- Transportation in Amsterdam
Transport ation inAmsterdam is a selection of ways of transportation in and around Amsterdam. Transportation within the city itself is characterized bybicycle s andpublic transportation . Largefreeway s only exist around the city, terminating at the A10Ringroad . Navigating by car through the city center is discouraged, with the government sponsoring initiatives to reduce car usage.Local
Car
Transportation by car is discouraged by the local government, with initiatives such as "Autodelen" and "Meerijden.nu" being sponsored,cite web
title=Amsterdam.nl - Auto
url=http://www.amsterdam.nl/verkeer_vervoer/auto
accessdate = 2007-04-19
language=Dutch] and steepparking fees and a great number of streets are closed off for cars in the city center. The A10Ringroad surrounding the city connects Amsterdam with the Dutch national network of freeways. Interchanges allow cars to enter the city by transferring to one of the eighteen "city roads", numbered s101 through s118. These city roads are regional roads withoutgrade separation , and sometimes without acentral reservation . Most are accessible by cyclists. The s100 is called the centrumring, a smaller ringroad circumnavigating the city center.Bicycle
Amsterdam is known as one of the most
bicycle-friendly cities in the world and is a centre ofbicycle culture . Most main streets have bike paths. Bike racks are ubiquitous throughout the city. There are about 700,000 bicycles in the city. Each year, about 80,000 of them are stolen and 25,000 end up in the canals. In the city centre, driving a car is discouraged,parking fees are steep and a great number of streets are closed off for cars or one-way.cite web
url=http://www.fiets.amsterdam.nl/live/main.asp?name=pagina&item_id=807
title=Amsterdam Fietst
language=Dutch
accessdate = 2007-04-19]Boat
Amsterdam is actually a large collection of canals. In total over 150 of these waterways crisscross the city and its surroundings, dividing the city of Amsterdam into approximately 90 mini islands. This network of islands is joined together by a vast number of bridges, totaling over 1,000. For may centuries, these canals or waterways were used as the main transportation routes in Amsterdam. Everything raging from water to coal, from food to spices used to be transported over these canals. Today these canal are only suitable for smaller barges, pleasure craft and the canal tour boats. There is however one main exception: DHL has its own DHL parcels boat that delivers packages across town using the old waterways.
Public Transport
Public transport in Amsterdam, operated by
Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf ,Connexxion ,Arriva , andNederlandse Spoorwegen , consists of numerous bus, metro and tram lines. Several ferries exist, operating for pedestrians and cyclists across the IJ (free of charge)During the construction of the
Amsterdam Metro , plans to demolish the entire former Jewish neighbourhood near theNieuwmarkt led to strong protests. The metro was still built (wall decorations at the Nieuwmarkt station are dedicated to the protests), but plans to build a highway through the neighbourhood in the centre of Amsterdam were abolished. A new underground line, theNorth/South Line ("Noord/Zuidlijn"), is under construction. The estimated completion date is in 2012 (see alsoGemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf ,Amsterdam metro ,Amsterdam Centraal ).National
Car
Amsterdam is a major hub of the highway system of the Netherlands by design.cite web
url = http://www.autosnelwegen.nl/asw/gs04.htm
title = Autosnelweg.nl - Geschiedenis Autosnelwegen in Nederland
accessdate = 2007-04-19
publisher = Autosnelweg.nl
language = Dutch] Dutchfreeway s (comparable to USinterstate and UKmotorway roads) numbered one through eight were originally planned to originate from Amsterdam in 1932. Complications, like the outbreak of the Second World War and shifting priorities led to the current situation, where roads A1, A2, and A4 originate from Amsterdam according to the original plan. These connect the capital withGermany (viaApeldoorn ), Utrecht andLeiden respectively. Cancelled road A3 would connect Amsterdam withRotterdam viaGouda , but conservation of theGroene Hart was deemed more important in 1970. Road A8, leading north toZaandam andRingroad A10 were opened between1968 and1974 . cite web
url = http://www.autosnelwegen.nl/asw/gs07.htm
title = Autosnelweg.nl - Geschiedenis Autosnelwegen in Nederland
accessdate = 2007-04-19
publisher = Autosnelweg.nl
language = Dutch] Besides the A1, A2, A4 and A8, several freeways, such as the A7 and A6, mainly carry traffic bound for Amsterdam, but terminate at one of the former.Rail
There are many stations in Amsterdam. See
Amsterdam railway stations for more information.International
Eurolines has coaches from Amsterdam to destinations all overEurope .Amsterdam Centraal is an international train station. From the station there are regular sevices with destinations inBelgium ,France ,Germany , andSwitzerland . Among these trains are international trains of theNederlandse Spoorwegen and theThalys ,CityNightLine , andInterCityExpress . [cite web
title = Bestemmingen
work = [http://www.nsinternationaal.nl/ NS internationaal.nl]
publisher =Nederlandse Spoorwegen
url = http://www.nsinternationaal.nl/bestemmingen/bestemmingen.html
accessdate = 2007-04-19 ]Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is less than 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam Central Station. It is the biggest airport in the Netherlands, the fourth largest in Europe and the tenth largest in the world. It handles about 42 million passengers a year and is home base toKLM , since 2004 part ofAir France-KLM .References
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