The obstacle to cycling posed by steep hills is being diminished greatly by e-bikes. Unfortunately, the problem with traffic in Amsterdam is not, but I think that only serves to reinforce how attractive bikes are for commuting. It reminds me of the old joke attributed to Yogi Berra, "nobody goes there anymore- it's too crowded."
How about long distances? Even zooming on ebike it still takes ages, even longer if you are on a bike line, obeying speed limit.
Climate is another factor - in a hot weather it’s actually nice to be on ebike (other than sunburn), but rain and cold climates suck. In NL public transport always used to fill up on a bad day.
