Bicycle, Copenhagen

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Photos:
1. Grøn bølge sign
2. Grøn bølge symbol on the street
3. Cycling on the green wave route at Oslo Plads
4. Another cyclist on Oslo Plads
5. Stopping at Oslo Plads to check her text messages

Copenhagen has recently inaugurated its second (I think) Green Wave for cyclists on Østerbrogade, Dag Hammarskjolds Alle, Oslo Plads and Kronprinsessegade.

As on the first one, on Nørrebrogade, the traffic lights are set so that cyclists going 20 kilometers per hour will always have green lights all the way into town in the morning, or all the way out in the afternoon.

Since it is not possible to make green waves simultaneously in both directions, cyclists coming into the city have priority from 6:30 to 12:00 noon. After that, outward bound cyclist get a green wave until 18:00.

As you might have guessed, the cyclists on my third, fourth and fifth photos are actually going slower than 20 kilometers per hour and seem to be in no hurry to get to work. That's because I took the photos on a Sunday morning.

GPS 55°41'23.10" North; 12°35'12.10" East

One of the easiest and most popular ways to see Copenhagen is to hire a bicycle as there are many rent a bike shops dotted around the city.Most of the city centre has seperate bicycle lanes to ride on so getting around without worrying about people in the way is easy.
There are planty of bicyle racks on main streets and in parks to chain your bike to as well.
Prices on renting are variable so check web sites or shop around first.

Best place is-Baisikeli located at Turensengade 10 and Ingerslevsgade 90.

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Photos:
1. The 1,397th cyclist of the day
2. The 1,399th cyclist of the day
3. Free public bicycle pump next to the counter

For the past half century Copenhagen has been very good about collecting and evaluating statistics about how people travel in the city and make use of their public spaces.

A further development in statistics collection is this bicycle counter that was recently installed on H C Andersens Boulevard at the City Hall Square.

This is an important development because without a full and exact count it is easy to underestimate the number of bicycles on a city street. Since bicycles are silent, inconspicuous and space-saving, they are often overlooked, and city planners do not become properly aware of how numerous they are.

On the rainy morning when I took these photos, the man in the first photo was the 1,397th cyclist to pass the counter that day, and the 319,184th to pass since the counter was installed.

In the second photo two more have just passed by, and I then became the 1,400th for that day.


Update: When I first wrote this tip I forgot to mention that there is a free public bicycle pump next to the counter (third photo). Note the slogan: I + bicycle symbol + CPH for Copenhagen.

This free public bicycle pump is a very nice gesture to cyclists on the part of the city -- but it would have been even more useful in the 19th and 20th centuries, when bicycle tires and tubes were not as robust as they are now.

VT member Trekki (Ingrid) saw several of these free public bicycle pumps on her trip through Sweden in the summer of 2009, and she has posted a tip about them called Cycling friendly cities, air-pumps available on her Sweden page.


GPS 55°40'31.56" North; 12°34'7.73" East

I was in Copenhagen weekend July 8-9th 2011, and soon noticed that I could take a bicycle to travel around the city, by simply taking a bike from stands strategically placed near to sights of interest, and riding the bike to another stand. In order to take the bike (which is locked) I needed to insert a 20kr coin to release the lock. The 20kr stayed in the bike lock until I returned and locked the bike in the next place at which I stopped. The scheme is very good, but so popular that at times there are NO bikes available. Also the bikes are not allowed to be taken outside the city (as shown on the map attached to the bike). The bikes are easily recognised as they are (generally) painted white but also with advertisements. I managed two bike rides with my friends. I understand that this bike scheme is only available in July and August.

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Baisikeli is a bicycle rental place in copenhagen that on top of renting bikes out also repairs good second hand bikes and ships them off to Africa where they hand them out to people in need.
Their bikes are generally of a good quality and they are very nice guys, so rent your bike there if you want to support some nice people while renting a good bike.

Københavns Cykler
Reventlowsgade 11 (Copenhagen Central Station)
DK 1651 København V
Bicycles w/ 3 gears, Muntainbikes and tandems. Bicycle-baskets for rent.
Return: 1/2 hr. before closing time.

Second location: Østerport Cykler
Oslo Plads 10 (Østerport Station)
2100 København Ø
Tel.: 33 33 85 13

So, the rather bulky Christiana bike is a bike with a box... and the box seats 2!
They can be hired - GREAT if you need to get around with young children. The seats are benches that life up for additional storage. I should add we managed quite well with 2 adults in the our box!!!

The cyclist really is King of the Road!

The roads are completely set up for bikes and have little other vehicle traffic.

Bikes really are the best way of getting around... and the beauty of it is, Copenhagen is not so big so,,,, you do not have to be ultra fit to cope.

There are bikes everywhere and they are available to hire pretty much everywhere too.

Copenhagen is an excellent place to bike around - the city planners deserve a thumbs up for designing proper routes and pathways to cyclists. They also have citybikes for tourists around the city, we didn't try them, but they seem like an excellent way to get around the town. You can rent one for a DKK 20 deposit.

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Photos:
People riding bicycles in Copenhagen

Bicycles now have a 37% share of traffic in the Copenhagen metropolitain area -- right up there with cities like Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Münster in Germany.

This makes bicycles the most commonly used form of transportation in Copenhagen. Cars are second with 30%, then comes public transit with 28%. The remaining five per cent are pedestrian trips.

The official goal of the Copenhagen city council is to increase the percentage of commuters who cycle to work or education to 50% by 2015.

In a recent speech in Montreal, the Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl described Copenhagen as a people-oriented, rather than car-oriented, city.

"In a people-oriented city," he said, "we do everything we can to invite people to walk or bicycle as much as possible in the course of their daily doings."

He said that in most cities the planners panicked back in the 1950s and 60s, when cars started to invade city streets. Traffic departments concentrated on how to make cars move smoothly through cities and park easily, but forgot about all the other ways people might want to use public space.

"For 50 years, the purpose of the city has been to make the cars happy, when they are moving and when they are parked. We have done our planning as if there are no other important issues in the city."

He was also quoted as saying: "We have to see the city as existing not to make cars happy, but to make people happy. The people in the cars can be happy, too; they just might not be able to drive so fast." And when they get out of their cars they can enjoy a much more attractive and healthier city.