There is a bicycle revolution going on. Cities in North America have suddenly begun to provide cyclists with facilities (bike lanes, secure lock-ups, etc.) and are looking at Public Bike systems for their citizens. The Canadian documentary production company Cogent Benger Productions Inc. produces a documentary about the phenomenal growth of city cycling. The documentary was broadcasted on the Canadian public TV channel CBC.
There are questions about what the car driver is “losing” as lane-space and parking spaces are re-designated to cyclists. In European cities like Amsterdam and Paris, bike use is much greater already, but there are plans to go further re-claiming space from private automobile in the evolution of more liveable cities. The Dutch use a carrot and stick to cut down on cars in the cities. Often separate bike lanes for cyclists and huge taxes and parking fees for drivers.
In Amsterdam a family that does not own a car is portrayed in their daily life. Father Enno, a school administrator bikes to work and explains that he saves a lots of money and that he does not have the stress to wait in traffic jams every day. His wife Monique, a post-natal care worker visits a client and son Christiaan goes to school. Both travel around 5 kilometres on their bike.
Historically Amsterdam is also known for systems of shared or free bicycles. Luud Schimmelpennink is interviewed. He was primarily the driving force behind promoting so-called white bicycles, the collective bicycles that were to be free to use in the sixties of the last century. Although the white bike system failed, there are now community bike systems in more than hundred cites worldwide.
For the filming for this documentary in the Netherlands Featurez gave advise, did the research, set-up and planning of the filming, booked a rental van, organised a three wheeler bike and bike chauffeur for filming, organised a happy loving bike couple and did the driving and accompaniment of the filming.
A Pedal Power documentary trailer is published on the Featurez.com video page.