What Ontario can learn from Amsterdam’s cycling culture |
Visiting Amsterdam for the first time last summer, I arrived with a tidy list of attractions to enjoy. What I did not expect was how profoundly the city’s cycling culture would stand out. Everywhere I turned, bicycles streamed past in quiet confidence. Now, in 2026, with reports showing Canada’s climate momentum slowing amid affordability concerns, I could not help but reflect on how Amsterdam’s streets offer a practical illustration of sustainability taking shape in everyday decisions.
One image still lingers. During an evening walk on my vacation, I passed a condominium with an open section lined with bicycle racks, much like a garage for cars. I stopped in my tracks and stared for a while. The message was unmistakable. In Amsterdam, a bicycle is not a quirky accessory. It is standard urban infrastructure. As an Ontario-based climate communications professional, that sight left me curious about its implications for mobility and emissions.
Initially, I assumed that such a cycling culture would translate into significantly lower transport emissions nationwide, but a closer look at national emissions data revealed a more nuanced reality. In 2023, the Netherlands’ transport sector emitted approximately 26.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. The country still struggles with output from cars, freight, and aviation. Cycling was never intended to solve every transport challenge, yet it still plays a meaningful role in reducing emissions. That same year, it contributed to a notable drop by avoiding an estimated 2.3 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.. That impact is substantial, and it offers lessons Ontario can adapt to its own context.
Bicycles alone will not decarbonize Ontario’s sprawling transportation system, which produces about one-third of provincial greenhouse gas emissions. In 2022, transportation emitted approximately 57.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Passenger vehicles, including many short car trips, accounted for 30.5 million tonnes, freight for 23.3 million, and off-road modes for 3.6 million. Shifting even a fraction of short trips to bicycles could deliver meaningful emissions reductions.
In the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, which accounts for 46 per cent of Ontario’s total, transportation-related pollution rose by one per cent in 2024 and makes up 37 per cent of the region’s emissions, driven largely by personal vehicle use. Shifting even a fraction of short car trips to bicycles could deliver meaningful reductions.
Research suggests that if people worldwide biked at rates similar to the Dutch, averaging 2.6 kilometres per person every day, global emissions could fall by 686 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. To put it in perspective, that figure is comparable to Canada’s total annual emissions.
Amsterdam’s cycling history is not new, but its lessons remain relevant. Advocates have pointed to it as a model for decades, and Ontario can draw three takeaways:
Make climate visible: A bicycle rack in a condo is more than storage space. It signals that cycling is normal and supported. Infrastructure is communication.
Frame benefits beyond carbon: For short trips, cycling is often faster, cheaper, and healthier. Policies that aim to improve daily convenience and quality of life, such as protected bike lanes, safer intersections, and shorter commute times, tend to gain public support.
Tell a collective story: A connected cycling network helps shift cycling from an individual activity to a shared, everyday mode of transport.
There is also a generational dimension to consider. Teaching children to rely on bicycles for short trips helps embed lifelong habits. Climate goals do not end with the present generation, and schools, parents, and city planners all play a role in shaping long-term transportation norms.
Some analysts note that Dutch cycling systems perform best in dense cities rather than smaller towns or rural areas. That observation is fair, but the lesson from Amsterdam is not about perfection. It is about practicality. Incremental choices made daily have given the Netherlands a powerful tool for reducing emissions while improving public health and quality of life.
Ontario has already begun laying the groundwork. The Metrolinx Regional Cycling Network Strategy outlines routes connecting suburbs to urban centres. In northern Ontario, the Véloroute Voyageur links several rural and small-town communities. Regions such as Durham and Waterloo are expanding protected cycling corridors, while municipal plans, such as Thames Centre’s, envision routes to schools, workplaces, and shopping areas.
To build on this progress, Ontario needs long-term commitments to expand and maintain cycling networks, so they remain usable year-round. Secure bicycle parking at transit hubs and clear mode share targets would further support adoption. Infrastructure alone is not enough. Policy and culture must reinforce it. Measures such as reducing excess parking and encouraging employer-supported bike commuting would help translate plans into real behaviour change.
Amsterdam’s streets demonstrate that climate progress does not always require sweeping technological breakthroughs. Sometimes it emerges through consistent daily choices. Ontario does not need to imitate the Dutch model. It needs to build on its example in ways that reflect local realities, proving a healthier and more connected province is within reach.
Lolade Ozomoge is communications manager at Windfall Ecology Centre, leading strategic storytelling and public engagement in support of practical climate solutions and sustainability programs for homes, businesses, and cities.