This is from the Urban Land Institute.
Bicycle use has just overtaken automobile use in Copenhagen, and major improvements have been made to the public realm, providing an example that other world cities are keen to follow.
After the oil crisis in the 1970s, Copenhagen made a definitive move toward encouraging more bicycling in the city. A network of bike lanes was provided, and traffic lights across the city were altered to give bicycles a ten-second head start at intersections, allowing them to be halfway across the road before cars start to move.
The amount of bicycling in the city has doubled since 1990, with about 36 percent of commuters traveling to work by bicycle, 23 percent by car, and the majority of others using public transport or walking.
There are now more bicycles going into the city than cars, which the city considers a major achievement. “We have people coming from other cities and asking, ‘Where is all the traffic?’ ” says local architect Jan Gehl. “A major problem now is congestion in the bicycling lanes.”
All the public squares are now car free. “It is gradually getting harder to get into the city by car. If people can’t park, they won’t drive,” he says. “People will gradually find other ways to travel. This will create a higher-quality environment that will entice more people to visit the city.”
Today, the city center attracts four times more people on any given summer’s day than it did 20 years ago. They spend more time and stay longer into the evenings, both during the week and on weekends. “If good-quality public space is provided, it will be eagerly used. The plan is to do more of this in the suburbs and inner suburbs,” says Gehl.
Plans have recently been announced to widen all the bicycle lanes in Copenhagen, and a separate city office has been designated to handle public life and public spaces.
So after the oil crises they made a push to increase cycling? Maybe no one thought to give everyone a $100 tax rebate.
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