自行車王國的自由風情

提到自行車，就一定繞不開荷蘭。荷蘭不僅僅是風車王國，還享有自行車王國的盛譽。數(shù)據(jù)顯示，荷蘭首都阿姆斯特丹80余萬居民中就有超55萬人擁有自行車，而在荷蘭全國范圍內(nèi)，2023年大約有2350萬輛自行車，比當年統(tǒng)計的總?cè)丝跀?shù)1781萬還多。荷蘭的自行車數(shù)量是總?cè)丝跀?shù)量的1.3倍，上到老人下到孩子，大都會騎自行車。

荷蘭之所以成為自行車王國，還有著一段一波三折的歷史。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)結(jié)束后，伴隨汽車工業(yè)的高速發(fā)展，汽車逐漸取代自行車，成為荷蘭人重要且流行的交通出行工具。在1960年到1970年間，全國的汽車數(shù)量增加了4倍。為了應對大量的車流及停車空間，城市不斷地拓寬道路、建立停車場，使得人們的活動空間越來越少。

由于城市人車爭道、交通事故頻發(fā)，社會上興起大規(guī)模的反汽車運動，迫使荷蘭政府推出了鼓勵自行車出行的一系列政策和措施。隨后，荷蘭政府不僅建起了覆蓋全國的龐大的自行車專用道路網(wǎng)絡，每年還投入數(shù)億歐元，改善騎行安全設施，專門設置了與機動車道區(qū)分開的標示牌和交通信號燈等，使自行車重新回到了荷蘭人的日常生活中。

以自行車代步，在阿姆斯特丹尤為盛行。在這里，人們出門用的最多的交通工具就是自行車。行走在阿姆斯特丹的街道上，街頭巷尾、路邊廣場，到處停放著各種各樣的自行車，有可以帶上火車和地鐵的折疊自行車，可以運人運貨的斗式自行車，甚至有可以躺著騎的自行車……買菜的家庭主婦，上班的公司職員，游玩的年輕戀人，還有巡邏的警察，只要跨上自行車，他們便可奔赴各自的目的地。

在荷蘭，自行車不僅僅是一種交通工具，更是當?shù)氐囊环N騎行文化。如果你準備前往阿姆斯特丹，在欣賞其獨特魅力的同時，不妨也騎上一輛自行車，感受這座城市的脈動。

編輯/郭曉娟

A Sense of Freedom in a Bicycle Kingdom

The Netherlands is not only a windmill kingdom， but also reputed to be a bicycle kingdom. According to figures， 550，000 out of Amsterdam’s 800，000 residents owned bicycles； nationally， the Netherlands had about 23.5 million bicycles in 2023， more than the country’s total population of 17.81 million recorded in that year. The number of bicycles in the Netherlands was 1.3 times that of its total population.

After World War II， with the rapid development of the automobile industry， cars gradually took the place of bicycles， be- coming one of the Dutchmen’s important and popular means of transportation. From 1960 to 1970， the country saw a four-fold increase in the number of cars. To cope with a lot of traffic and parking spaces， cities continued to widen roads and build parking lots， which increasingly reduced the people’s space to move around.

As a result of the frequent occurrences of pedestrians and cars battling for roads， and traffic accidents， a massive anti-automobile movement started in society， which forced the Dutch government to introduce a series of policies and measures to encourage cycling. Later， the Dutch government not only built a huge nationwide bikeway network， but also invested hundreds of millions of euros every year in improving cycling facilities， and specially arranged traffic signs and lights to separate bike lanes from motor vehicle lanes， thereby bringing bicycles back into Dutch daily life.

If you are going to Amsterdam， you may ride a bicycle to feel the pulse of the city while enjoying its unique charm.