Copenhagen - City of Cyclists

Cyclists in Copenhagen travel a total of 1.2 million kilometres by bike every day. This is the equivalent of cycling to the moon and back – twice!

There is a total of 350 kilometres of cycle tracks and 40 kilometres of green cycle routes in Copenhagen -the equivalent of the length of Jutland!

In Copenhagen, one person in three commutes by bike to work or school every day.
A big city with so many cyclists offers many benefits. In terms of the environment alone, cyclists help keep the city’s CO2 traffic emissions at a low level compared to other big cities. When we reach the stage that over 50% of commuters choose to cycle to their place of work or education, then Copenhagen traffic will be able to save an additional 80,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Fair winds for pedal power
Copenhagen’s cyclists are everywhere, and they are a key element of our identity and profile - making us one of the leading cycling
cities in the world. Our cycle culture has developed over the course of many years, strongly encouraged by ongoing investments in cycle tracks, cycle routes, etc. In recent years, cycling has been given an extra boost with the addition of two new cycle and pedestrian bridges in the city: Brygge Bridge spanning the harbour and Åbuen Bridge over Åboulevarden, one of the main roads out of town. We have also been successful in reducing cyclist accident rates. However, much remains to be done before cyclists feel completely comfortable in traffic. Many Copenhageners would like to see even more and even wider cycle tracks, more car-free green cycle routes, synchronized green waves through traffic lights and better cycle parking facilities at stations, at work and at home.

Working to become the world’s best city for cyclists
Copenhagen aims to become the most cycle-friendly city in the world. This means constructing more cycle tracks, extending cycle routes along the city’s green thoroughfares, establishing safer and more cycle-friendly conditions at the most crowded intersections, as well as implementing many other improvements and ideas suggested by Copenhageners. With Copenhagen taking the lead, other cities all over the world will hopefully be inspired to create better conditions for cyclists and thus improve the environment, public health and traffic movement.

Copenhagen selected as the best Danish city for cycling in 2008
For now, we can take pride in the fact that the Danish Cyclists’ Federation voted Copenhagen the best city for cycling in 2008. Copenhagen was chosen on the grounds that it has focused on innovative solutions to a number of challenges, as well as involving citizens, with the result that even more people cycle. On these pages, you can learn more about what the City of Copenhagen is doing to improve conditions for cyclists and you can read the ambitious objectives we have set ourselves to get even more people into the saddle.

Where we want to be by 2015
As an eco-metropolis, we have set ourselves ambitious objectives for cycling issues. By 2015 at the latest, we hope to have achieved:

• A minimum of 50% of Copenhageners cycling to their place of work or education
• A reduction of at least 50% in the number of cyclists seriously injured in Copenhagen traffic
• At least 80% of Copenhagen cyclists feeling safe in traffic.
• A new bike-share system

As a step towards a new bike share system, the City of Copenhagen has launched an open international design competition. 127 entries from 5 continents are competing and winners will be announced Thursday, 10 December. Follow the competition at www.cphbikeshare.com