffic and Transport) thinks it is a positive development that so many people are now cycling, she also sees problems. “It is now really causing a shortage on the bicycle path and unsafe situations.”
The investigation into the speed limit is now underway, and part of that is how it can be enforced. “Obviously you eventually want to introduce a license plate requirement for cyclists so that you can enforce properly and very automatically,” says van der Horst. The councilor is not yet able to say when the speed limit will be introduced.