Amsterdam mobility debates

Amsterdam is loosening its rules for shared cargo bikes after one licensed zone in the east averaged just 118 trips a day in 2025. (ad.nl) Traffic alderman Melanie van der Horst told the city council on April 20, 2026 that the system should become “less steering” and “more facilitating.” Under the new approach, multiple companies can apply for permits for 50 to 100 cargo bikes, with room to expand if usage is high. (ad.nl) The previous model split Amsterdam into two concession areas and allowed one operator per area with up to 375 cargo bikes each. In Amsterdam Oost, the city counted 118 trips a day on average in 2025, and AD reported that nearly two-thirds of the bikes were sitting unused. (ad.nl) City Hall is still arguing that shared cargo bikes can replace some car trips. Van der Horst said one in four cargo-bike trips substitutes for a car trip, while the city also concluded that operators cannot cover a citywide network without public subsidy, which Amsterdam does not want to provide. (ad.nl) That debate is running alongside a very different mobility plan in Zuidas. The Ravel neighborhood plan calls for 1,350 homes east of Beethovenstraat, with a car-free inner area, two underground parking garages, and a park-like public realm. (zuidas.nl) Ravel’s zoning plan was adopted in 2021 and became final in 2022. The project is being built in four phases, with work on the Kindercampus Zuidas starting in March 2024, the 75-home Ravelly block in June 2024, the Tic-Tac-Toe project in December 2025, and more building on Beethovenstraat planned for summer 2026. (zuidas.nl) The housing mix is also fixed in the plan: 40% social rent, 40% mid-priced rent, and 20% owner-occupied homes. Cars will not be allowed in public space inside the neighborhood, and ground floors are supposed to combine homes, workspaces, and public functions. (zuidas.nl) Amsterdam has been pushing both tracks at once for several years. In February 2024, the city said it would roll out 750 BAQME shared cargo bikes across the city from the summer, expanding far beyond the 110-bike experiment in Rivierenbuurt and Oost, while also steering more shared mobility into fixed parking spots and hubs. (amsterdambereikbaar.nl) The city’s own 2025 note on shared-bike experiments was more cautious than its rollout plans. It said three years of trials did not provide enough information to determine whether shared bikes reduce car ownership or car use, even though usage had grown and nuisance in public space had stayed limited in the test areas. (openresearch.amsterdam) So Amsterdam now has two live tests of how to cut car dependence: a market-run shared cargo-bike system that the city is rewriting after weak usage, and a master-planned district where cars are pushed underground from the start. Both are moving ahead in 2026. (ad.nl) (zuidas.nl) (openresearch.amsterdam)