While Streetfilms was in Copenhagen for the Velo-City 2010
conference, of course we wanted to showcase its biking greatness. But
we were also looking to take a different perspective then all the myriad
other videos out there. Since there were an abundance of advocates,
planners, and city transportation officials attending from the U.S. and
Canada, we thought it’d be awesome to get their reactions to the city’s
built environment and compare to bicycling conditions in their own
cities.
If you’ve never seen footage of the Copenhagen people riding bikes
during rush hour – get ready – it’s quite a site, as nearly 38 percent of all
transportation trips in Copenhagen are done by bike. With plenty of
safe, bicycle infrastructure (including hundreds of miles of physically
separated cycletracks) it’s no wonder that you see all kinds of people on
bikes everywhere. Fifty five percent of all riders are female, and you see kids as
young as 3 or 4 riding with packs of adults.
Much thanks to the nearly two dozen folks who talked to us for this
piece. You’ll hear astute reflections from folks like Jeff Mapes
(author of “Pedaling Revolution”), Martha Roskowski (Program Manager, GO
Boulder), Andy Clarke (President, League of American Bicyclists), and
Tim Blumenthal (President, Bikes Belong) and Yvonne Bambrick (Executive
Director, Toronto’s Cyclist Union) just to name drop a few of the
megastars.
