Andreas Røhl, Bicycle Program Manager, City of Copenhagen
National Post 2012
![bakfietsen](http://216.119.143.99/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/bakfietsen1-300x199.jpg)
Riding a bike in Copenhagen does not inform one’s identity; riding a bike in Copenhagen is simply the most convenient, most enjoyable and cheapest way to get around. “Sometimes I compare it to brushing your teeth,” Røhl said, “…like you do not meet up in clubs, discussing how you brush your teeth. You don’t discuss cycling so much in Copenhagen, you just do it.”
Copenhagen’s story of becoming a cyclist’s eden is similar to those of many Dutch cities. By the 1970’s, cars had so encroached on the city and its quality of life, that the people of Copenhagen decided something had to be done. Protests, such as that pictured below, were held and demands for better cycling conditions were made. Since the late 70’s and early 80’s, the people of Copenhagen have insisted that planning decisions be made with cycling in mind and that convenient cycling be engineered into the city’s streets.
According to Røhl, if you want to promote cycling, you should remember the following three things:
1. Do not think of an elephant (in the case of cycling, that elephant is safety).
“If you speak too much about safety, when you speak about cycling, then a lot of people get suspicious.” He points out, for instance, that airline marketing is never based on safety and crash statistics, but rather images of beautiful women and cocktails.
2. All the way from A to B, even where it hurts.
This means creating a fully coherent cycling network, rather than a little bit of infrastructure here and a little bit there. To the picture at right, Røhl said, “You would never see a highway like this, you would never accept this. You would never accept a highway where you said to car drivers, ‘please get out of your car, push it for 50 meters, get back in, and go on and it’s no problem. No big deal.’ You would never accept that.” Making it good, all the way from A to B also means making not only contiguous, but also high quality networks. It is a way of saying to all citizens, getting around by bicycle is a dignified and reasonable thing to do.
3. Remember the marketing, the story of cycling.
Marketing materials should emphasize that cycling is for (nearly) everyone. Those already cycling can be made to feel appreciated by cheap programs such as the Good Karma program, where volunteers thank cyclist by handing out chocolate on the cycle paths (see video below).
City of Copenhagen, Official Website
*Røhl’s primary reason for visiting San Diego was to learn more from Hanshaw, and other involved parties, about the region’s Bike-Friendly Business District Initiative.