The Life-Sized City Blog

Copenhagen is going to the be the first large city in Scandinavia to install intelligent traffic lights at all intersections. The old lights and system are 35 years old so it is high time to modernise. The primary focus is on getting bicycle traffic and public transport to flow better, but the system will also benefit last century technology like cars. The City of Copenhagen has invested in 380 new, intelligent traffic signals. It is estimated that bus passengers will save between 5 and 20% on their travel time. Cyclists can look forward to a 10% improvement in theirs. The traffic signals will be online and allow for better green waves and a general improvement in controlling the traffic in Copenhagen. The signals are a part of a 47 millioner kroner (€6.2 million) package aimed at making Copenhagen's traffic system more digital and intelligent. All the main arteries leading to the city centre have green waves for bicycles - ride 20 km/h and you don't have to put your foot...

The City of Copenhagen established the first Green Wave for cyclists back in 2007 on Nørrebrogade and, since then, the concept has spread to other major arteries in the city. The idea is simple. Coordinate the traffic lights for cyclists so that if they ride at a speed of 20 km/h, they will hit green lights all the way into the city in the morning rush hour. The wave is reversed in the afternoon so bicycle users can flow smoothly home, too. 20 km/h was decided upon as the speed in order to improve the traffic flow of bicycles. The average speed of bicycle users in Copenhagen is about 16 km/h. A wave of 20 km/h encourges some to go a bit faster but it also encourages the faster cyclists to slow down in order to benefit from the green lights. The rush hour on the cycle tracks is intense in Copenhagen and speed demons do more harm than good regarding safety and, almost more importantly, perception of safety. As it is now, the Green Wave is in place on Nørrebrogade, Amagerbrogade, p...

My son Felix is 11 years old at time of writing.  I have written previously about a little parental thing I have going on with my kids. I've never wanted to influence them unnecessarily regarding such things as our transport habits or recycling garbage or other such things that are part of our daily life. Despite my work in bicycle urbanism, I don't bang on endlessly about how important it is to ride a bicycle in cities and how driving a car in cities is a hopelessly old-fashioned and irresponsible act. Cars simply never enter into the conversation. We don't have one and my kids only spend about five hours a year in a car so there is really no need to discuss them. They are simply not part of our life. Nor do I talk about bicycles. I'm not some bike geek so I don't talk about how great bicycles are, how bicycles can save the polar bears, cure diseases like malaria, blah blah blah. We just ride them. I just make it normal for them. Kids don't want to be per...

We have previously written about The Green Wave for cyclists that started on Nørrebrogade street last year. The idea, in summary, is that if you cycle 20 km/h you'll hit green lights the whole way into the city centre. The 35,000 cyclists on Nørrebrogade have taken the wave to heart. The average speed on the stretch - and in Copenhagen in general - was 15.5 km/h. It is now 20.3 km/h where the Green Wave carries the cycling crowds. There are safety advantages in play, as well as general convenience. Cyclists who raced along the route at higher speeds have lowered their pace in order to catch all the lights. Good for safety. The Green Wave has proved to be such a massive success that it has now been extended to two other main stretches leading to the city centre. The Green Wave will carry 18,000 cyclists a day on Østerbrogade and 17,000 on Amagerbrogade. The traffic lights are coordinated during the morning rush hour between 06:00 - 10:00/12:00 [depending on the route] and then the ...