In
continuation of my latest blog post, one of the four targeted areas in the CPH
2025 Climate Plan is mobility, aiming to make cycling, walking or public
transport the preferable transport forms when getting around the city. I will in
the following blog post focus on biking and on the specific goals and
initiatives Copenhagen has made to reach each the goals set for 2025. I will
thereafter evaluate if it is realistic for other cities to adapt these goals.
Copenhagen
is a world-class city for cyclists but their ambitions are higher and new initiatives
are required to reach the major goal of 2025:
For 50 % of
trips to work or school in Copenhagen to be by bike (35 % today).
Reaching
this goal will lead to reducing the annual carbon emission by 40,000 ton CO2
compared with 2010 (The City of Copenhagen, 2012).
To reach
these goals concrete initiatives include:
- Travel time- Establishing Superhighways, short cuts, routes with Green Waves for bikers.
- Safety- Green bicycle routes, redesign of intersection, wider bicycle lanes, safer school routes and campaigns for the general bicycle attitude and consideration.
- Comfort- Improved asphalt and snow clearance on cycle tracks, services (air pumps, apps e.g.) and effective bicycle parking.
- Lifestyle and image- Campaigns marketing the health associated with cycling and specific efforts for groups with potential for more cycling (e.g. newcomers).
The Municipality
of Copenhagen expect total costsof approximately 56 million British pounds to
reach the goals set in the CPH 2025 Climate Plan. In addition to the
initiatives tied with the CPH 2025 Climate Plan the city will have expenses of
approximately 100 million British pounds to develop the bicycle city further (The City of Copenhagen, 2011).
One of the
great strengths of the bike culture in Copenhagen is that biking is nothing
special; people choose to bike simply because it is practical, fast and
cheap. In other countries biking is more
of a subculture, requiring special clothes, extreme bikes etc. For cultures to
adapt Copenhagen’s bicycle goals and ambitions the general bike mentality will
need to change. None the less, Copenhagen’s bicycle plans can inspire cities
and be a role model for other cities.
christania’s “cargo bike rental” bikes are rolling across the city. The system, less than a year old, is funded by christania’s municipal government. It is currently only in one of christania’s 22 administrative districts. Although a 2nd generation system, there are 12 “Houses” in this district, each with around 40 bikes. The yearly subscription cost is the equivalent of $2 US, and allows the use of a bike for up to four hours at a time. In less than a year, there have been 6,000 subscriptions sold. There are larger 3rd generation systems in the world, which do not have a subscription to bike ratio as big as that.
ReplyDelete