Pre-Trip Assignment

 Bicycle Transportation in Denmark:

In Denmark, bicycles are used for pleasure, commuting, transportation of goods, and family travel. It is often easier to commute by bike than by car in big cities. People bicycle in all types of weather and at all times of the day. With its flat terrain, the country offers favorable cycling conditions. There are many types of bikes found on the roads of Danish cities - racing bikes, cargo bikes (for that extra storage - grocery shopping, taking toddlers and kids around, getting around doing chores, or even having a mobile summer party!)

Copenhagen aims to be ‘The world's best city for cyclists. There is 375 km of separated bike lanes in the city. Part of the 2025 Plan is to increase the cycle network by 80%. Biking here is widely accepted and something everyone does, not just limited to certain groups of people. It is a socially accepted mode of daily transportation to work and is woven into every part of city life. This is portrayed in how drivers are constantly aware of bikers/ cyclists, especially on roads without bike lanes. Bikes are not an afterthought; it is integrated into urban planning. Biking is for everyone. There is no divide when people share a lane to bike from one place to another. The old and the young, the royal, the rich and the poor, everyone is on the lane riding to their heart’s content.

An unbiased political will to make biking accessible to all is driven by the need to make biking comfortable, secure, and most importantly to create a climate where people would want to bike. Over the past decade the focus areas for the Cycling Embassy of Denmark have been:

• Increase cycling to work
• Decrease the risk of being injured
• Increase the feeling of security and satisfaction
• Increase cycling traveling speed
• Improve cycle track comfort (least number of surfaces as unsatisfactory)

Approximately 3 million pounds are spent every year on cycling infrastructure in Copenhagen. The city’s current bicycle infrastructure consists of segregated cycle tracks, on-street bike lanes, off-street routes, cycle bridges, and a bicycle highway where commuters are given the highest priority. Copenhagen has 32 km of green cycle routes where no cars are allowed. These green routes especially help parents ride

along with their kids in a safe environment. Copenhagen’s famous free City Bikes were part of 1995 updates - free bikes for everyone financed by private investors and supported by the government - and since then it has been part of the city’s history and culture.

There are rules and regulations to follow while biking here. Hand signals are used to signal if the rider is going right, left, or stopping. Reflectors are required to be installed on the pedals, wheels, front and rear. Bells are a must and are used frequently to signal to overtake other bikers or to alert pedestrians. Lights in the front and rear are a must to ride. Failure to comply with any of the rules will result in hefty fines.

Throughout the years there have been many innovations to help make biking easier for the users - Footrests on the side of the road, service stations with air pumps, traffic lights dedicated to cyclists, and access to public transportation. On passenger requests, taxis are required to carry bikes. Another prominent feature is the Green Wave, where cyclists going 20 Km/hr get the green light. These are LED lights built into the road beside the bike lane that indicate whether riders have to speed up to catch the green wave. The riders might never have to stop because it takes them all the way to the city center. There are bins inclined at a comfortable angle for cyclists to dispose of trash without stopping their journey. These features and a cool treatment for cobblestone streets help make biking easier and there have been many recorded increases in biking numbers.

The Danish word ‘hygge’ means ‘to give courage, comfort, joy’. It is often traced back to Old Norse ‘hugr’ meaning ‘soul’, ‘mind’, or the ‘conscious’. In both Danish and Norwegian, hygge refers to ‘a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness, and a spontaneous social flow’. That perfectly sums up the biking experience in the country.

Bicycle Transportation in the Netherlands:

With striking red asphalt pavements, the bike paths in the Netherlands play a significant role in connecting the 41.5 km² of land. There are 23 million bikes in the country, 1.3 bikes per capita! One of the main reasons is that the country has made cycling incredibly easy and accessible with 32000 km of dedicated bike lanes even on highways and roundabouts. When cars and bikes share the road, the speed limit is less than 30km/h and car volume is low. Utrecht, a city south of Amsterdam hosts the world’s largest bicycle parking lot with 12,500 bicycles with 24x7 surveillance! Vredenburg in Utrecht proudly leads the way in eliminating private vehicles from the city center. Only buses and bikes are allowed to the center of the city, a bold decision in the 1970s to build the city around people and not automobiles.

The bike lanes in the Netherlands are explicitly built to connect to destinations that people need to get to. They are the fastest and most convenient option to travel across the country. They are always designed and built to the highest standards - 2m wide in each direction without any barriers or sharp turns. This makes them extremely safe to use. Bicycle-only roads in the country make it worthwhile to ride a bike and enjoy the view. These are safe and protected from busy traffic - a famous Dutch approach to separate car routes from bike routes.

An example of the famous Dutch Efficiency can be seen in their bicycles. The Dutch-style bicycle - Omafiets or “grandma bicycle” - is an everyday urban bicycle. It is an upright bicycle designed for utmost comfort. The handlebars on this bicycle are high-up and swept back, making it extremely comfortable to ride as there is no weight on them. It also features a step-through frame (no crossbars in the frame - allowing users to comfortably get their legs across to the other side). This ensures the riders are dressed for the destination and not the ride. Additional features include dress/ coat guards and chain guards. A unique feature of Dutch bikes is the frame lock, which is an easy way to lock the rear wheels for quick stops. These bikes are heavy-duty and made of solid steel; they aren’t built for speed, but to last longer with zero maintenance.

Mass motorization after World War II resulted in motor accidents, mostly involving kids under 14 years of age. This enraged people and they protested for safer roads for their kids. Combined with the then oil crisis, the government soon shifted light to promote cycling for health and to save the environment. This shift in awareness to enable cycling changed transportation policies in the Netherlands. Financed by the government, the first cycle routes were created completely away and safe from traffic in 1975 which started the country’s modern cycling policies. The Netherlands’ bike lanes are a beautiful example of ‘Build and they will come' (Field of Dreams, but often used to mock for using it with motor roads to avoid congestion). A will to change came from citizens, decision-makers, and planners to change car-centric policies to alternative transport. Cycling is now an integral part of the transportation policies in the country. 

Questions and thoughts: 

1. What set the Danish and Dutch apart from the world in fighting for bike-friendly cities? What can we learn from them that can be applied elsewhere? 
2. What are some of the technological advances the biking infrastructure is looking at? 
3. What does the biking department look like at the municipal and national levels?
4. What are some of the ways in which the bikers can give feedback to improve the existing infrastructure needs? Do the planners consult with the urban riders for input?

References 

Mikael Colville-Andersen. 24 Aug 2010. Bicycle Rush Hour in Copenhagen, Denmark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXw_t172BKY

More Than Green. 7 Aug 2014. A journey around Copenhagen's bicycle innovations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGL80qx71g

Green-wave for Copenhagen / Denmark https://www.swarco.com/fi/stories/greenwave-copenhagen-denmark

Cycling safety – what Copenhagen can teach other cities https://youtu.be/89rb3ANm1DI

World Bicycle Day 2018 https://youtu.be/JSQ7wUBeEZ0

Copenhagen Cargo Bikes https://youtu.be/v0SEpVo33AM

City of Cyclists – Copenhagen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fwDvoTd2A

Alexandra Appolonia, Jasmine Kim, and Clayton Dyer. Dec 21, 2018, 6:44 AM. INSIDER. How Copenhagen Solved Bike Lanes http://www.businessinsider.com/copenhagen-bike-lanes-2018-12

OBF. Mar 29, 2022. Why the Netherlands Is Insanely Well Designed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP-G-inkkDg

Not Just Bikes. Feb 8 2021. Why Dutch Bikes are Better (and why you should want one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aESqrP3hfi8

Not Just Bikes. June 15, 2020. The Best Dutch Cycling Infrastructure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMJaMy-0ChA&list=PLJp5q-R0lZ08cqCAcefwtHRmuLKXP_ye8&index=2

BicycleDutch. Oct 9 2011. How the Dutch got their cycle paths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o

Streetfilms. June 26, 2019. Utrecht: Planning for People & Bikes, Not for Cars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boi0XEm9-4E