Recently my father took some pictures of bike infrastructure in Malmo, Sweden at my request. Malmo, along with neighboring city Lund, has some of the highest cycling rates in all of Sweden. Both of these cities are close to a cycling city a little more well-known, Copenhagen
Here’s some of what is offered for cyclists in Malmo, courtesy of my father:
Tree lined bike path by the central station
Biking shirtless with sandals, probably came back from the beach.
Even at intersections cyclists have some separation from cars
Very pretty bike parking area
Some of the bike parking by central station.
Bike parking at night...
Bike/Ped path
Cobblestone street reduces speed
Bike racks that keep bikes upright.
Tree lined bike path, separated from sidewalk and car lanes.
Walking path along the docks
While we see car access, parking-lots, stripmalls and the like as normal parts of city life – after all, we live in LA – this is not necessary. This kind of streetscape and bike mode-share can happen anywhere.
Denmark (and especially Copenhagen) gets a lot of attention, but I believe it’s largely due to better marketing and not superior bicycle infrastructure. I plan to address this tidbit more fully someday, but consider this: on my ride south from Copenhagen towards Germany, the bike lanes ended some 30 km from the city, and only came back sporadically until the ferry terminal in Rodbyhavn. In northern Germany, by contrast, I had bike paths on nearly every road, and in Holland the paths were everywhere, luxurious, almost decadent. I don’t know what Sweden looks like overall, but these photos are promising.
[...] capital of Sweden. Previously he has sent me pictures of typical, everyday cycling in Malmö, which I shared in a post. This time it’s pictures of new bike corrals in central [...]
@Examined Spoke:
Swedish cities are working a lot to raise the number of cyclists these days. They have actually figured out that driving cars in city centres is not very sustainable.
I live in Malmö and we have, for sure, one of the best bicycle cities in Sweden. I work in Lund and commute by bike, 25km one way. Lucky me there is bike lanes all the way. Actually in the vicinity of Malmö and Lund, there are cycle paths between cities and villages. I really hope you write something about your thought about cycle infrastructure in Denmark. I would be good to have a “outside” view if it. I heard a talk from a guy working as a bike courier in Copenhagen and he was not impressed. On the other hand, he loved bicycling in Malmö.
Enough from me now! Cheers!
wow some cool bike trails over there