A cyclist makes different demands on the route he takes than a car driver. Cyclists mainly want a pleasant route and that does not always have to be the fastest or the one with only smooth asphalt. Route and navigation apps are almost all geared to the wishes of the motorist and are therefore less suitable for cyclists. The new Fietsersbond Routeplanner fills this gap and especially wants to encourage people to cycle more.
Cyclists’ Union Route Planner
Price Free
Language Dutch
OS iOS/Android, also web version
Website routeplanner.fietsersbond.nl
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Specific current knowledge of cycle paths and roads
- Extended route options
- Navigation
- Free
- No data collection users
- Negatives
- No offline use
- Limited to the Netherlands and border zones
- No synchronization web version
Let Google Maps calculate a cycling route and as a cyclist you will rarely get the best result. You reach the destination, but on the way you mainly cycle next to and between cars, a smart crossing or an unpaved path is rarely included in the route, while cyclists just like it and benefit from it.
The fact that most route planners are less suitable for cyclists is mainly due to a lack of knowledge of the cycling network. A bicycle network is more intricate than that of a car and other characteristics are important for cyclists if a route is to be truly suitable. Of course about the road surface and the width of the path, whether you are hindered by cars or whether it is car-free, whether it is a built-up area or between meadows. But also whether it is spreading when it is slippery, a slope, the presence of posts, a lock that is sometimes an obstacle for all bicycles and sometimes only for wide or long bicycles.
It is with this knowledge that the Cyclists’ Union Route Planner beats all other navigation and route planners. The app owes this quality to the hundreds of volunteers who daily go out by bike and update the map material of the Routeplanner in a specially developed Fietsersbond Editor.
On the rvalkering01’s YouTube channel There are instructional videos for those volunteers, which also make it very clear why the map material of the Fietsersbond Routeplanner is so good. Every road and every path is visited and provided with important qualities and characteristics for cyclists.
The Fietsersbond Routeplanner excels in knowledge of the intricate cycling network in the Netherlands.
Tailor-made for cyclists
With the Fietsersbond Routeplanner it is now possible to plan or adjust a route while on the road. Through nature and with few cars, the shortest route, recreational or fast, suitable for racing bicycles, with or without parts without paved road surface, ferries, crossings, there are ample opportunities to personalize the route.
This can be done according to your own preference or by choosing a standard profile such as a recreational route, a nature route, car-free, but also simply easy to cycle or suitable for the racing bike. Handy for the winter is the possibility to cycle only gritting routes. As additional options, shortcuts, dirt roads, ferries, narrow roads, roads that are not always accessible and narrow paths can be avoided.
The latter, for example, is especially useful for senior cyclists and e-bikers, although the Fietsersbond emphatically does not want to make a promise that a route is really safe for older or faster cyclists. “Besides everything we record, there are also things that we don’t have in our database, such as a dangerous exit, a obscure bend or a dangerous intersection. So we can’t really promise that a route is safe based on our software,” according to the Fietsersbond.
In addition to a route type, numerous points of interest can be added to the route along the way.
A route can go from A to B, possibly via one or more intermediate stops, or as a round to simply cycle from A to A. In addition to a clear map and route information, there is also spoken navigation along the way. If you get off the route or if part of the road is suddenly blocked, the app will calculate an alternative and bring you back on the right path.
If you don’t have a clear preference, but you just fancy a nice or long bike ride or even a cycling holiday, choose one of the top routes, long-distance cycling routes or tourist waterline route.
It is part of the Fietsersbond’s mission to promote the bicycle as the ideal means for recreational trips, in addition to daily traffic. This also includes the possibility to show useful places on the map such as stations and road works, as well as recreational elements such as windmills, museums and benches, catering and accommodation options and services such as a guarded bicycle shed, charging points, public toilets and bicycle repair shops and bicycle rental companies.
Along the way, in addition to the map with clear indications for direction and distance, there are also spoken instructions. The entire route can also be viewed in text.
Ease of use and the competition
The Fietsersbond route planner has been around for many years as a desktop version for the browser, but although both use the same database with route information, the accompanying app was far behind. The app, which was newly developed from scratch, was able to finance the Fietsersbond through crowdfunding, raising 80,000 euros.
This has brought a lot into line between the app and the online version, but not everything. There are even more profiles online, including Bicycle Conscious, which again is not specifically made for older cyclists, but does contain many of their wishes, such as a flat route with more straight roads with asphalt. There are also more road characteristics that can be selected online, but not yet in the app, such as bicycle streets, bicycle paths along a road and road lighting.
The app does use this knowledge to determine a route, but not all of them can be set yourself yet. Although it is possible to save routes in the app, there is still no synchronization of routes between the web version and the app, as well as the possibility to export a route as a GPX file and in another app or a bike computer or sports watch. These and other improvements are planned for upcoming updates.
The fact that the Fietsersbond Routeplanner is completely convincing is due to the routes that the app draws up. Compared to Google Maps but even other bicycle navigation apps such as Naviki or Komoot and also a bicycle computer such as the Garmin Edge, the routes are minimal in details but often much more than that, better and more current.
However, the Routeplanner of the Fietsersbond is limited to the Netherlands plus ten kilometers across the border. If you want to cycle internationally, then Naviki is the better option, but like the other alternatives, it is not completely free, unlike the Routeplanner of the Fietsersbond.
Conclusion
The Fietsersbond delivers a wonderful product with the route planner, online and now also as an up-to-date app. The app is a wonderfully sober tool that functions without unnecessary frills. Hopefully, upcoming updates that add features that are still missing will help to keep this sobriety.
The routes that the app compiles make it the best choice for Dutch cyclists. No data is collected about the user and yet the product is completely free; Although a helping hand by becoming a member of the Fietsersbond or especially by supporting the further development of the route planner is always welcome, according to the Fietsersbond.
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