AMSTERDAMJOURNAL纽约时报NewyorkTimes正宗英文阅读.docVIP

AMSTERDAM JOURNAL The Dutch Prize Their Pedal Power, but a Sea of Bikes Swamps Their Capital Pavel Prokopchik for The New York Times Amsterdam has more bicycles than people, and although it has thousands of bike racks, demand for them still outstrips supply. By?JOHN TAGLIABUE Published: June 20, 2013?57 Comments FACEBOOK TWITTER GOOGLE+ SAVE E-MAIL SHARE PRINT SINGLE PAGE REPRINTS AMSTERDAM — About 6:30 weekday mornings, throngs of bicycles, with a smattering of motor scooters and pedestrians, pour off the ferries that carry bikers and other passengers free of charge across the IJ (pronounced “eye”) harbor, clogging the streets and causing traffic jams down behind Amsterdam’s main train station. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors Enlarge This Image Pavel Prokopchik for The New York Times Bicycles clog streets and cause traffic jams, but as one official put it, “You cannot imagine if all this traffic were cars.” Readers’ Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment ? Read All Comments (57) ? “In the afternoon it’s even more,” moaned Erwin Schoof, a metalworker in his 20s who lives in the canal-laced center of town and battles the chaos daily to cross to his job. Willem van Heijningen, a railway official responsible for bikes around the station, said, “It’s not a war zone, but it’s the next thing to it.” This clogged stream of cyclists is just one of many in a city as renowned for bikes as Los Angeles is for automobiles or Venice for gondolas. Cyclists young and old pedal through narrow lanes and along canals. Mothers and fathers balance toddlers in spacious wooden boxes affixed to their bikes, ferrying them to school or day care. Carpenters carry tools and supplies in similar contraptions and electricians their cables. Few wear helmets. Increasingly, some are saying what was simply unthinkable just a few years ago: There are too many bikes. While?cities like New York