Michelle Kearns, MScPl, RPP, Planning Associate
Copenhagen is known for being a progressive bastion of urbanism in the western world. It conjures up thoughts of smiling people on bikes, interactive and whimsical public parks, and colourful buildings lining canals in the city centre. Like other European capitals now regarded as best-in-practice for reducing trips taken by private car, Copenhagen wasn’t always the Copenhagen we know now. The city has gradually shifted away from the mid-century car dominance that similarly overwhelmed North American cities, through purposeful leadership, creative approaches to governance, and strategic investments in infrastructure.
Figure 1 - Gammeltorv-Nytorv before 1962; via Copenhagenize’s Master Class
Figure 2 - Gammeltorv-Nytorv, present day, via VisitCopenhagen
In June, I had the chance to visit Copenhagen for the Cycling Master Class, presented by Copenhagenize. Through a mix of tours, presentations from local planners and municipal staff, and simply exploring by bike, I got to understand the strategies used in the city and surrounding region to encourage greater cycling mode share.
Copenhagen plans to become “the world’s best bicycle city” and to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2025. They have set a goal to increase the percent of work and school trips made by bike from 35% in 2010 to 50% by 2025.
Can North American cities be similarly ambitious? Below are three things North American cities should consider. Some are small, more on the scale of a municipal plan and budget. Others require a paradigm shift and the development of new governance models and approaches. All are impactful and innovative:
1. User Experience as a Cyclist: How can municipal efforts make cycling a better experience overall?
Given that the majority of Copenhagen is easily and safely accessible by bike, the City of Copenhagen has set its sights on encouraging cycling by further improving service levels for cyclists. Looking to make trips by bike more efficient and manage bike traffic, Copenhagen’s ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) technologies have been deployed to reduce travel time on certain corridors as well as the number of stops at intersections for cyclists by 10%.
In North America, car-oriented “level of service” guidelines (i.e., how fast can cars move through an intersection) are the backbone of traffic planning. Only very recently has the industry begun to develop a multi-modal level of service concept to challenge this traditional method of prioritizing vehicular movement in urban centres. The City of Copenhagen, on the other hand, has recognized the need for integrating priority for cyclists in traffic management, and through this, has provided a refreshing level of respect, efficiency and joy for people getting around by bike each day.
2. Connecting our Suburbs: Longer distances are no challenge with the right infrastructure
The regional network of Cycling Superhighways in Copenhagen covers 850km and traverses through 31 municipalities. What’s impressive, beyond the commitment to continuous infrastructure designed with cyclists in mind (no being unexpectedly thrown into live traffic, consistent branding and wayfinding, and no steep climbs to cross a road at-grade), is the governance model that made this possible.
The Capital Region of Denmark and its 29 municipalities established a secretariat in order to plan, build, and manage a consistently branded series of cycling routes that connect the region. Each municipality has agreed to fund and build their portions of the routes, often with co-financing by the state. The municipalities have agreed on a conceptual strategy and definition of cycling superhighway and a plan to be built by 2045.
For the 8 existing cycle superhighways, cycling has increased by 23% pre- and post-installation, an impressive number given the region’s already high baseline for cycling. Given that traffic doesn’t respect local boundaries, and that our cities and regions are increasingly becoming intertwined, a planning and governance mechanism to develop continuous infrastructure is an innovative solution to effective cross-boundary implementation. Bringing this back to North America, we see challenges with the City of Toronto’s borders and continuous cycling infrastructure – for example, Mississauga’s Burnhamthorpe Road multi-use path ends immediately at the City of Toronto border, turning into a pedestrian-only sidewalk. Continuous infrastructure is critical for supporting cycling for transportation.
Figure 3 - The Ishoj route to the south of Copenhagen (source: Michelle Kearns)
Figure 4 - Overview of existing cycling superhighways in the Capital Region
3. Construction Impact Mitigation: prioritizing maintaining safe cycling routes
Recognizing cycling infrastructure as an essential part of the transportation network means ensuring continuous safe access and marked and safe detours when routes are impacted by construction projects. It means construction sites are required to provide continuous cycling connections through their project sites and to deliver on this consistently. Cyclists should not be running into roadblocks or closed routes on a daily basis, and construction crews should have the training to properly implement safe and user-friendly solutions. Instead, in North America we often see construction crews park vehicles in bike lanes, bike lane closures with “walk your bike” signs (not allowed in the City of Toronto, but nonetheless, many are used), or “share the lane” signs that suddenly appear with little warning as cyclists are unexpectedly forced together with high-speed vehicular traffic.
Steps to ensure consistency of available cycling infrastructure will help to build confidence of newer riders and those who prefer to take only separated routes.
Figure 5 - Construction impacts are mitigated and easy to follow for cyclists (source: Michelle Kearns)
Figure 6 - Access staff Karen and Michelle riding around a construction barricade placed at the end of an otherwise open bike lane in Montreal; via Tamim Raad
The City of Copenhagen is not a far-off utopia, unattainable for North American cities. Through consistent small changes and iterative strategies, North American cities can continue to cultivate cycling as a primary mode of transportation. Doing so is particularly important as cities strive to reduce their carbon footprints in the face of our climate crisis.