How Much Do You Ride?

Bike Lane Inhabitants (by [Zakkaliciousness])

A classic Copenhagen bike lane with Copenhageners doing what they do best.

We found a spot of statistics from Eurobarometer about how many kilometres a year citizens of EU countries ride bikes on average.

There is a massive difference between top and bottom.

The Netherlands.............1019 km
Denmark..........................958 km
Belgium............................327 km
Germany.........................300 km
Sweden............................300 km
Finland.............................282 km
Ireland.............................228 km
Italy..................................168 km
Austria.............................154 km
Greece................................91 km
France................................87 km
UK......................................81 km
Luxembourg....................48 km
Portugal............................35 km
Spain.................................24 km

Here's the figures for North America:
USA/Canada...................30 km

Netherlands and Denmark on top... hardly a surprise.

For us Finland's very respectable finish is a pleasant surprise. Nice one. Ireland, too.
A bit surprising that the UK is so far down the list with a paltry 81 km a year, considering the impressive push for bike culture in the country.

Spain and Portugal? Shocking. Don't give us the 'it's hot' excuse. Even Greece is way ahead of you. :-)

The figures for USA and Canada are nothing to write home about, either. But there are so many bike advocates in certain cities over there that this number is sure to rise.

All in all, these numbers have to rise. There is so much focus on urban biking these days. Everybody wants to "Copenhagenize" their cities. So much good energy in London, Zürich, Munich and many North American cities.

Norway plans on doubling the amount of trips by bike by 2015 and Sweden has plans on drastic increases, too.

Even Denmark in general, and Copenhagen in specific, are actively working towards increasing ever aspect of biking.

Work to be done, all around. Good luck to all involved.

Driving Kills - Health Warnings

I think it's safe to say that we have a pressing need for marketing cycling positively if we're to encourage people to ride bicycles and begin the transformation of our cities into more liveable places. Instead of scare campaigns about cycling [a life-extending, healthy, sustainable transport form], wouldn't it be more appropriate to begin campaigns about the dangers of automobiles? Many people in car-centric countries no longer regard cars as dangerous. Maybe they realise it, but the car is such an ingrained part of the culture that the perception of danger rarely rises to the surface of peoples consciousness. Sure, there are scare campaigns for cars out there, but what if we just cut to the chase? Much like smoking. Only a couple of decades ago, cigarettes were an integral part of life, whether you smoked or not. That has changed radically. We think that we could borrow freely from the health warnings now found on cigarette packs around the world. In order to be tho...

Overcomplicating Winter Cycling - Why It's Bad

One of the main focuses of this blog has always been on how Copenhagen and other cities have succeeded in increasing cycling levels by approaching the subject using mainstream marketing techniques. Tried and tested marketing that has existed since homo sapiens first started selling or trading stuff to each other. Modern bicycle advocacy, by and large, is flawed. It is firmly inspired by environmentalism which, in turn, is the greatest marketing flop in the history of humankind. Four decades of sub-cultural finger-wagging, guilt trips and preaching have given few results among the general population. When sub-cultural groups start trying to indoctrinate and convert the public, it rarely ever succeeds. For the better part of a century, people all over the planet rode bicycles because they were quick, easy, convenient and enjoyable. In hilly cities. In hot cities. In snowy cities. After the bicycle largely disappeared from the urban landscape because urban planning s...

7550 New Bike Parking Spots at Copenhagen Central Station

For all of Copenhagen's badassness as a bicycle city, there remains one thing that the City still completely sucks at. Bicycle parking at train stations. At Copenhagen Central Station there are only about 1000 bike parking spots. Danish State Railways can't even tell us how many spots they have. They're not sure. Even in Basel they have 800+. In Antwerp they have this . Don't even get me started on the Dutch. 12,500 bike parking spots are on the way in some place called Utrecht . Amsterdam has a multi-story bike parking facility, floating bicycle barges round the back and are planning 7000 more spots underwater . Even at the nation's busiest train station, Nørreport, the recent and fancy redesign failed miserably in providing parking that is adequate for the demand . Architects once again failing to respond to actual urban needs. It is time to remedy that. Here is my design for 7550 bike parking spots behind Copenhagen Central Station. Steve C. Montebello i...

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