Denmark's Bike Superhighways are Open and Rolling

Half a million people commute by bike every day in the Danish capital, and for good reason—bike paths are ubiquitous, well-organized, and well-maintained. A colleague of mine has helped steer the Dutch toward these superhighways, and have had more issues with converting roads into bikeways because the bike traffic is so high.

The New York Times describes it:

Picture 11 miles of smoothly paved bike path meandering through the countryside. Largely uninterrupted by roads or intersections, it passes fields, backyards, chirping birds, a lake, some ducks and, at every mile, an air pump. For some Danes, this is the morning commute.

Susan Nielsen, a 59-year-old schoolteacher, was one of a handful of people taking advantage of Denmark’s first “superhighway” for bicycles on a recent morning, about halfway between Copenhagen and Albertslund, a suburb, which is the highway’s endpoint. “I’m very glad because of the better pavement,” said Ms. Nielsen, who wore a rain jacket and carried a pair of pants in a backpack to put on after her 40-minute commute.

But for an even better sense of what the bike superhighway feels like, just watch the video above, in which a Politiken journalist tests out the new path. Beats being stuck in traffic.

Montreal's Separated Bike Lanes vs. Streets

"If it was safe, I would ride." This is what you hear from those who are bike-curious and not yet converted to using two-wheels. Both inexperienced and experienced riders can agree that the risk of injury for a cyclist who is sharing the road with motor vehicles is always a concern. One solution to increase the ridership and safety of cyclists is to build and invest in bike infrastructure.

A recent study published in the international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals, Injury Prevention, brings good news to separated bike lanes. The study is entitled Risk of Injury for Bicycling on Cycle Tracks Versus in the Street, and was conducted in Montreal where there is a longstanding network of separated bike lanes. Bicyclist injury rates on separated bike lanes were compared to injury rates on the street. The use of six separated bike lanes and comparable Montreal streets were analyzed, as well as the crash and injury counts to determine the relative risks.

The study concludes that separated bike lanes (physically separated bicycle-exclusive paths along roads) lessen, or at least do not increase, crash and injury rates compared to cycling on the street. They found that the risk of injury for cyclists using Montreal's separated bike lanes was about 28 percent lower than cyclists riding on Montreal roads that are unprotected from traffic. Additionally, overall, 2.5 times as many cyclists used the cycle track streets compared to the reference streets. In the end, these researchers believe that the construction of separated bike lanes should not be discouraged.

The fact that riding in a separated bike lane is safer than not, may seem like a no-brainer to most readers. Nevertheless, it lessens the counter-argument that bike lanes provide a false sense of security. As well, these recent findings can be useful for those advocating for the increase in bike infrastructure, bike safety, bike promotion and bike ridership in their cities.

Read the recently published study here.