Cycling to school

Hundreds of thousands of children cycle to school every morning in the Netherlands. The roads and streets are literally full of cycling children for about one hour. The "cycle highway" from Geldermalsen to Culemborg is one such road. Hundreds of children going to school take the same safe route here. They form spontaneous groups and the closer they get to school the larger the groups become. When the school bell rings and all the children are in class, the cycle highway looks as deserted as it was before the kids went to school.
Some things in the video may need a bit of explaining. The route you see is not an official 'cycle highway' it is just one of the many good cycle paths in the Netherlands. It was built between two smaller towns and it has featured in an earlier video. The road it was built next to, is a minor rural road so there is not much traffic and the speed limit is 60km per hour (37mph). Still the authorities did decide to build a separate protected cycle path next to such a minor road. So where Dutch authorities think cycle paths are needed does not only have to do with the speed and the amount of motorised traffic but also with the number of cyclists.

Not much motorised traffic and a speed limit of 60kph (37mph) but with a separate protected cycle path.

The children all take a bridge and an underpassing to cross the railway line that seem a bit in contrast with the cycle route. The bridge is old, narrow and there is a low clearance under the railway line. This is not part of the main cycle route. That main cycle route continues straight on to the town's center. But the kids need to be in schools at the edge of the town in a new part of that town and the old underpassing takes them there quickest. I can only imagine there was no money (yet) to build a new underpassing where it was needed most. The Netherlands' Railways do not allow any new level crossings in the Netherlands but building an underpassing is of course expensive especially in this case where water has to be crossed as well. Since it is obvious there is a demand it cannot be ruled out that one will be built in future. At least the kids can take the old bridge and underpassing and they don't have to make the detour that motorised traffic has to make. Even though the bridge is very narrow it is fit to be cycled on, there is no annoying 'cyclists dismount' sign.

Narrow old bridge under a railway line. Not up to the latest standards but at least usable.

The number of children you see in this video is not exceptional. Such large groups of cycling children can be seen all over the Netherlands in the morning rush hour. Perhaps useful to know that the Netherlands does not have a school bus system. Some children go to school by public transport but school buses do not exist. There are several other posts about school travel on this blog.