I’ve just finished watching this fantastic ten minute film about traffic in Copenhagen. You should watch it too:
Here are some notes I jotted down while watching it, to give you a flavor:
* Commuting traffic: 1/3 bike, 1/3 public transport, 1/3 private car
* Very few helmets
* Normal clothes, including skirts
* Baskets
* Some fantastic bikes!
* 4 lane road, with heavy traffic, reconfigured to take space from cars to give to bikes – same capacity as before, but slower and safer
* About five minutes in, pedestrianised shopping area – with bikes!
* Removed car parking, to create a “people street”
* Pedestrian-priority street – open to pedestrians, bikes and cars – two way for bikes and people, one way for cars – a mix of users, cars go really slow. Less rigid on pedestrians or car streets, now mixing them safely
* Bike investment is small money compared to cars investment
* Do it a bit at a time; never have a big plan to switch from cars to people, because you’ll lose the election – people will think it’s impossible, but it isn’t.
[Found on the cycleliciousness blog.]
Now that is the way forward, we in the UK are miles behind.
Finally found time (and bandwidth) to watch. Wonderful and inspirational. “It’s great to wake up each morning knowing that your city is just that little bit better than yesterday”. I’d be happy to live with that kind of aspiration.
I remember Copenhagen in the 60s. It was so noisy that you could not sleep during the night without earprotection. This development is amazing, and it shows me that Darlington could achieve that easily.
How about inviting the traffic engineer Sören Elle to Darlo to have a quiet discussion with the traffic engineers in Darlo??