Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes

[ane-louisestampe]

My husband's English family wouldn't believe him when he told that many mornings, he was biking along side the Danish Minister of Finances on their way to work. I explained: The minister lives a couple of streets from us, my husband's route to work goes past the parliament at they start work at the same time, so naturally they'll be in the same "green wave". That's Denmark!

[freeinformation]

They didn't mention that biking in cities frees up town-space, it makes the citizens more committed to the town they live in, it significantly reduces street crime levels and pollution and the citizens get better health through daily exercise.

If you live in a big city you shouldn't need a car at all, ideally. You just walk, bike or take public transportation to go places. If these three modes of transportation doesn't work where you live, your city is simply not very liveable (nor loveable).

[CuriosusSum]

I am proud of you Denmark! Greetings from Holland.

[MusicTakingOverhand]

It's not only Copenhagen, the whole country has these bicycle facilities everywhere

[AdamLohMalaysia]

I was there in Copenhagen last week. I experience the bicycle culture, it was truly unique and amazing. I have my good time in Copenhagen, bicycling around the Copenhagen was the most fun thing i ever do in my life. I am envy of the Danes, with the strong bicycling culture.

[BritneyLuby]

Cars don't wait for the bikes to turn because they're nice. Bikes have the right of way! It's the law that cars must wait! Otherwise our bicycle system wouldn't work.

[alanfrost]

In fairness, they may say that it took Copenhagen 40 years to get where it is today, but when I moved here some 35+ years ago we also biked everywhere. And it was safe enough that as a small child I was allowed to bike around on the streets and to school by myself (as were all the other children). My point is that you dont need 40 years to have a great bike city.

[Phrankster]

I work as a delivery driver in Copenhagen. Without so many people taking bikes, traffic in the centre of the City would be hell. It´s bad enough already, because there´s far too many cars for a such a small area. Sometimes it´s a pain in the ass to wait for the cyclists, but the alternative is much worse.

[poertjt]

And remember it's not just Copenhagen but it's like that all over Denmark ;)
Watching this video makes me really proud of our Danish bike-culture. It has a great effect on our infrastructure and the environment and i also think it has an influence on our public health :)

[mrmaniac]

This video's title card is timeless. The subtle zoom into the logo, the music, and then right into the B-roll. So simple, yet so stylish.

[gabithemagyar]

What a lot of cycling advocates in North America seem to miss is that creating a good cycling culture is much more than just building separate bike lanes. It involves teaching kids to be proficient on a bike and respectful of the laws and other riders/drivers from a very early age - including testing in schools . It means changing traffic laws to give cycles priority where needed. It means encouraging the use of upright bikes with fully enclosed chain guards and baskets/carriers. It means keeping the lycra clad yahoos on racing bikes from treating the roads as personal racing/training tracks, endangering other cyclists and pedestrians alike. It means building facilities to park the bikes and large car parking lots on the perimeter as well as a high capacity public transportation system to enable people to leave their cars out of the city when commuting in. In short, it requires treating cycling as a mode of transportation rather than a recreational or fitness activity on urban streets.

[Octopussyist]

What they don't mention is how many people combine the commuter train systems with bike riding - like bringing their bikes on the train or having two bicycles - one to ride to the train station close to home and another one parked in front of the train station close to work.
Another idea that works well where I live is the system of rental bikes that you can pick up and drop off at about 100 automatic rental stations around the city. They all have a gps-tracker, so you can't just dump them and you need to stick your rental-card or credit-card into the machine to check them out.
That would be a good system for American or Canadian cities like L.A., S.F. or Vancouver.

[MarkStringer]

Imagine how horrible it'd be if all those people were in cars

[adamhlj]

I visited Copenhagen almost exactly a year ago, and I loved the bike culture! I had no idea when I got there how popular biking has become there.

[reneandersen]

People must also remember that this is a really cheap way of getting around the city. Once you have bought a bike, you are getting free transportation ( until you get a flat tire ofc ). So people save alot of money in the years they have a bike.

[novemberfive]

Lovely city. I love biking and I would love to live in Copenhagen. :)

[mcstaal]

Don't think how many cars you can move down a street, think how many people! Looking at 200 people moving down a street imagine how much space it would take if they were driving a car.

[skynet]

it's weird how this is so logical to us, but it's completely foreign to most of the world...

[Mrsupermuuh]

Fun to see as a Dane how other cultures find this a "phenomenon" heh :)

[Thomass]

We need this in the U.S. Get those filthy cars off the roads.