Marnixstraat Intersection

The intersection at Elandsgracht and Marnixstraat uses almost no signage to manage pedestrians, bikes, trams, buses, cars. They recently added shark teeth arrows on the pavement to indicate trams have the right of way, as do bikes coming towards and away from the camera. Cars clearly have the lowest priority.

Biking in Amsterdam is different than in Copenhagen, the other city held up as a paragon of bike-friendliness. In Copenhagen, the bike lanes are well marked (with turn lanes, signals, and clear signage), and most folks there seem to follow the rules. Amsterdam, in contrast, integrates bikes more onto the main carriageways and replies less for formal signage. It can seem much more chaotic, with a lot more improvisation. There are a lot of unspoken norms and much less signage for guidance. Sometimes it is OK to bend or break the rules (e.g., not giving the right away when pedaling up what passes for a steep hill in Amsterdam). The result is an improvised choreography. It can be intimidating. I am a pretty confident biker, but it took me several years to feel comfortable biking in Amsterdam. I felt like I had made it when I could confidently bike through this intersection at rush hour.