Yesterday, we got in pairs and did a scavenger hunt of the city. We were given a list of things to go out and find and take pictures of. Catherine and I paired up and we had an a great time going all around the city to find cool places to take pictures of. We went back to Nyhavn, then to a windmill, the GMO Little Mermaid statue, the traffic garden, a café where we met up with another group, then we rode down the lake to the Bicycle Embassy, and our last stop was a market. These are our pictures from it!
Today we met with the design firm Copenhagenize and the past mayor of technics and the environment, Morten Kabell, taught us all about how designing cities for people means designing cities for bikes. He gave an incredible presentation and told us all about how a city comes to be as bike friendly as Copenhagen is now. He touched on the history of Copenhagen, and how it wasn't always a bike friendly city. Copenhagenize has done bike plans for many cities, like one in Russia that went from 0% of trips made by bike to 8% in only 18 months. As of 2017, Portland has the highest percentage of trips made by bike in the US at only 6.3% according to PBOT. Morten emphasized that infrastructure is vital, and if you build it, they will come.
In Copenhagen, the level of bike infrastructure often depends on how busy a street is. There are a few types of infrastructure in particular that are utilized here.
Shared Space. On low traffic and quiet streets, there are not separated facilities for users. Rather, users go slowly and stay alert, watching and waiting for each other. On narrow roads, bikes often ride down the middle, and cars will go patiently behind them, strangely enough, without honking or yelling.
Painted Bike Lanes. Painted bike lanes are not very common in Copenhagen, because, as many cyclists know, they do very little to protect cyclists. They are only found on quieter streets. Here, painted lanes are never street side of a parking lane, partly because dooring can kill cyclists.
Curb Separated Bike Track. These tracks are very common in Copenhagen. There will be one curb between the car lane and the bike lane and another curb between the bike lane and the sidewalk. These curbs are frequently big enough to provide a safe barrier, but small enough that a cyclist can ride over it at the right angle. Most tracks are wide enough for two cargo bikes to ride side by side with enough room for someone to pass them, so the average bike lane here is 11 and a half feet wide!
Bike Bridges. There are many waterways in Copenhagen, so there is a need for many bridges. Most of the time when a new bridge is being planned, there will be an additional one put in solely for bikes and most of the time pedestrians. Copenhagen is home to the world’s busiest bike bridge that supports over 30,000 cyclists a day and The Bicycle Snake bridge in Copenhagen is also the world’s first bike only bridge.
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