Silvia has to cross the IJ with her car, but does not reach the ferry: “Just prison island”

45-kilometer cars are not allowed on the cycle path and must therefore use the roadway. This also applies to Silvia, who drives a luxury cart with her moped license. But when she wants to take the ferry from Buiksloterweg, she runs into a problem, she can’t get on the ferry.

“I can legally take the ferry, but then I have to go there first.” There is a post on the route to keep cars out of the vicinity of the ferry. “Most trolleys can just pass through, but I’m just a few millimeters too wide.”

Silvia drives the ‘kart’, as she calls it, for several reasons. “I have two large dogs that I have to be able to walk, cycling doesn’t work for too long because of my health, so this is ideal.” In addition, she often has to take her mother to the hospital across the street: “She is 81 years old, I don’t see her going by bike or public transport that quickly.”

Silvia has now been working for seven months. “I went on the bike path five times, but twice I was photographed and I received a receipt on the mat.” She has to pay a total of 218 euros, and those fines cannot be waived.

The municipality came to measure it, and Silvia was right. It would be very tight to get through the posts, and the municipality understands Silvia’s concern for damage. “I take a sidewalk with my tire, so that I hang at an angle and get damage on the other side,” says Silvia.

According to Silvia, the municipality is not cooperating: “They don’t want to give me the code of the pole, because they are afraid I will pass it on to other people.” The municipality does offer solutions, for example, an exemption for work traffic is being considered, so that Silvia can bypass the pole. The municipality says it is trying everything to find a suitable solution and says that the starting point should be that everyone should be able to reach all of Amsterdam. “It’s like a prison island here,” says Silvia. “I just barely get out of North anymore.”

One of the local residents advises Silvia to take another ferry, for example the one at IJplein: “There you only have a very small piece of pavement that you have to take!” But Silvia doesn’t think that’s the point: “I should just be able to take the ferry to the other side if I can? Now I have to take a 45-minute detour to get to the other side, while I can use a different route.” The other two ferries are also blocked for cars, and there is also a chance that Silvia will receive a fine.

The area management advised Silvia to write a letter to Mayor Halsema. “Maybe I will do that too, but I hope that I can explain to the judge what is going on here. Because everyone I speak to does not think this is normal.”