At 8 a.m. in Copenhagen — when around half a million people bike to work — traffic jams look a little different.
Here's a typical intersection on a bridge leading to the city center. For every car, there are dozens of bikes.
"Our aim, to be honest, was just to show the sheer, impressive volume of the spectacle," says Jim Slade, who made the video for a bike store called Larry vs. Harry.
Slade filmed from the fourth floor above the shop. "It shows cyclists on their morning commute from the residential area of Nørrebro into the city center, and is certainly one of the busiest intersections in Copenhagen, but this exodus is mirrored in other areas of the city," he says.
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While bike commuting might be growing in other cities, it's still a completely different experience in a place like Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Slade recently moved from London, where he used to ride around 25 to 30 miles a day to and from work. "There are very few other places in Europe, and probably in the States, where you can pull up to a traffic light and have three cyclists on either side of you," he says.
The city has no separate spandex-clad bike culture. "You don't have 'cyclists,' just people riding bikes because it's the quickest, most effective method of transport," Slade says.
(
fastcoexist)
10 Comments
NOXsays...so what i take from it is that taking the car would be faster...
ZawashWhen I lived there, I daily took the bus through that very intersection you can see how short the interval is between each 3A bus (the yellow and red one) - but when I moved further out (Søborg) I started riding a bicycle instead.
so what i take from it is that taking the car would be faster...
PaybackMan, that setup sucks for right turns. In North America there would be blood...
ZawashIn Denmark you wait for a green light even when turning right.
For left turns you go straight ahead to the other side of the intersection and then wait for the green light the other way before proceeding to the left. You can see that I'm the video - large clumps coming from the tight before stopping and waiting for the light to change before going towards the camera.
Man, that setup sucks for right turns. In North America there would be blood...
kingmobsays...I put this off because I thought it was another Rush Hour movie.
mrsidRelated: https://vimeo.com/38609845
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)
Would love to experience this.
nanrodIf you don't mind the $6 per gallon.
so what i take from it is that taking the car would be faster...
harlequinnYes, until everyone else has the same thought.
Or alternatively...
No, it's not faster for the population as a whole.
so what i take from it is that taking the car would be faster...
harlequinn"For left turns you go straight ahead to the other side of the intersection and then wait for the green light the other way before proceeding to the left."
I believe that is called a box turn (in Australia at least). I use it as well.
In Denmark you wait for a green light even when turning right.
For left turns you go straight ahead to the other side of the intersection and then wait for the green light the other way before proceeding to the left. You can see that I'm the video - large clumps coming from the tight before stopping and waiting for the light to change before going towards the camera.
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