Wolf and the lamb

An intersection in The Hague shows remarkable modal diversity in transportation.  Within the span of 5 minutes, we saw automobiles, trucks, city and regional buses, light rail trains, vans, motocycles, cyclists, scooters, pedestrians, runners, wheel chairs, and strollers (prams), all using the intersection. Interestingly, there were no skateboarders or hang gliders, but we only stayed a short time.

       This intersection in the Netherlands stands in contrast with the more common situation in which one mode of transportation dominates to exclude other modes, which often arises because of the incompatibility of highways and pedestrians, streetcar conspiracies and other commercial competition, and the adverse effects of car culture.

The intersection is a veritable Peaceable Kingdom (the painting below by the American Quaker artist Edward Hicks), which is a reference to a passage in the Book of Isaiah, venerated in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which says "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together" (Isaiah 11:6, English Standard Version).