Bikes Stream by in Copenhagen

As the Cycle Copenhagen video shows (below), Copenhagen, Denmark is quite the place to ride a bike. The government imposes a 200% tax on cars and gives bikes the priority in city planning. There are no cars permitted in the city center, where people have to –*gasp*– walk from store to store. Bikes carry people everywhere, and cargo bikes haul everything from groceries to children.

In the video’s static shots of bike traffic streaming down the right side of city streets, the sheer volume of cyclists is mind-blowing.

 

 

Similar to our recent posts on Copenhagen Girls on Bikes Gone Wild! & Bikes Rule in Amsterdam, what really stands out is the cyclists’ attitudes. Their comfort level and feelings of entitlement to the road are evident. They casually cruise along, almost all of them helmet-free, improving their city, health, and environment in the process.

In most cities around the world, those who bike for transportation are not treated as fringe-freaks or nuisances to the “real” car-traffic as they are in the United States. It’s not a one-step, easy solution but, as this video shows, a mixture of intelligent community planning, politicians willing to address health and climate issues (see The Anti-Cycling Administration for contrast), and people willing to drive less can change a city.

Photos via flickr by CxOxS & Miguel A. Lopes "Migufu"