What Makes a Bicycle-Friendly City?

On December 7, 2009, Marie Lemay, Chief Executive Officer of the National Capital Commission (NCC), and His Excellency Wim Geerts, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, were delighted to host a public presentation on how the City of The Hague has become a world leader in bicycle transportation. 

Ms. Inge Molenaar, The Hague’s leading expert in cycling infrastructure, has helped transform The Hague into a bicycle-friendly city. Ms. Molenaar shared her city’s best practices and lessons learned, and  answered questions about its challenges and successes. View her presentation on what makes a bicycle-friendly city.

Inge Molenaar has extensive experience in issues of mobility and sustainable transportation, with a focus on cycling. She is currently the program manager for cycling at the Department of Traffic and Infrastructure in the City of The Hague. Her role is to coordinate the implementation of new cycling projects and infrastructure, and to act as project leader for cycling promotion. She recently worked on a traffic circulation plan for The Hague, which includes the permanent closure to car traffic of a number of roads.

After completing her studies at NHTV (Dutch Traffic Academy), Inge began her career working for the province of Utrecht, where she was responsible for initiating traffic safety projects and road projects. Later, with a traffic consultancy company, she was involved in researching traffic bottlenecks and advising municipalities about solutions.

Before working for the City of The Hague, Inge worked as policy officer for cycling for the province of Zuid-Holland, where she co-wrote the provincial cycling plan. She was also involved in projects concerned with solutions for provincial highways and environmental reporting on new infrastructure. Other projects involved developing the multi-year program on provincial infrastructure and writing an investment strategy for mobility projects.

Cycling is a way of life for Inge. She uses her bike every day to get to work, to go to her children’s school and daycare, and to do her shopping.