Out and About: Acclaiming Copenhagen’s cycling culture

Alessandra Palmitesta
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(left: US ambassador Rufus Gifford; centre: city mayor Frank Jensen; right with helmet: head of the Danish Cyclists Federation: Klaus Bondam)

 

On April 18, Anthony Foxx, the US secretary of transport, visited Copenhagen to get inspiration from the ‘best cycling city in the world’. He was joined by Danish counterpart Hans Christian Schmidt and Klaus Bondam, the head of the Danish Cyclists Federation, and taken on a bike tour of the city from Kalvebod Brygge to Islands Brygge.

Charlie Hales, Mayor of Portland
Charlie Hales, Mayor of Portland

 

Also present were city mayor Frank Jensen, US ambassador Rufus Gifford and the mayors of Austin, Portland and South Bend. And no tour could be complete without cycling ‘Cykelslangen’ (the cycle snake).

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The Cycle Snake

 

“It’s nice to grow up and live in an areas that is a nice, easy and comfortable place to go cycling,” enthused Bondam.

“We have now 360 km of separated cycle lanes that make it safe to go bike and then children can learn from the young age to go to kindergarden with their parents by bike. This is the culture and they continue to go also when they grow up.”

Foxx agreed. “The younger generation are making different choices about transportation,” he said.

“They are much more into the shared economy, cycling and walking. They want to live in a liveable community. We have to plan for them!”

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Anthony Foxx on the mic

 

After the bike tour, Foxx and Schmidt signed a Memorandum of Co-operation, an agreement for the two parties to collaborate on transport agendas.

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