Denmark, and in particular Copenhagen, is the world’s poster-child for bicycle-friendly transportation. But that’s partly because they have aggressive goals for what transportation should look like. Have a look at Copenhagen’s Transportation Pyramid, which prioritizes biking and walking over all other modes of transportation. My parents took this photo of a Copenhagen city sign on a recent trip, and I had not previously seen anything that summarized Copenhagen’s approach to transportation planning so well in a single graphic. In essence the Copenhagen Transportation Pyramid turns North American upside-down transportation planning right-side up, and it’s worth imagining what we would need to do if we adopted similar goals.
If you’re interested in more information on Copenhagen it’s approach to transportation, and how we could bring that approach here, Mikael Colville-Anderson of the blog copenhagenize.eu will be in Vancouver discussing just this issue on June 28th (2012).
Or, if you’re not in Vancouver, or you can’t make that date, check out these resources on Copenhagen and bicycles:
- City of Copenhagen’s Bicycle Policy, 2011-2025
- Copenhagenize.eu
- Copenhagen’s climate friendly, bike friendly streets (with video)
- How Copenhagen became a bicycle city
- Liveable Copenhagen: the Design of a Bicycle City
Photo courtesy of Robert Gage, modified to consolidate English language text