Amsterdam Traffic

Our initial impression was of a constant chaotic movement, and early on we spent some considerable time whenever we crossed a street, frozen on the street corner, heads darting every which way like chickens abandoned in the middle of Grand Central Station.   After a while, though, we began to understand the patterns and the various lanes and control signals and things began to sort themselves out for us.  In the end, we came to feel quite comfortable and safe as pedestrians, probably safer than we would be on similar streets in many U.S. cities.

The key is to recognize each type of traffic lane for the type of traffic it carries.  Bicycle lanes are usually marked and must be crossed mindful of bicycles and mopeds, which zip around with great abandon.  We read somewhere that there are more bicycles than people in Amsterdam, and judging from the number locked to any available fixed item or building this must be true.  Bicycles on any other type of lane are interlopers, and tend to proceed with somewhat more caution.

Roads, of course, are for vehicular traffic such as cars, taxis, and buses.   These are the usual blacktop or (in a few places) cobblestone and are at the lowest level.  Bicycle lanes are marked on the roads, or created at the same level separate from the roads.

Sidewalks are also simple to recognize and use.  These are for pedestrians, though they tend to collect bicycles, trash, parked cars, pet deposits, and other items that don't fit anywhere else.  Sidewalks are at a higher level by three or four inches, made of concrete or stone, and so forth.

The really confusing lanes are the tram ways.  These are higher than the roads but lower than the sidewalks, though at first we thought that they ran on sidewalks and this seemed pretty confusing.  In fact, they are a mid-level and governed by a completely different set of traffic controls that look a little like train signals.

To make this even more confusing, taxis and buses can use the tram ways.   Taxi and bus drivers are trained to understand the tram signals and licensed to travel in the tram ways so that they have a distinct advantage over normal traffic.  Otherwise, one driver asked us, what would be the advantage of taking a cab?  The result is that taxi drivers zip from road to tram way and back with gleeful abandon, racing past standing traffic (of which there is a lot, due to the narrowness of the streets) and scaring the bejeezus out of the uninitiated.  Sometimes 'tis better to just not look.

The canals, of course, are an entirely different environment and don't directly impinge upon the traffic patterns very much.  Many roads end at canals, but there are an awful lot of bridges which carry foot as well as various types of vehicular traffic.