Did You Know...

37% of workers in Copenhagen commute by bicycle?

One factor is that the city has plenty of well-designed bike lanes. For instance, the lanes are separated from traffic by parked cars, so that "the parked cars protect the cyclists, instead of the cyclists protecting the parked cars."

Of course, another factor is that the cyclists actually stay in the bike lanes and follow the traffic laws, e.g., they all stop at a red light. Fat chance you'd get New York's cyclists to do that.

Comments

  1. Anonymous9:50 AM

    I think there are some places in Europe that allow folks on bikes to run red lights, assuming they do so safely and are responsible for any accidents that occur. there are several reasons behind the idea:

    http://transportationnation.org/2012/02/09/european-cities-allowing-bikes-to-run-red-lights/

    the way I figure it is: the sooner I am on my way the faster I am out of yours!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adam, in Copenhagen (and Amsterdam) none of these reasons would apply: bikes have there own roadway, and thus do not clog up traffic or fall over into moving vehicles.

      NYC has *laws* that bikes should follow, but it has zero enforcement of such laws.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:08 AM

      I am glad that the bike laws are not enforced in the city where I live. the streets are dangerous enough and the riding stressful enough without having to worry about being stopped and ticketed.

      Delete
    3. When my wife was hit in the crosswalk by a cyclist running a red light going the wrong way on a one-way street, she found that pretty stressful.

      But the real solution is to have separate bike roads like Copenhagen and Amsterdam: all of our stress levels would go way down. The NYC situation is awful for cyclists and the pedestrians who are always dodging them.

      Delete
    4. And by the way, Adam, you can rid yourself of the stress of worrying about being ticketed by... following the law!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:01 PM

      ah jeez, what is wrong with people? I hate to hear of stories like that. I'm sorry to hear about your wife.

      I guess if the folks on bikes can't be considerate of other people, than they should be considerate of say. . .the baton of a police officer! or some other form of reckoning.

      Delete
    6. NYC has *laws* that bikes should follow, but it has zero enforcement of such laws.

      Man, if you wanted to see police not enforcing laws against cyclists, you should have been in San Francisco last Friday!

      Thick throngs of cyclists taking over entire lanes and cutting off traffic on several streets entirely. All to protest poor treatment of cyclists and wastefulness of cars (which is of course, why they make sure to block commuter buses from leaving...).

      Delete
  2. I was going to make a snarky comment about how awful it would be to have to bike to work in Denmark in the winter, but then I checked and apparently the winters there are very mild. I draw two lessons from this:

    1) Google is your friend.

    2) Denmark rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I take it that Copenhagen is also pretty flat ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. New York ain't no San Francisco! And Florida is flatter than a pancake.

      Delete

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