The number of bikes on the streets of Copenhagen is astonishing. We had read the staggering statistics before our visit;
- 9 out of 10 residents own a bike
- Every day 1.3 million km are cycled in Copenhagen
- 36% of all citizens commute to work, school or university by bicycle (and municpal policy is that this number should rise to 50% by 2015)
but the utter dominance of cycling on the streetscape of Copenhagen was still overwhelming to see in the flesh. One evening we passed the digital sign in the photo above, which shows in red the number of cyclists that had passed by the sign that day and, in blue, how many had passed this point so far this year. Incredible!
As is normal all over Europe, the cyclists are not not just the lycra clad, serious lot you see in New Zealand, but all types. Nobody seems to dress with cycling in mind – think high heels, dresses and buisness suits. Like their riders, the bikes are of all ages and styles. We saw many peculiar looking bikes designed for carrying an extra load, whether it be luggage, shopping bags or the whole family!
The infrastructure in place for cycling is superb, with interaction between cyclists and other traffic kept to a minimum. Cars seemed to be very courteous towards cyclists, as you would expect. What was more surprising was the respect the cyclists showed towards other road users. The cyclists used very clear hand signals, we never saw a cyclist run a red light and whenever a cyclist wanted to turn across oncoming traffic, they pulled over, stopped and used the pedestrian markings at intersections.
All in all it was a sight to behold. We hope that one day Chirstchurch will be the Copenhagen of the south!
Those luggage bikes are called bakfiets. It must be nice biking around without having to worry about hills. I wouldn’t want to peddle a bakfiets up Princes Drive!
Very impressive blog post – ‘Copenhagen Cycle Chic’ eat your heart out! I’ll forward this link onto Roger. Very inspiring indeed! I wish I could have joined you!