New super highway in Copenhagen, Denmark......

[Whitehouse]

....FOR BICYCLES!!

Copenhagen, one of the world's most bicycle-friendly cities, has begun turning its extensive network of cycle paths into bike highways in an effort to push more commuters to leave their cars at home.
Considered one of Europe's two "bicycle capitals" along with Amsterdam, Copenhagen counts more bicycles than people and cycling is so popular that its numerous bike paths can become congested.
Two-wheeler traffic jams are especially regular on the main Noerrebrogade thoroughfare used by around 36,000 cyclists a day.
"You have to elbow your way in to go forward and some cyclists aren't always thoughtful," complains 22-year-old university student Lea Bresell.
The creation of bike highways "comes right on time", says Danish Cyclist Federation spokesman Frits Bredal.
"Copenhagen's roads are overloaded with people who want to ride their bicycles in all kinds of weather," he says.

Even me, as a Dutchman, am amazed!


Link.

[maxx]

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/24/131571...s-of-happiness
"...Buettner devotes a section of Thrive to Denmark, where the 'gross national happiness is incredibly high. When asked why this is, he notes that the country's leveling tax structure enables its citizens to have more freedom. "Normally when we think of happiness, we think of money and status, but Denmark teaches us the opposite lesson," he says. "There, you have a place where you are taxed to the mean. A cultural norm reminds everybody that they are no better than everybody else, so you're not going to choose your career path based on status. You're in a place where a garbage man makes as much as a lawyer. So what you have are 4 million people who excel at things like furniture design and architecture."

http://www.canadaandtheworld.com/pri...indenmark.html
"...
The Danish justice system is based on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Writing in The New Statesman [[September 2006) Nick Pearce reported that Denmark “does all it can to keep people out of jail, and once there, to prepare them for life back in the community.

“Its sentences are short, but its re-offending rates far lower. In Denmark, prison appears to work for the right reasons.”

In his 2005 book, Prisons and Prison Systems, Michael P. Roth writes that Denmark’s modern penal code can be traced back to 1930, when corporal and capital punishment were abolished, as well imprisonment at hard labour.”

The average Danish prison sentence is just 6.2 months, with just two percent of Danish prisoners spending more than two years in jail..."


Those crazy Danes. Don't they know that prisons are a growing industry? The profits are big and you can say that you are creating jobs no matter how badly paid or inhumane they are. Who cares what happens to criminals in prison?

[wolverine]

....FOR BICYCLES!!



Even me, as a Dutchman, am amazed!


Link.

Great article whitehouse! I like the ease of being able to get to work by bike. We are greatly trying to improve our bicycle infrastructure here in Chicago.

The problem is bicycle congestion is causing backups on existing routes in certain areas and making it unsafe. The city is almost done securing $40 million in federal funding that would build a ~1 mile elevated bicycle bypass route eliminating congestion and confusion at two intersections. It's a small step, but the next big pieces are about to fall in place.

While some well intentioned cities put bike lanes on our roads, I don't think they ever anticipated the popularity they'd bring. Chicago's Milwaukee Ave corridor has a stacking problem where 20-30 cyclists will back up when the light goes red. They'll overflow into traffic lanes, and when the light goes green, it results in a choke point as people try to merge back into the bike lane. Seems like Denmark's solution is the best way to go.