The Copenhagen Approach To "Traffic" Could Transform Your City!

Brent Toderian's picture



Some key insights from Niels' talk:






















Mike Lydon's picture

Great Post!

Thanks for the great post Brent, and I am glad you all will be taking bicycling seriously up there in Vancouver.

I think the key aspects of your post relate to the incremental nature of progress in Copenhagen. Indeed, it doesn't happen over night. However, the slow and steady transformation, along with the "traffic trials" are essential in proving that conventional traffic engineering dogma can be revealed as just that, dogma, when tested physically in the built environment.

Helmets for Cyclists

I received a lot of criticism for suggesting in a 2007 Vancouver Sun story that by making cycling safer, riders might not have to wear helmets. So I am delighted to read in this story support for this concept by the Danish. As an aside, most of the people who disagreed with me gave me tales of how a helmet saved their life when riding at great speed down a answer, don't ride so fast!

Is there a focus on pedestrian planning?


Your post did not mention it either way, but I hope that they are explicitly trying to reach that goal by capturing mode share from motorized vehicles (private and public) while simultaneously working to increase walking alongside cycling. For all its virtues, cycling is still not as environmentally efficient (requires more infrastructure, a manufactured vehicle, and a parking space), sociable, or public-space-friendly as the original mode of human transportation.

“In Copenhagen, cycling has become "hip" and trendy. This is not accidental.”

Here, I am surprised that you did not mention the blog

Helmets Not Required But Advisable

Notice that is says "They don't require helmets" - not that they discourage the use of helmets. In the United States, I have never heard of any city that requires bicycle helmets.

But I think people with common sense do wear helmets, and the article's arguments against helmets make little sense:

--"They aren't considered ... convenient/practical, particularly given many cyclists ride to work (in business suits, skirts etc... they don't need change rooms at the workplace)."
Please explain why you can't wear a bicycle helmet with a suit or a skirt, and why you need a change room at work to remove yhour helmet.

Yes, it's better to bicycle without a helmet than not to bicycle - but it's even better to bicycle with a helmet.

--"They aren't considered stylish"
This article is about changing what is considered stylish. The Crown Prince should be wearing a helmet when he bicycles to encourage other people to do so, just as Obama wears a helmet when he bicycles. I don't consider people stylish if they are dumb enough to ride without helmets (and, in fact, in California, the more affluent, more stylish bicyclists are the ones who wear helmets).

I also would not require bicycle helmets. But I think people should have the good sense to wear them.

Charles Siegel

I love it!

after hearing several news stories about the problems with bike sharing in Paris I was discouraged
but what you describe in Copenhagen sounds wonderful

after we build our new lane-way house here in KCC and we had to provide two on-site parking spaces when we don't even need one felt like a big wast of resources. I starting thinking, what our community would be like if it was designed around the bike instead of the car

the image of women in heals going out for the evening on bikes totally shatters my North American perception of the only person in a suite on bike is peewee herman ;-)

Mike Lydon's picture


Not to get sidetracked from this thread, but the problems with Velib in Paris are largely overblown according to this Streetsblog report:

It seems that the ad agency --JCDecaux-- paying for the shelters is making noise in order to get a sweeter deal with the city.

Paris - Velib Problems Apart From Theft


-> According to a Mar. 4th TIME article, "The 60-something woman moves swiftly down the Rue de Rivoli, gray hair pulled back, looking like an iconic grandmother or retired grade school teacher. But as she runs a red light and speeds into a crosswalk filled with people, the woman slaloms her large bicycle between startled pedestrians -- barking at them to stand clear despite their having the right of way. 'Degagez!' She shouts the order to give way. 'Why are people so stupid?'

"Welcome to the cruel downside of Velib' -- the enormously popular bike-rental scheme offering Parisians a cheap, environmentally friendly form of urban transportation. Since its introduction in July 2007, Paris' Velib' program has facilitated 42 million rentals by 177,000 people with annual subscriptions to the system and countless others who have rented bikes on a one-off basis..."

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Charles Siegel

Very informative

I really enjoyed the post and your summary of the presentation Brent. I agree that helmets are not a necessity if you have a safe environment for cyclists with separate infrastructure etc. This is clearly the case in the Netherlands as well, where mothers and children all ride together without helmets and even share seats on the bikes (with little dogs riding in the basket), with much lower fatality rates than we have here in North America. If you are biking at high speeds it would probably be smart to wear a helmet, but in urban areas it should be no different than jogging or running (with the right infrastructure).

If Vancouver can put some of these ideas into practice it can hopefully lead other cities in Canada to copy some of the same ideas. Programs like the 'Greenways' show Vancouver is already a leader in this area.

Interesting Read

Thanks for the great summary Brent. It will be interesting to see how some Lower Mainland examples will build on this, such as the efforts made with Line No.3 in Richmond or revisiting the '99 bike plan in light of new direction and emphasis.

Pedestrian life makes a city

Pedestrian life makes a city more vital because when people are at a walking pace, you are in contact with your fellow human beings. If everybody’s in their cars, or even if everybody’s on their bicycles, you’re going at high speeds. You’re not making eye contact with people, and there is no chance for those random encounters that add so much to the life of the city. But this is just what i think.

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