Bicycle Highways in Copenhagen

Did you know that over half of Copenhagen’s residents commute by bike daily? To support and encourage this, Copenhagen has announced plans to spend $47 million on a project to build bicycle superhighways between central Copenhagen and its suburbs. Imagine extra-wide, extra-smooth, bike paths equipped with service stations so you can have some water or re-inflate a flat tire. Best of all is the Green Wave feature, which allows cyclists to hit only green lights if they maintain a certain speed (about 20 km/hr). Anyone who bikes knows it’s kind of a pain to have to stop and start all the time, hence the trackstand heroics you see bikers performing at red lights around town (ok, ok, some of that is just showing off). These bike highways will surely make the typical Copenhagen commute even more comfortable and efficient, even luxurious.

The more bicycle infrastructure is built, the more commuters will prefer to bike rather than drive. Anyone who rides the Springwater Corridor, Portland’s bike ‘highway’ (actually a multi-use path) between the central Eastside and Gresham, knows it hardly measures up to Copenhagen’s criteria for what constitutes a bike superhighway (more on that at TreeHugger). I love the Springwater but it’s a bumpy ride with some downright sketchy intersections. I can’t really see a Gresham commuter finding it a comfortable, efficient way to get to work.