Does Anyone Actually Cycle in Switzerland!?

I'm always being told that people won't cycle where it's hilly, and Switzerland is a pretty hilly country, so does anybody actually cycle there? Well, yes. In fact, there are several cities with a higher percentage of people who cycle than any city in North America.

In this video, I visit Basel, Bern, Zürich, as well as one other lesser-known cycling city, to see exactly what it's like for people cycling in Switzerland.

NJB Live (my bicycle livestream channel):

Historical photos of Amsterdam

Hobbemakade 1991

When Zurich was known for Needle Park

Cycling mode choice amongst US commuters: The role of climate and topography

[matrimoniobarriosbauer]

This year we moved to Switzerland from Latin America. Because of your videos I didn’t wanted to buy a car when we arrived, and had to fight my wife to agree with me. I convinced her by showing her your videos. Been car free for 7 months and loving

[EvaristeWK]

As an Ontarian, I almost never visit "Fake London, " since there's practically nothing to do and you're right, the streets are very unappealing. Always get a good laugh when you bring that city up lol

[altriish]

"fines are scaled by income"
This needs to be the case everywhere.

[blooptastic]

Swiss here, having lived most my adult life in the SF Bay Area.

Having cycled in both places, the difference could not be starker. In CH, even on roads with little to no bicycle-specific infrastructure, I rarely felt threatened or unsafe. Pedestrians, motorcycles, and bikes are simply an expected, accepted, and respected part of traffic.

Here in the US, it's a different story. The lack of infrastructure is merely the symptom: The disease is the underlying mindset that anyone who doesn't drive a car doesn't matter. Walking, public transit, and bikes are for poor people, and who cares about them! To the extent most motorists even consider bikes as a mode of transport, they are considered a nuisance at best, and someone who needs to be taught a lesson at worst. Accidents and assaults are common, hit-and-runs happen daily, and even the police for the most part just consider this "normal".

[ThePandaTooth]

I did my Bachelor's degree in Basel and my Master's degree in Zurich, and bicycling was my main way of getting around, so I have a lot of experience biking in both cities. I really do think that there is a world of difference between them. Basel's bicycling infrastructure might not be perfect, but at least it feels complete. As in, you can get from one end of the city to the other while only using dedicated bicycling infrastructure. Most of that is bicycling through quiet residential roads, and some of it is a painted lane on the street, but it's _something_. Biking to university always felt safe, which is why a majority of students arrive by bike as well.

Zürich, however? Much of Zürich's bike infrastructure is still flat out dangerous. There are many places where the bike lane you're on will just disappear right in front of you and drop you into a busy 4-lane street with no warning. Which, to me, is a huge problem - while some of the inner city has made progress in its bike infrastructure, other parts have not, and so it creates this incomplete bike network where you'll be deluded into a false sense of security, only to bicycle right into terrifying car-centric street design when you turn a corner. There are several intersection that will have you bicycling _between_ two car lanes. Ugh. Knowing which parts of the city are safe to cycle, and which aren't, is just one of the things you have to find out when living here.

But it's nice knowing we're going the right direction, as some other commenters have said, we recently voted to expand the bicycling infrastructure pretty extensively. Who knows - give it a decade, and we'll be in a much better place!

[DarioBunschoten]

Growing up in Winterthur I remember biking there feeling almost as safe as I do today in the Netherlands. Also, in Switzerland children are taught how to bike safely at school by police officers, at least that was the case at my school. Nice to see my hometown featured here, what a pleasant surprise!

[alanthefisher]

nice narrow gauge trams in Basel.
Very cool 3 segmented articulated trolley Buses in Bern
and then very funny to see rentalable electric scooters all around Zurich like its a north american city

[Ssarevok]

Having grown up in the Netherlands in the 90s, I can confirm that current Basel is about what the situation was in NL back then. So Basel seems to be on the right track.

[luzwasgehtdichdasan]

I was so happy to see you cover my hometown Basel. I was absolutely laughing so hard seeing one of my best friends on a bike cursing down a car-driver for taking her right of way at 2:53. ‚Hallooo? Ich han Vortritt!‘ :)

[phoenix]

As a young, fit, reckless man who regularly charges bicycle gutters without a concern and is inured to all but the most harrowing New Delhi traffic, I truly appreciate you teaching me what real bicycle infrastructure is and how it would greatly benefit the other 99% of the population. You've entirely changed my attitude about streets and continue to inspire me to be a lifelong advocate of improved urban design.
Thank you Not Just Bikes.

[sabatuur]

Not sure if anybody has mentioned it yet but we in Zurich did vote the last two years to expand our bike infrastructure (about 100km of new bike lanes throughout the city, 50km of which will be free of car traffic) as well as make it more pedestrian friendly and have more 'meeting spaces'.

We're also limiting car traffic to 30km/h throughout the city. All of this will be done in steps until 2040. Long way to go but it's going into the right direction. There's also gonna be a tunnel underneath the main train station (a remnant of the old metro project in 70s) that will be converted into a bike tunnel to traverse that area more easily. And those votes were pretty one sided: 70% and 74% for the bike bills, 57% for the general traffic plans.

Sadly, I can't find any resources on it in English. I'm glad you exposed some of it though. It's something that bothered me for a while and hopefully over time this city you can see the differences. :)

[carlamargeisch]

There is currently a huge cycling movement in Zurich advocating for saver infrastructure: critical mass.
Every last Friday of the month, thousands of cyclists come together for a demonstration through the city, completely taking over some of the biggest roads and paralysing motor traffic. They clearly demonstrate how many people are willing to cycle once it no longer is so dangerous.
(PS: you missed the most terrifying bicycle infrastructure in Zurich: Bucheggplatz. I often times sit in the bus completely terrified for the cyclists next to us.)

[d]

Not Just Bikes: "Does Basel have good cycling infrastructure?"
Me: *comparing it to my city* YES!
Not Just Bikes: Well, no not really
Me: Yeah no, of course not

[chuchushoeTW]

Man, cycling in my hometown is nearly impossible.
You eitherget hit by a car, or you get lung cancer over the year that caused by air pollution...

[xarnii]

fines are actually not scaled by income in switzerland, only the "Taggeldsatz" which is a fine a court orders you to pay, which only happens with bigger crimes, not common Vehicle tickets

[kalle]

What I really liked about getting around in Switzerland was synchronized timetables for trains and other modes of transport. Even in small villages.

[Jodamo]

Such a stark difference between the bike/pedestrian friendly areas shown here and the more car oriented ones. The former has more room for plants, more people out, quieter, and just feels friendlier and more human. The car areas automatically feel kind of disconnected.

[Gabriel_Tan]

Inhabitant of Winterthur here. There are actually plans to make the inner city free of cars, so maybe if you come back in a few years... Also you can always take a side street in Winterthur, they are usually parallel to the main street and have a speed limit of 30km/h.
The side of Zurich you filmed is quite unfriendly to bikes, it's also pretty hilly there ;) Near the lake, for example at Stadelhofen, the infrasturcture for bikes is significantly better, but not quite as good as Winterthur :)

[gajop]

I would like to see you do Japan once.

I'm a European living in Japan, and while I'm looking at your US/Canada suburb videos completely horrified, I can't help but find many analogies with smaller Japanese cities & towns that I've lived in.
Tokyo and bigger cities are definitely different, and public transport is indeed great, but I can't say the same for cycling & walking. I really miss wide pavements & cycling paths that I had in my home country.

So I think a Japan video would be quite interesting, many (unusual) tradeoffs!

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

"Switzerland is of course, a pretty hilly country, so if those people were correct which of course they never ever are"
Thank you for saying it. Those are the same people saying the US doesn't need high-speed rail. The US has plenty of mountains and trains traverse through them to connect the country just fine. They say "small towns/cities don't need stations because they're small" but IF they had better transit options, then more people would move to those cities, and they'd grow. That's a good thing. China has a pretty big system, so being big isn't an excuse