Bike-Friendly Cities Are on a Roll
- Gordon Cairns
- Apr 15
- 6 min read
Updated: May 7
It is early evening in Copenhagen. At the intersection where traffic crossing the Queen Louise Bridge meets Frederiksborggade Street, special traffic lights for the bike lane have just turned green, and a constant stream of bikes safely navigates the junction. Some bike riders are dressed for going out in party dresses and cowboy boots, while others are returning from the office in business suits, their dress shoes pushing down on the pedals. Delivery bikes transport parcels, furniture, and musical instruments while parents cycle their kids home from school.
There is not a private car in sight. But it is not just the enormous number of bikes running through Denmark’s capital city that surprises the visitor—it’s the fresh, clean air and just how healthy everyone looks.
187,000 cyclists aged 20 to 93 found that cycling for 100 minutes per week was associated with a 17% lower mortality rate.
And it's not just that these cyclists appear healthy; they are statistically more likely to be healthier than those who don’t ride a bike. In a comprehensive review of the literature, a study (“Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Reduction in All-Cause Mortality from Walking And Cycling”) involving 187,000 cyclists aged 20 to 93 found that cycling for 100 minutes per week was associated with a 17% lower rate of mortality after accounting for all other factors. 187,000 cyclists aged 20 to 93 found that cycling for 100 minutes per week was associated with a 17% lower rate of mortality after accounting for all other factors.
Cycling’s Multiple Health Benefits
This 2013 study found that cycling significantly reduced the risk of coronary heart disease. Unlike other forms of cardiovascular exercise, such as walking or running, riding a bike places less stress on the joints and has been used in physical therapy to help patients regain joint mobility.
Cycling is a great way to meet the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week to maintain weight because it is easy to incorporate into daily life. Increasing riding intensity by incorporating inclines, hills, higher speeds, and longer durations can lead to weight loss.
Another large-scale study among middle-aged and older Danish cyclists found that if they adopted the cycling habit—even later in life—they reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 20%.
An additional benefit was that the regular bike riders had smaller waistlines than those who used other means of transportation. Biking helps increase quadriceps muscle strength and other leg muscles, which in turn supports balance and enhances performance in various physical activities. Older adults can maintain their muscle mass with regular cycling.
And it’s not just physical benefits; research has shown that cycling can also help improve mental health. A study published last year by the University of Edinburgh found that people who cycled to work regularly were found to be 15% less likely to be prescribed medication for anxiety or depression compared with non-cyclists. Commuting by bike resulted in greater reductions in mental health prescriptions among women than men.
Bike Safety on Roads
In the 1970s, when the Dutch capital Amsterdam began creating bike lanes for its citizens, it wasn’t primarily due to the health benefits.
City Hall was stirred into action after a campaign by parents worried about the lives of their cycling children being knocked down by cars.
Over the intervening half-century, the city has seen a rise in cycling. Traffic in the city moves faster, and there has been a 40,000-ton reduction in CO2 pollution in the atmosphere.
London now has one of the largest pay-to-enter zones in the world, with many former car drivers now opting to cycle in central London.
In London, in an attempt to reduce car pollution in the city and encourage people to use alternative forms of transport, authorities introduced congestion charges in 2003. As a result, London now has one of the largest pay-to-enter zones in the world, with many former car drivers now opting to cycle in central London. In the last 26 years, since 1999, the number of motorists has decreased by over 60%, and the number of cyclists has increased by more than 380%.
Across the Channel in Paris, France, €400 million has been invested in building cycling lanes over the past decade. Now, 11% of journeys are made by bike, almost three times the amount taken by car.
Even in the USA, a country known for its love of cars, Portland, Oregon, has added 400 miles of bike lanes while Minnesota has now at least 321 miles of paved bike trails and is well known for its bike-friendly atmosphere.
A Shift in Transportation Behavior
As a cycling commuter with over two decades of experience in another great European city, Glasgow, UK, the author has witnessed a significant shift in transportation behavior, perhaps the biggest change since Henry Ford’s motorcars began to replace horses and carriages on city streets. Over the last two decades, bike riders have experienced a shift from being occasionally pushed to the side of the road by speeding car drivers to riding along specially cordoned-off sections of the road.
Instead of being a lonely bike rider on an early morning commute, many bikers now ride together in the same direction, which makes them more visible and means that car drivers are more aware of them, giving them more space. More and more bikes are being parked side by side in the workplace bike shelter.
One of the individuals who has helped create change in Glasgow is Iain Morrison, the technical director of landscape and planning for Ironside Farrar, a company hired to implement the changes planned by the city. One of the barriers to cycling is safety, and the challenge lies in how cycle lane planners are addressing this issue.
Morrison explained that when designing a route, it has to be considered safe enough for an unaccompanied 12-year-old child to ride. The goal is to achieve 0% fatalities—a feat accomplished by Oslo in Norway first in 2019, another city transforming itself into a cycling hub.
When designing a [bicycle] route, it has to be considered safe enough for an unaccompanied 12-year-old child to ride.
By achieving lower traffic speeds with clear routes and segregation for bikes and cars, it becomes a safer environment for riding. “The main interface with road traffic is at a junction,” Morrison adds. “The clear strategy is to reduce traffic speed at junctions, prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists.”
Of course, bikes will have to cross paths with cars at some point. Morrison explains: “The routes are like a bike chain—they are only as safe as their weakest link. If they aren’t safe in places, such as a big roundabout, people simply won’t use them.”
“The other thing that simply makes cycling safer is the more people who are cycling, the safer it becomes as it increases driver awareness. This has been proven throughout the world.”
Creating a Cycling Culture
Morrison also emphasizes that it is not enough to put in bike lanes and hope that bike riders will come; cycling culture has to be encouraged.
“We are not just designing the route; we also have to target how our route is going to be used—who is going to use it and how can we make it easier for them to use it. That involves working with schools and youth groups to create behavioral change,” he says.
Individuals, too, can promote behavioral change—they can ride their bikes wherever it is safe to do so. The more people who bike in large urban conglomerates, the more space bikes will need. City planners will need to adjust road layouts to share available space and provide dedicated pathways for bike riders. When driving cars, people can be more aware of bikes on the road, giving more space when passing them and considering whether a car is really necessary for the journey ahead.
*Gordon Cairns is a freelance journalist and teacher of English and Forest Schools based in Scotland.
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