@@yogajedi3337 Thank you for your answer! Well, in some countries, like The Netherlands, cycling sure is an alternative for the car. Because the distances in The Netherlands are relatively short and many people travel some 10 kms/6 miles one way. For many Dutchies that is an easy distance to cycle. But I agree with you that cycling sometimes is a substitute for public transport or walk...
@@marcvanderwee Bikers rarely travel further distance than 3-5 km. In cities you hardly can park a car at work site and if you do it will become very expensive. In Stockholm very few replace the car with bike. Bike is faster and cheaper than public transport and that is the main reason people use it. In winter time +80% skip the bike and start commuting public transport again. The NL is not representative for most cities. For example Stockholm is much hillier and not easy ride, especially in winter it's a pain..
Nice to see a different perspective on this. I have followed Mikael Colville-Andersen for well over a decade now and he has always painted Copenhagen as a near perfect city for cycling.
The dutch standards bring with them other problems that Denmark then avoids. Remember, although similar in many ways, the Netherlands and Denmark are two different countries with different starting points and needs. Examples are population, population density and geography.
We have it pretty good. Most of the arguments in the video focus on the personal experience of a novice cyclist, such as being confused in traffic, scared near cars or impatient to turn left on a crossroad. All of these things are normal and come with time and practice. He does, however raise a good point - there are way too many cars, and we should invest more into cycling infrastructure, to encourage people even more.
This is a very useful video for those of us trying to push for not just cycle lanes but better quality cycle lanes. In the UK and Australia, even when they make a huge improvement over nothing and create a protected cycleway, they nearly always get these little details wrong. 45 degree kerbs, sharp turns when they could be curved, protection that gives up at intersections, stepped tracks mere centimetres from motor traffic, not enough cycle parking. Don't just copy the Danes because they have better infrastructure than us. Copy the Dutch because they have better infrastructure than the Danes.
Just reposting a comment: This video is about the quality itself. So, I think Mark should have titled it 'Quality of Cycling in Copenhagen'. Though when you think about inspiration both countries provide to the wider world, it gets complicated, as explained in this series: robertweetman.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/amsterdam-vs-copenhagen-part-1/ Read more
The propaganda that the Danes have successfully marketed has led many people to believe that Copenhagen & Denmark is the benchmark in city cycling design. One trip around Denmark & then the Netherlands you quickly realise the Dutch are light years ahead.
I've spend half my live in the Netherlands (born and raised) and the second half of my life in the U.S. I was going to say initially that it is very hard to compare the U.S with Europe in so many ways. On second thought though, I think you might be right. Infrastructure is something that a well run government can provide. I love the U.S. I do think unfortunately, it does not have a functioning government. There is still plenty left to love though.
@@marcg.3333 well said. That doesn't mean we can't aspire to make things better. The defeat of Prop 6 shows that there is hope of positive change. Downtown Los Angeles has seen many improvements. We still have a long way to catch up.
@@WmCRobison Absolutely. My ideal would be a mix of the U.S and the Netherlands! Both countries (all countries) could learn from each other in different areas. I hope to visit L.A one day. Best of luck!
Wow, each bike equals one car less on the streets and in the parking. Having all those bikers in cars would turn into nightmare traffic. Well done, Denmark!
@@EntropyKC Very few bicycle longer distance then 3-5 km, at least where I live, people very seldom use car within inside the city, town but normally use public transport or walk the distance.
The bridge has a very smart and innovative design. So smart and innovative that it took a couple of years more than expected to get it to work. You see, when the bridge needs to open to let through a ship, one section retracts into the slot between the pedestrian's part and the bicycle path. Why use the tried and true methods when something new is so much less convenient?
At the end of the video he should just say what he is probably thinking..........”I don’t think you can say that cycling here is superior to the Netherlands!”
@@kylehagertybanana Why do you call Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit a dummy? Especially as he is every bit right: nowhere does Bicycle Dutch literally say that Danish cycling in not superior to Dutch cycling. What he says is "I don't think you can say that cycling in Copenhagen is superior to cycling in some other places in the world". That's literally what he says, so where did you find a mention of the Netherlands, dummy? Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit's remark about the implied message is 100% right.
Nice video & blog... Cycling, Copenhagen, Hitchcock! Funny how marketing focuses on successes, while the foreign eye sees the typical bodges and the outdated average elements. Meanwhile the Dutch railway stations will get an extra 25,000 bicycle parking spaces. 53 Parking lots and 15 cycle routes will be improved or newly build. The Dutch already cycle 15.5 billion kilometers a year, but the government invests € 345 million to stimulate 200.000 commuters more to take up cycling.
@@Patrick94GSR That might look bad, but as Danish drivers and passengers in cars are used to deal with cyclists, you might be sure they look whether a (number of) cyclist(s) is coming before opening the door... Like in the Netherlands there is no war between drivers and cyclists in Denmark.
@@marcvanderwee all it takes is one person from out of town who isn't used to the Danish way of doing things, and it can end up being a very bad day for an unlucky cyclist.
Really interesting video, thanks for that. One thing I can say as a Dane living in Nijmegen that for sure is way better in Denmark though: the relative absence of bicycle theft. In The Netherlands people seem to get their bikes stolen constantly (especially in the Randstad) and as a consequence people have to carry around enormous bike locks, and buy really crappy bikes, whereas in Copenhagen you can have a pretty nice bike for years without it getting stolen.
From what my Dutch friends tell me, aside from the petty/opportunistic bicycle theft by a minority of locals, much of this is part of underground, organized crime rings that specialize in bicycle theft, often by driving around with vans to steal as many bikes as possible and take them over to eastern/southeastern Europe. Perhaps this has not yet permeated into Danish society by and large. I also noticed that most people in the city of Copenhagen just use the wheel lock for overnight and longer-term storage. This would never be advisable in the medium or larger Dutch cities, or even rural train stations. It's usually very safe in smaller Dutch towns and villages, unless one of these vans happens to come by and scoop up all the bikes not attached to a physical object. It's very unfortunate that the theft is so high in the Netherlands. Even still, I just leave my 2nd bike (old omafiets) outside my flat with the wheel lock. I would need to park it 50 meters away to be able to lock it to something, and that's too much trouble :)
You might be right about that (I don't have any idea about the theft problem in København) and it is of course a good thing. But is has nothing to do with the cycle infra... But what @Tetrabeetle already mentioned, a lot of stolen bicycles are shipped to different countries. But it also happens here that a bicycle is stolen just for having free transport, e.g. from a train station to a nearby town, or a sailor who returns to his ship and leaves to his next destination.
Do not forget that the Netherlands have almost the inhabitants of Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Danmark together. And bicycling is all over the country while in Danmark Copenhagen stands out. Small crime is far more common place in the Netherlands, regrettable but true.
@@edsonbarbosa4978 And Odense has the Hans Christiaan Andersen 'borough' near the train station! When you walk there it is just like you step straight into a fairytale!
Love how developed countries like Denmark and Netherland are resorting to more traditional way of transportation. And people dont mind getting on their bike even if they seem able to buy a car (i even heard that the prince of Danish ride his sons to school with cargo-bike). Sadly, in third world country like Indonesia, car's still being seen as symbol of status..
In the Netherlands our prime minister comes to work on his bicycle every day. In cities in the Netherlands the bike usually is the fastest way to get around.
its really important to start discussing that. ask your family and friends if they ever feel safe walking or cycling anywhere, and make them consider how much space is actually being given up to adhere to cars. In the Netherlands, cars are sadly also still a symbol of status, but at least we made sure they cannot get everywhere at all times anymore!
Cars are symbols of status everywhere, but in these country cycling doesn't mean symbol of low status, that is the difference. And like most people that cycles there also have a car, it is completely fine for their status
Copengagen has an asset you could never buy or build - no hills. It's amazing how you can drive on a "flat" road in the UK and it's only when you try cycling it that you realise how steep it is!
@@edipires15 you haven't seen the hill i live on! I had an ebike during lockdown and yes, it did make uphill doable but you still have to work and it's still scary AF going down. In an area of moderate hills the only excuse left is the price. A mid priced ebike is two grand. Gee, you can buy a 125cc for that!
@@barnbersonol I suppose that with a 125cc you have to have a license, insure it, put petrol, etc whereas with an ebike you only have to worry about the price. And about “still having to work”: that’s what you’re supposed to do, even with a ebike. I also live in a place with steep hills. Since the introduction ebikes I see more people cycling those hills. The only thing people lack is proper biking infrastructure like in the Netherlands.
What do you mean? Compared to most cities in the Netherlands, cities in Denmark have way more hilly terrain, which is in fact on of the oft-omitted points of difference between the two and their inevitable differences in needs because of it.
this is absolutely not true copenhagen has many hills and some are quite dificult to climb on a bike. i live here and take a certain route home to avoid a hill i dont like
Excellent video. It accurately describes my experience cycling in Copenhagen. All and all it's a fantastic city for bikes, but there is still much room for improvement, as is so well described in the video. The main issue, in my opinion, is the fact that cars are an extremely dominant feature in the city, even in central high-dense areas. Amsterdam just feels more "owned" by cyclists than Copenhagen does. That might be why you see a lot more people cycling with helmets in Copenhagen. One thing I disagree on with the video is parking, which I found to be a bit more convenient in relatively spacious Copenhagen than in the super highly dense Amsterdam. In any case, compared to any other world-city I've been to, Copenhagen is a cycling paradise.
I noticed that too. I have been watching videos out of Copenhagen for years, and in most you see just a few people in helmets, normally the sporty types. This could be a problem long term for getting people to ride if it's perceived as dangerous.
I am danish, and I agree with all your points about DK cycling. Especially those pesky little asphalt bumps! :-) I am going to Amsterdam in April and looks forward to renting a bike there and cycle around the beautiful city.
I have never seen those "bumps" as anything near being pesky nor are they, as said in the video, especially steep. And as they tend to be where a side road leads on to a bigger road, they are often where you would slow down anyway navigating it really not a problem. Also with regards to the bike lanes directly adjacent to a road with cars, since drivers all know about bike lanes it also works well. Space is premium, since Copenhagen keeps growing and many houses are centuries old it means sometimes there just isn't room to divide traffic even more.
Many people really don't know what they are talking about. Copenhagen this and Copenhagen that. When you see a lot of people on bicycle does not mean you are bicycle city or country Nr1. You need more then that. Come visit Holland for a certain time and I Don't mean Amsterdam then you gonna see what a country is like for bicycles.God bless you all...
When comparing Danish and Dutch cycling facilities you can clearly see that the Dutch design is clearly superior. Not only is there a lack of protection space between motor traffic and people cycling, copenhagen also seems to be the only "cycling city" in Denmark. All other cities I've visited have okay but not superior cycling infrastructure (it's comparable to good German cycling cities). Netherland on the other hand is a cycling country. Here almost every city has very good cycling infrastructure. Amsterdam isn't the only cycling city, Utrecht or Groningen are also very well. Plus, in Copenhagen cycle paths seem to be wide but since they have no protection space, they really are often just good middle ground. And often space for cycle path is taken from footpaths, sometimes I walked on the street since there wasn't space for three people. I love Copenhagen and I feel very comfortable cycling there (it's definitly better than e.g. Berlin). But I wouldn't call it a world class cycling city.
I use to ride my bike to work and ride my bike home. It was 3 miles and everyone thought I was nuts but I loved it. I live in the USA and they don’t ride bikes.
In year 1900. CPH. was known as the European Capitol of Cyclist, 70, 80, and 90, was a dark period, stand still, no cycle budget, but then something happends, the cycle budget rapidly grow, and dobbled many times, and lot of progress happends. So CPH came back on the track, and is still the Cycle-Capitol. Cycle infra structure, has now become standard in most modern cities, Holland is about the size of Jutland, and is three times as many, so in general, it might be the most developed Cycle Country. Lot of good improvement is realized since the video, and thousands of trees.
I wish I could ride my bike to work here in the US. It is only about 5 miles but there are no bike lanes and little to no shoulder on the road to get there. Once I get to the airport where I work, there are 2 tunnels, one that goes under a runway and the other one that goes under a taxi way. There are signs at the entrance of these tunnels that ban the use to bikes through them.
Tampa is not only the most dangerous city in America for pedestrians and cyclists, it's nearly against the law to cycle on the roads as it is considered obstructing the all important motor traffic.
This video focuses particularly on the negatives and little on any of the positives of cycling in Copenhagen. I'm afraid to say that I think he could be slightly biased!
As someone who is neither Dutch nor Dane, but has cycled extensively in Copenhagen and in many cities in the Netherlands, I completely agree with Mark's assessment. Cph is certainly one of the best cycling cities in the world, aside from Dutch ones. But the marketing has been vastly skewed towards Denmark, so much so that I have Dutch colleagues who believe that Cph is even better for cycling than the Netherlands. Of course none of them have been to Cph, or else they would think otherwise.
This is so refreshing to see. In my town, most cyclists ride on the sidewalks, which is annoying as a pedestrian. I would like to begin riding my bike but at this moment all our trails are closed due to the pandemic and I definitely don't want to ride on the busy roads with limited space to ride and especially not sidewalks. I'm going to have to figure something out but it doesn't look very bicycle friendly here on the surface compared to places in Europe.
This guy is some sort of Dutch bicycle evangelist. Look him up, he clearly has a conflict of interest in trying to make an objective video about Copenhagen. He's been ranting against Copenhagen in his blogs too. Absolutely seething with rage that anyone dares find Copenhagen nicer to bike in than his precious NL.
Ralph Macchiato he also constantly says “countries like the Netherlands and Sweden” when referring to good road design -but never Denmark, which would have been a more obvious example. Living in Sweden close to Copenhagen I’m very confused by this. The bike lanes here are far worse and less consistent. I think he is just angry with the rankings. The biking system is not perfect in Copenhagen, but it’s far better than he gives it credit for and not very different from a Dutch system (I’ve only biked in and around Amsterdam). If the system was SO bad and unsafe, why is it then used by just as high a share of the inhabitants as in Amsterdam, and why does Amsterdam have slightly more accidents? It simply does not add up. Copenhagen is definitely not superior, but this way of just looking for flaws is ridiculous. I could also for sure find 1 bike lane in the Amsterdam that I believed was two narrow for two way traffic or bike lanes, where I could get a shot with a truck and say that it is unsafe. If you are looking for flaws you will find them...
A lot of the comments under this video joining in on the critique of biking infrastructure of Denmark seems to be mainly people used to the dutch way of doing things, surprised and angered that there are other ways of doing it, that work fine or just as well. It's just not what they in particular are used to. Well no shit lol.
Maybe not perfect, but still better than my town (Prato, Italia) or other bigger cities here in Italy.. Been there and in the Netherlands several times.. It's a completely different world
Been living in both, Amsterdam (2 years) and Copenhagen (3 years). You are right about all you sad, cycling system is better in the NL, BUT (and this is something very, very subjective to me!) I got my bike stolen in Amsterdam 3 times, and not once in Cph.
It’s surprising to see how close the bikes are to the vehicles in several of these scenes! I thought the scooters in the bike lanes here in Amsterdam were bad. :-)
Some of it is constructive, but that's the same stuff Danes have complaining about for years. Other stuff is not really constructive, since there is nothing to construct from it. Denmark is way less population dense, and the geography is also different that most of the Netherlands, so comparing infrastructure designed and fit for two quite different purposes is a bit pointless.
I’m just visiting Copenhagen on a weekend trip. Not sure how the visit Copenhagen website says it’s the best city in the world for cycling. Compared to the Netherlands it’s way behind
Great critique for sure. Especially the parking isn't as well thought out as it should be. It should take center stage. Especially at stations, it often seem too secondary for my taste. Best regards, from Denmark.
Not that I dislike my country, but it's way better than British infrastructure. My city has made a lot of progress in cycle lanes, and I can cycle to and from certain places entirely on the lane network; but while it looks newer and better protected, it's quite messy compared to Denmark, and works entirely around the environment. I know I would love cycling in København (I love Scandinavia in general).
May be a lot of people in city councils take Copenhagen as the example because it is easier to sell to the politicians. There are a lot of space for cars etc. So it is a good middle ground if Dutch levels are too inconceivable for a car-brained society.
Very good video. Copenhagen's status as a cycling city is vastly overrated. I remember being extremely disappointed when I visited the city a couple of years ago. It doesn't compare well to Dutch standards. I didn't see any consistency, standards, or safe solutions.
If you are going to Dutch surburbia/small towns, cycling infrastructure is much superior to most Danish ones. It probably has to do with population density most of all. In the Netherlands you have 50K towns all over the place with few kilometers in between. The perfect density to promote cycling outside big cities. However, having visiting Amsterdam and living in Copenhagen, one thing that Copenhagen is clearly better at is consistency. You almost always (aside from the bridges) have one-way elevated cycle tracks on each side of the road and you turn left the same way everywhere. In Amsterdam, the design changes constantly. Sometimes it's a two way path, and then you have to cross the street to get to the one-way path on the other side. Sometimes the cycle path is on the same level as the road/tram traffic, sometimes you intermingle with pedestrians. Often there is very little space. Amsterdam is very chaotic for cyclists, maybe that's why more protection is needed at intersections simply because it is more difficult to figure out if you are supposed to cross the street, foodpath etc.
I can always appreciate a good old pissing competition between the Dutch and the Danes, like the one that I expect to find in this comment section. I'll take a deep breath.... Here we go!
In 2017 206 people died in a cycling accident in the Netherlands. 57 of them on an E-bike and more than three-quarters of those 57 people were over the age of 65. The Dutch are cycling about 15 BILLION kilometers a year in total. Yes that's 15.000.000.000 kilometer or 9.300.000.000 Miles , so "only" 206 fatalities is still 206 to much, but not that bad. I don't know the numbers of Denmark, but Google will help you with that.
@@martijnvv8031 According to google 183 deaths in Denmark for 2017. Yes Denmark has a smaller population than Netherlands, also less density, but with a worst cycling infrastructure than Netherlands they have less fatalities. As a foreigner to both countries, I felt safer riding the bike in Copenhagen than in The Hague.
@@calinutzzz I understand, The Hague is very backwards in cycling infrastructure.....it was good but they turned the clock back..... See the video at this channel from some weeks ago about The Hague.
Per capita yes. That is because the Dutch cycle much more than the Danes. It is again the other way around when you measure per kilometer cycled, as you should.
@@LordLorenSoth Sure: deaths (by OECD) bicycledutch.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/oecd.jpg and injuries (by Australasian College of Road Safety) bicycledutch.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/injuries.jpg
@@BicycleDutch I am not sure that linking to a static picture on your own site qualifies as a reliable ref, but nm - after looking for the actual OECD source then I have to admit that you may have a valid point. The problem being that the link you gave is based on over 10 years old data and the more recent data (2011-2015) on OECD showing fatalities per km being 8 for NL vs 9 for DK - which is a significant drop in fatalities for both countries. However, note that NL only dropped by about 2 while DK dropped by about 5 in the 5 years between the 2 data sets (sidenote - Norway is actually ahead of both NL and DK in that statistic) and I will remain unconvinced whether this means that NL or DK is today (2019) the safer bicycling country will remain unresolved until the next dataset becomes available. The most recent fatality chart is on page 18 of this PDF on the official OECD site. www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/cycling-safety-roundtable-summary_0.pdf
@@BicycleDutch Not really useful for comparing cities. A much higher share of those kilometers are driven in the countryside in the Netherlands, whereas Greater Copenhagen accounts for at least 40% of the cycling in Denmark (probably more). Cities are generally less safe for bikes. The EU did a comparison (The Hague was NLs represented city) and Copenhagen was the safest biking city in Europe. When I see the Amsterdam infrastructure and how people bike there, I would be shocked if it was safer than Copenhagen.
It is like that because its a small city, in my land, cities are so big! If u get a bike, it would take you like 3 or 4 ahours to arrive to your job. Plus struggling with the chaos trafic… Im talikng about Lima, in Peru 😭
Pieter Kuiper I heard Odense is pretty good as well. Read a few articles suggesting it is safer than Copenhagen, due to it being a smaller city ( less traffic etc ). As a result it's supposedly safer for children to cycle there than in Copenhagen. Do you know anything of cycling there or is it really just as bad?
It's actually better most places *other* than Copenhagen. And Copenhagen, although definitely having faults isn't a bad as this video might lead you to believe.
My! I thought Copenhagen was a pedestrians' heaven! But there's overwhelming and dangerous bicycle and car traffic there! Although the environment has become less polluted and riders have gained better cardiovascular health, pedestrians have become the losers here because they have to be extremely cautious when walking on the sidewalks or crossing the streets! Therefore, traffic authorities will probably have to assign some streets to pedestrians and bicycle traffic and some to car traffic! Sidewalks should strictly be for pedestrians and the pavement (roadways) for bicycles! Now, the number of cars driven a week should be limited to 1/4 of the total! That'd force car drivers to ride their bikes or use public transportation! Finally, massive bicycle parking is essential for the system to work properly! Thus, Denmark has made a huge, exemplary effort to humanize traffic and improve the environment, but there's still a lot of work to be done! Thanks for sharing! ☘️🇩🇰☘️
Of course thay can! The only differnce is they wear rain coats/clothes, and people who wear 'normal' clothes get wet... Can be nice, to see a beautiful girl/woman in wetlook... ;-)
Isn't it possible to take a bicycle on the train for free in Denmark? If that's true, that's quite a nice infrastructural thing the Danes have that the Dutch don't. €7 per day in NL
It's free on the S-trains around Copenhagen, and there are also no rush-hour restrictions. This is probably my only complaint in regards to cycling in the Netherlands. But you also have to understand that there are more cyclists here than in Denmark, and more arriving with bikes to train stations (27% Danes vs. 50% Dutch). They could do a better job with providing more space on the trains, but there will always be space issues even then. It's €6.2 per day, but point taken.
Interesting point you make about the numbers arriving with bikes at the train station in both countries@@tetrabeetle8630 . The trains in NL are already over full with passengers (during rush hour).
@@rebeccaalbrecht771True, I'm a Brompton rider in Rotterdam. I have also lived in Antwerp, Utrecht and Amsterdam in the last few years. Antwerp people seem even more crazy about the folding bikes!
Maybe there is less separation, and less concrete protection on Bicicle lanes because the Danish car drivers are more disciplined? (but still, those crossroads I see are far from "foolproof" and accidents are more likely to happen.)
Danes have almost the same driving education and tests as the Germans, incl. Mandatory in-room lessons, driving lessons in the dark, etc. Since Germans are often considered some of the best drivers in Europe, you might have a point, but I don't know exactly how one would reliably measure it.
Hah, our Dutchman is a little envious or wanting to take away the popularity of cycling in Copenhagen? Have never seen that many small and insignificant criticism of cycling in that city as in this video. And that last comment - simply the best 😂 Hope he's happy now.
Funny to see a video recorded in an area of 1000-2000 m2, many angles of the same street, and then letting that be “cycling in Copenhagen” 😂. CPH is a biiiit bigger than absolute city center only, where the bike lanes have to fit into a very old and already constructed city. Thank good that the bicycles haven’t taking over and that cars can be there as well. Not everybody bikes 😉. (Even though 1,5 million km are driven every weekday in Copenhagen by the 610.000 inhabitants of Copenhagen on their approx 680.000 bikes)
This is another common thing that a lot of these criticisms-of-Copenhagen-biking-infrastructure-videos tend to do; only judging the whole city of a select few parts that Danes have been complaining about already for sometimes years. Let alone the whole of Denmark's biking infra structure. It comes off a bit odd.
That's a stupid point. He showed busy intersections and crowded sections of the city because that's where you can actually compare it best to other countries. Bike traffic should be safe especially there. As well as the fact, you can find better infrastructure everywhere in the Netherlands, any small town, no matter the size or remoteness. In Denmark it's mostly just Copenhagen.
Those stepped cycle tracks are horrible, In my opinion they are worse than not having any separation at all, because of how sharp the angles are they just seem like an accident waiting to happen. You misjudge or do one mistake and bam, your on the ground. Thin separation like this needs to be wide enough in case someone makes a mistake so they aren't punished for those mistakes.
That one with the bus stop, all the passengers waiting are crammed in too, it would be hard to walk past them, it's pretty clear there's way too much space given over to motor traffic.
With this crazy high cycling adoption, wondering how many bike shops there are; I would expect a lot, and hopefully many local shops - not big chain stores. (No pun intended). Quick web search turned up Wikipedia page that says there are almost 300 bike shops in Copenhagen.
please do cycling in kuala lumpur supposedly having the second best bicycling infrastructure in whole of asia after tokyo but it is also supposedly to be very poor compared to all of europe
Interesting twist. What makes good bicycle infrastructure? How do we meassure it. Clearly more fatal accidents in Amsterdam than Copenhagen per cyclist - by a margin. Hmmm. Better or worse to be cycling there?
I have been to the netherlands 30+ times. have biked there as I have done here in copenhagen for 29 years. And let's be honest you have the same things. same sort of lanes. Massed areas with parked bikings..... Or maybe you have never been to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or even a city like Zwolle. LOL if you go out of the main entrance of Central station in Amsterdam, and turn to the right, walk 2 minutes you will se an example. You can allso exit at the "back exit7etrance" and see the same thing LOL. I will say you have better intercity infrastructure than in Denmark, But that might be down to the fact that your country size is about 1/3 and does not exist of some 400 inhabited islands.
@@dutchman7623 I don't think you understand. He means islands in the literal sense. Land surrounded by water. You don't have more than 400 inhabited islands, I doubt you have 50 even if we count the Caribbean.
Not to mention the population density and geography differences. All things that seem conveniently forgotten whenever infrastructure is compared. Strange isn't it?
Oh ok....If you see one-day Salcano or Carraro you will know those bikes made of Turkey.. Mean while web pages are www. salcano .com or carrarobisiklet.com
I don't know what you are comparing Copenhagen to but it must certainly not be Amsterdam, because here unprotected on-road bicycle tracks are the norm. As a Dane living in Amsterdam I really miss the dedicated, effortless cycling infrastructure of Copenhagen. Amsterdam for bicycles feels more like how you imagine Indian traffic for cars. Ambiguous infrastructure and general chaos. Speaking of feeling unprotected at intersections, in Amsterdam there is nothing to mark the bikes' path, and they don't have their own traffic lights either. So please elaborate how having those is a bad thing? Compared to where? The only apples to apples comparison is Copenhagen vs Amsterdam. The urbanised capitals with 1+ million inhabitants. And it's very disingenuous of you to find one example in a thousand (like the two way cycle lane that's only a shoulder width wide) and trying to blow it up as something normal. I don't even remember those existing in Copenhagen, so good job finding the one or two existing in the city.
Amsterdam doesn't need stoplights because there are very few cars. In Copenhagen, you're constantly stuck in red lights with hundreds of other cyclists not moving anywhere. Cyclling in Amsterdam is MUCH faster.
Sorry to say this dude, but the cycling infrastructure in Copenhagen is not effortless and dedicated in the slightest compared to Amsterdam. And Amsterdam by comparison to other Dutch cities isn't even the best place for cycling in the first place. All bike paths in the Netherlands are marked red in all cities in The Netherlands which is recognizable to everyone, even foreigners can see that right away. Including all intersections and roundabouts are marked red for cyclists. Copenhagen needs to learn to put more protected intersections for cyclists and keep cyclist away from cars as much as possible, especially for the sake of children. It seems Copenhagen has chosen a blue color for cycling lanes, so why not improve on that further too huh?. The Netherlands is probably way more ahead in cycling infrastructure technology as well compared to Copenhagen.. Im not telling you this to boast about Dutch cycling infrastructure, i'm telling you this simply for Copenhagen to improve on their cycling infra by taking criticism, especially from countries that does cycling infrastructure better then the Copenhagenize index nonsense.
3.34: 'Parked bicycles take a lot of space'. Imagine how much space it will take when all these bicycles are cars!
3:34
Bicycle is not a substitute for car but for public transport or a walk.
@@yogajedi3337 Thank you for your answer! Well, in some countries, like The Netherlands, cycling sure is an alternative for the car. Because the distances in The Netherlands are relatively short and many people travel some 10 kms/6 miles one way. For many Dutchies that is an easy distance to cycle. But I agree with you that cycling sometimes is a substitute for public transport or walk...
@@marcvanderwee Bikers rarely travel further distance than 3-5 km. In cities you hardly can park a car at work site and if you do it will become very expensive. In Stockholm very few replace the car with bike. Bike is faster and cheaper than public transport and that is the main reason people use it. In winter time +80% skip the bike and start commuting public transport again. The NL is not representative for most cities. For example Stockholm is much hillier and not easy ride, especially in winter it's a pain..
Better than 99% of the world, but not yet the level of the Netherlands. Those little details here and there make a huge difference.
A couple of levels higher than the Netherlands.
@@billigmad3720 no
@@obama69890 Yes
Billig Mad How is it better? Your bike lanes have the same color as your roads. The whole world sees the Netherlands as the bike country, not Denmark.
@@sdf6508 Did you know that bike lanes in New York City is named Copenhagen lanes? :)
Nice to see a different perspective on this. I have followed Mikael Colville-Andersen for well over a decade now and he has always painted Copenhagen as a near perfect city for cycling.
It's near perfect for people that have never been to the Netherlands 😂
@@RoarofdalioN exactly! 😂
The dutch standards bring with them other problems that Denmark then avoids. Remember, although similar in many ways, the Netherlands and Denmark are two different countries with different starting points and needs. Examples are population, population density and geography.
"Not Just Bikes" a Canadian living in Amsterdam compared the two cities czcams.com/video/HjzzV2Akyds/video.html
We have it pretty good. Most of the arguments in the video focus on the personal experience of a novice cyclist, such as being confused in traffic, scared near cars or impatient to turn left on a crossroad. All of these things are normal and come with time and practice. He does, however raise a good point - there are way too many cars, and we should invest more into cycling infrastructure, to encourage people even more.
Compared to Chicago, where I currently live, this is paradise!
This is a very useful video for those of us trying to push for not just cycle lanes but better quality cycle lanes.
In the UK and Australia, even when they make a huge improvement over nothing and create a protected cycleway, they nearly always get these little details wrong. 45 degree kerbs, sharp turns when they could be curved, protection that gives up at intersections, stepped tracks mere centimetres from motor traffic, not enough cycle parking.
Don't just copy the Danes because they have better infrastructure than us. Copy the Dutch because they have better infrastructure than the Danes.
Just reposting a comment:
This video is about the quality itself. So, I think Mark should have titled it 'Quality of Cycling in Copenhagen'. Though when you think about inspiration both countries provide to the wider world, it gets complicated, as explained in this series: robertweetman.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/amsterdam-vs-copenhagen-part-1/
Read more
Oh
The propaganda that the Danes have successfully marketed has led many people to believe that Copenhagen & Denmark is the benchmark in city cycling design. One trip around Denmark & then the Netherlands you quickly realise the Dutch are light years ahead.
Paul van Bellen How come light years ahead? You got flying bikes or bikelanes where you dont need to padle🤷♂️ Merry christmas🎄
2200bronx if you want to learn why the Netherlands is the #1 cycling country watch Bicycle Dutch videos. Merry Xmas to you too!
Paul van Bellen i know you are better than Copenhagen, but light years, you are not😉
2200bronx ha ha I stand by my comments
Your name sounds like you are from Holland...
Still beats what we have in Los Angeles.
I've spend half my live in the Netherlands (born and raised) and the second half of my life in the U.S. I was going to say initially that it is very hard to compare the U.S with Europe in so many ways. On second thought though, I think you might be right. Infrastructure is something that a well run government can provide. I love the U.S. I do think unfortunately, it does not have a functioning government. There is still plenty left to love though.
@@marcg.3333 well said. That doesn't mean we can't aspire to make things better. The defeat of Prop 6 shows that there is hope of positive change. Downtown Los Angeles has seen many improvements. We still have a long way to catch up.
@@WmCRobison Absolutely. My ideal would be a mix of the U.S and the Netherlands! Both countries (all countries) could learn from each other in different areas. I hope to visit L.A one day. Best of luck!
@@marcg.3333 the Netherlands have great motorways and cycling infrastructure
I don't know in which fields LA is better but in urban planning it isn't
@Anifco67 half of the Netherlands is one giant urban or suburban area like LA and it works
Wow, each bike equals one car less on the streets and in the parking. Having all those bikers in cars would turn into nightmare traffic. Well done, Denmark!
Nope, one cyclist equals one less in public transport.
@@yogajedi3337 That would be true if there were 0 cars, sure
@@EntropyKC Very few bicycle longer distance then 3-5 km, at least where I live, people very seldom use car within inside the city, town but normally use public transport or walk the distance.
3:20 What drunk architect designed that! Straight over and into the river ;-)
The bridge has a very smart and innovative design. So smart and innovative that it took a couple of years more than expected to get it to work. You see, when the bridge needs to open to let through a ship, one section retracts into the slot between the pedestrian's part and the bicycle path. Why use the tried and true methods when something new is so much less convenient?
At the end of the video he should just say what he is probably thinking..........”I don’t think you can say that cycling here is superior to the Netherlands!”
Well, and he’s right 😅
He literally said that at the end of the video dummy
@@kylehagertybanana Why do you call Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit a dummy? Especially as he is every bit right: nowhere does Bicycle Dutch literally say that Danish cycling in not superior to Dutch cycling. What he says is "I don't think you can say that cycling in Copenhagen is superior to cycling in some other places in the world". That's literally what he says, so where did you find a mention of the Netherlands, dummy? Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit's remark about the implied message is 100% right.
@@yagi3925 Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit Tannawannavannabit
Nice video & blog... Cycling, Copenhagen, Hitchcock!
Funny how marketing focuses on successes, while the foreign eye sees the typical bodges and the outdated average elements. Meanwhile the Dutch railway stations will get an extra 25,000 bicycle parking spaces. 53 Parking lots and 15 cycle routes will be improved or newly build. The Dutch already cycle 15.5 billion kilometers a year, but the government invests € 345 million to stimulate 200.000 commuters more to take up cycling.
Quite strange, that they lack so much behind the Dutch in intersection design, although having so many good cycle tracks🤔
Nicolas Blume it’s not strange, they didn’t want to learn from the Dutch.
I wouldn't call that good cycle paths to be honest....
Martijn Vv yeah that track at 1:10 is right smack in the cars’ passenger side door zone. Bad bad bad.
@@Patrick94GSR That might look bad, but as Danish drivers and passengers in cars are used to deal with cyclists, you might be sure they look whether a (number of) cyclist(s) is coming before opening the door... Like in the Netherlands there is no war between drivers and cyclists in Denmark.
@@marcvanderwee all it takes is one person from out of town who isn't used to the Danish way of doing things, and it can end up being a very bad day for an unlucky cyclist.
Really interesting video, thanks for that. One thing I can say as a Dane living in Nijmegen that for sure is way better in Denmark though: the relative absence of bicycle theft. In The Netherlands people seem to get their bikes stolen constantly (especially in the Randstad) and as a consequence people have to carry around enormous bike locks, and buy really crappy bikes, whereas in Copenhagen you can have a pretty nice bike for years without it getting stolen.
From what my Dutch friends tell me, aside from the petty/opportunistic bicycle theft by a minority of locals, much of this is part of underground, organized crime rings that specialize in bicycle theft, often by driving around with vans to steal as many bikes as possible and take them over to eastern/southeastern Europe. Perhaps this has not yet permeated into Danish society by and large. I also noticed that most people in the city of Copenhagen just use the wheel lock for overnight and longer-term storage. This would never be advisable in the medium or larger Dutch cities, or even rural train stations. It's usually very safe in smaller Dutch towns and villages, unless one of these vans happens to come by and scoop up all the bikes not attached to a physical object. It's very unfortunate that the theft is so high in the Netherlands. Even still, I just leave my 2nd bike (old omafiets) outside my flat with the wheel lock. I would need to park it 50 meters away to be able to lock it to something, and that's too much trouble :)
You might be right about that (I don't have any idea about the theft problem in København) and it is of course a good thing. But is has nothing to do with the cycle infra... But what @Tetrabeetle already mentioned, a lot of stolen bicycles are shipped to different countries. But it also happens here that a bicycle is stolen just for having free transport, e.g. from a train station to a nearby town, or a sailor who returns to his ship and leaves to his next destination.
Do not forget that the Netherlands have almost the inhabitants of Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Danmark together. And bicycling is all over the country while in Danmark Copenhagen stands out.
Small crime is far more common place in the Netherlands, regrettable but true.
@@dutchman7623 Well, cycling is common in all parts of Denmark I believe. I would actually say that Odense is more of a cycling city than Copenhagen.
@@edsonbarbosa4978 And Odense has the Hans Christiaan Andersen 'borough' near the train station! When you walk there it is just like you step straight into a fairytale!
Love how developed countries like Denmark and Netherland are resorting to more traditional way of transportation. And people dont mind getting on their bike even if they seem able to buy a car (i even heard that the prince of Danish ride his sons to school with cargo-bike).
Sadly, in third world country like Indonesia, car's still being seen as symbol of status..
In the Netherlands our prime minister comes to work on his bicycle every day. In cities in the Netherlands the bike usually is the fastest way to get around.
its really important to start discussing that. ask your family and friends if they ever feel safe walking or cycling anywhere, and make them consider how much space is actually being given up to adhere to cars. In the Netherlands, cars are sadly also still a symbol of status, but at least we made sure they cannot get everywhere at all times anymore!
Same in Brazil
Same in KZ
Cars are symbols of status everywhere, but in these country cycling doesn't mean symbol of low status, that is the difference.
And like most people that cycles there also have a car, it is completely fine for their status
Far better than the UK, but not as good as Netherlands.
A lot better than Netherlands.
@@billigmad3720 no
Billig Mad, that is just a mad statement haha.
Copengagen has an asset you could never buy or build - no hills. It's amazing how you can drive on a "flat" road in the UK and it's only when you try cycling it that you realise how steep it is!
That’s no longer an excuse when you can buy ebikes
@@edipires15 you haven't seen the hill i live on! I had an ebike during lockdown and yes, it did make uphill doable but you still have to work and it's still scary AF going down. In an area of moderate hills the only excuse left is the price. A mid priced ebike is two grand. Gee, you can buy a 125cc for that!
@@barnbersonol I suppose that with a 125cc you have to have a license, insure it, put petrol, etc whereas with an ebike you only have to worry about the price. And about “still having to work”: that’s what you’re supposed to do, even with a ebike. I also live in a place with steep hills. Since the introduction ebikes I see more people cycling those hills. The only thing people lack is proper biking infrastructure like in the Netherlands.
What do you mean? Compared to most cities in the Netherlands, cities in Denmark have way more hilly terrain, which is in fact on of the oft-omitted points of difference between the two and their inevitable differences in needs because of it.
this is absolutely not true copenhagen has many hills and some are quite dificult to climb on a bike. i live here and take a certain route home to avoid a hill i dont like
Excellent video. It accurately describes my experience cycling in Copenhagen. All and all it's a fantastic city for bikes, but there is still much room for improvement, as is so well described in the video. The main issue, in my opinion, is the fact that cars are an extremely dominant feature in the city, even in central high-dense areas. Amsterdam just feels more "owned" by cyclists than Copenhagen does. That might be why you see a lot more people cycling with helmets in Copenhagen. One thing I disagree on with the video is parking, which I found to be a bit more convenient in relatively spacious Copenhagen than in the super highly dense Amsterdam.
In any case, compared to any other world-city I've been to, Copenhagen is a cycling paradise.
The Netherlands is more than Amsterdam.
Wow the helmet propaganda has had an effect in Denmark. A lot more helmets than I saw there 8 years ago.
I noticed that too. I have been watching videos out of Copenhagen for years, and in most you see just a few people in helmets, normally the sporty types. This could be a problem long term for getting people to ride if it's perceived as dangerous.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I visited in 2013, and the proportion helmeted has jumped up considerably.
Maybe they wear them during the winter cause its colder XD
@Roosje Keizer That's simply not true. The UE never said that helmets are mandatory
Can you please share the source of your info Roosje ?? I've never heard of it......
Take care. Danes do not take criticism well.
They do, they are just also not afraid to point out potential faults in those criticisms.
This is 30 years ahead of where I ride.
I wish San Francisco has this kind of infrastructure for cycling.
I am danish, and I agree with all your points about DK cycling. Especially those pesky little asphalt bumps! :-) I am going to Amsterdam in April and looks forward to renting a bike there and cycle around the beautiful city.
Amsterdam is not the best cycle city, especially with tourists on bicycles...
Like London or Manhattan are not relaxed car driving towns...
@@dutchman7623 @Patrick is Danish, so he is an experienced cyclist as well. (I guess) So Amsterdam won't be a problem for him...
As Dutch Man said, Amsterdam is not the best for cycling in Holland,
I have never seen those "bumps" as anything near being pesky nor are they, as said in the video, especially steep. And as they tend to be where a side road leads on to a bigger road, they are often where you would slow down anyway navigating it really not a problem.
Also with regards to the bike lanes directly adjacent to a road with cars, since drivers all know about bike lanes it also works well. Space is premium, since Copenhagen keeps growing and many houses are centuries old it means sometimes there just isn't room to divide traffic even more.
Many people really don't know what they are talking about. Copenhagen this and Copenhagen that. When you see a lot of people on bicycle does not mean you are bicycle city or country Nr1. You need more then that. Come visit Holland for a certain time and I Don't mean Amsterdam then you gonna see what a country is like for bicycles.God bless you all...
Typical Dutch frustration.
When comparing Danish and Dutch cycling facilities you can clearly see that the Dutch design is clearly superior. Not only is there a lack of protection space between motor traffic and people cycling, copenhagen also seems to be the only "cycling city" in Denmark. All other cities I've visited have okay but not superior cycling infrastructure (it's comparable to good German cycling cities). Netherland on the other hand is a cycling country. Here almost every city has very good cycling infrastructure. Amsterdam isn't the only cycling city, Utrecht or Groningen are also very well. Plus, in Copenhagen cycle paths seem to be wide but since they have no protection space, they really are often just good middle ground. And often space for cycle path is taken from footpaths, sometimes I walked on the street since there wasn't space for three people. I love Copenhagen and I feel very comfortable cycling there (it's definitly better than e.g. Berlin). But I wouldn't call it a world class cycling city.
I use to ride my bike to work and ride my bike home. It was 3 miles and everyone thought I was nuts but I loved it. I live in the USA and they don’t ride bikes.
In year 1900. CPH. was known as the European Capitol of Cyclist,
70, 80, and 90, was a dark period, stand still, no cycle budget,
but then something happends, the cycle budget rapidly grow,
and dobbled many times, and lot of progress happends.
So CPH came back on the track, and is still the Cycle-Capitol.
Cycle infra structure, has now become standard in most modern cities,
Holland is about the size of Jutland, and is three times as many,
so in general, it might be the most developed Cycle Country.
Lot of good improvement is realized since the video, and thousands of trees.
Judging on how many bicycles the Dutch pull out of canals each year, I would say Copenhagen is more bike friendly.
I wish I could ride my bike to work here in the US. It is only about 5 miles but there are no bike lanes and little to no shoulder on the road to get there. Once I get to the airport where I work, there are 2 tunnels, one that goes under a runway and the other one that goes under a taxi way. There are signs at the entrance of these tunnels that ban the use to bikes through them.
Still better than orlando 😂 but cycling in the netherlands is best
Tampa is not only the most dangerous city in America for pedestrians and cyclists, it's nearly against the law to cycle on the roads as it is considered obstructing the all important motor traffic.
Does anyone know if Copenhagen is doing or has done anything to improve over the recent years?
This video focuses particularly on the negatives and little on any of the positives of cycling in Copenhagen. I'm afraid to say that I think he could be slightly biased!
As someone who is neither Dutch nor Dane, but has cycled extensively in Copenhagen and in many cities in the Netherlands, I completely agree with Mark's assessment. Cph is certainly one of the best cycling cities in the world, aside from Dutch ones. But the marketing has been vastly skewed towards Denmark, so much so that I have Dutch colleagues who believe that Cph is even better for cycling than the Netherlands. Of course none of them have been to Cph, or else they would think otherwise.
This is so refreshing to see. In my town, most cyclists ride on the sidewalks, which is annoying as a pedestrian. I would like to begin riding my bike but at this moment all our trails are closed due to the pandemic and I definitely don't want to ride on the busy roads with limited space to ride and especially not sidewalks. I'm going to have to figure something out but it doesn't look very bicycle friendly here on the surface compared to places in Europe.
Always thought Copenhagen was on par with the Netherlands, but actually it look pretty bad.
well he did focus a lot of the worst aspects and nit picky stuff
This guy is some sort of Dutch bicycle evangelist. Look him up, he clearly has a conflict of interest in trying to make an objective video about Copenhagen. He's been ranting against Copenhagen in his blogs too. Absolutely seething with rage that anyone dares find Copenhagen nicer to bike in than his precious NL.
Ralph Macchiato he also constantly says “countries like the Netherlands and Sweden” when referring to good road design -but never Denmark, which would have been a more obvious example. Living in Sweden close to Copenhagen I’m very confused by this. The bike lanes here are far worse and less consistent. I think he is just angry with the rankings. The biking system is not perfect in Copenhagen, but it’s far better than he gives it credit for and not very different from a Dutch system (I’ve only biked in and around Amsterdam). If the system was SO bad and unsafe, why is it then used by just as high a share of the inhabitants as in Amsterdam, and why does Amsterdam have slightly more accidents? It simply does not add up. Copenhagen is definitely not superior, but this way of just looking for flaws is ridiculous. I could also for sure find 1 bike lane in the Amsterdam that I believed was two narrow for two way traffic or bike lanes, where I could get a shot with a truck and say that it is unsafe. If you are looking for flaws you will find them...
A lot of the comments under this video joining in on the critique of biking infrastructure of Denmark seems to be mainly people used to the dutch way of doing things, surprised and angered that there are other ways of doing it, that work fine or just as well. It's just not what they in particular are used to. Well no shit lol.
The fact alone they're having bicycle counters is saying a lot. What good does that do for existing cyclists?
It tells you how many survived since yesterday...
It's just a gimmick.
@@dutchman7623 LMAO
"...than cycling in some other places in the world"
We saw what you did there, sir! 😉
Maybe not perfect, but still better than my town (Prato, Italia) or other bigger cities here in Italy.. Been there and in the Netherlands several times.. It's a completely different world
Italy is also a completely different world with all its beauty 🇳🇱❤️🇮🇹
Still paradise compared to what we have in Italy (nothing)... It's horrible that you just have to get a car to get around Italy
Basically better than *insert city/country* , but still not the level of the Netherlands
Been living in both, Amsterdam (2 years) and Copenhagen (3 years). You are right about all you sad, cycling system is better in the NL, BUT (and this is something very, very subjective to me!) I got my bike stolen in Amsterdam 3 times, and not once in Cph.
Do you lock your bike?
awesome
my home - uk needs to learn from this!!! :D
If you don't live in London, true.
It’s surprising to see how close the bikes are to the vehicles in several of these scenes! I thought the scooters in the bike lanes here in Amsterdam were bad. :-)
Tbh he purposedly chose to record the largest and highest traffic streets
too many salty people who don't understand the concept of constructive criticism.
Some of it is constructive, but that's the same stuff Danes have complaining about for years. Other stuff is not really constructive, since there is nothing to construct from it. Denmark is way less population dense, and the geography is also different that most of the Netherlands, so comparing infrastructure designed and fit for two quite different purposes is a bit pointless.
I’m just visiting Copenhagen on a weekend trip. Not sure how the visit Copenhagen website says it’s the best city in the world for cycling. Compared to the Netherlands it’s way behind
Interesting to see how many people wear helmets there. Far more than I expected to see
Great critique for sure. Especially the parking isn't as well thought out as it should be. It should take center stage. Especially at stations, it often seem too secondary for my taste.
Best regards, from Denmark.
Not that I dislike my country, but it's way better than British infrastructure. My city has made a lot of progress in cycle lanes, and I can cycle to and from certain places entirely on the lane network; but while it looks newer and better protected, it's quite messy compared to Denmark, and works entirely around the environment. I know I would love cycling in København (I love Scandinavia in general).
It is still much better than what we have in Phoenix, Az.
Despite these negative points it’s still a million times better than cycling in the U.S.
Wow. You mean, there are places that are even better than what you showed in this video? That's incredible.
He showed the very worst places, right at the city center
May be a lot of people in city councils take Copenhagen as the example because it is easier to sell to the politicians. There are a lot of space for cars etc. So it is a good middle ground if Dutch levels are too inconceivable for a car-brained society.
You have a good point
Thank you for posting this.
This is still heaven on earth compared to my city
Very good video. Copenhagen's status as a cycling city is vastly overrated. I remember being extremely disappointed when I visited the city a couple of years ago. It doesn't compare well to Dutch standards. I didn't see any consistency, standards, or safe solutions.
If you are going to Dutch surburbia/small towns, cycling infrastructure is much superior to most Danish ones. It probably has to do with population density most of all. In the Netherlands you have 50K towns all over the place with few kilometers in between. The perfect density to promote cycling outside big cities.
However, having visiting Amsterdam and living in Copenhagen, one thing that Copenhagen is clearly better at is consistency. You almost always (aside from the bridges) have one-way elevated cycle tracks on each side of the road and you turn left the same way everywhere. In Amsterdam, the design changes constantly. Sometimes it's a two way path, and then you have to cross the street to get to the one-way path on the other side. Sometimes the cycle path is on the same level as the road/tram traffic, sometimes you intermingle with pedestrians. Often there is very little space. Amsterdam is very chaotic for cyclists, maybe that's why more protection is needed at intersections simply because it is more difficult to figure out if you are supposed to cross the street, foodpath etc.
most of these look like an expedient patchwork to turn old street designs to be retrofitted quickly and cheaply to be bicycle friendlier.
Its bad there, hectic as hell
I can always appreciate a good old pissing competition between the Dutch and the Danes, like the one that I expect to find in this comment section. I'll take a deep breath....
Here we go!
I would evaluate the cycling infrastructure also based on road cycling fatalities. Could you tell us how many are in Netherlands vs Denmark?
In 2017 206 people died in a cycling accident in the Netherlands. 57 of them on an E-bike and more than three-quarters of those 57 people were over the age of 65. The Dutch are cycling about 15 BILLION kilometers a year in total. Yes that's 15.000.000.000 kilometer or 9.300.000.000 Miles , so "only" 206 fatalities is still 206 to much, but not that bad. I don't know the numbers of Denmark, but Google will help you with that.
@@martijnvv8031 According to google 183 deaths in Denmark for 2017. Yes Denmark has a smaller population than Netherlands, also less density, but with a worst cycling infrastructure than Netherlands they have less fatalities. As a foreigner to both countries, I felt safer riding the bike in Copenhagen than in The Hague.
@@calinutzzz I understand, The Hague is very backwards in cycling infrastructure.....it was good but they turned the clock back..... See the video at this channel from some weeks ago about The Hague.
@@calinutzzz That's 183 in total, not just cyclists. 26 cyclists died in 2017 in Denmark.
@@AardvarkDK thanks for the info!
And yet, the statistics show that the bicycle fatality rate is consistantly higher per capita in the Netherlands than it is in Denmark.
Per capita yes. That is because the Dutch cycle much more than the Danes. It is again the other way around when you measure per kilometer cycled, as you should.
@@BicycleDutch Have a ref to som reliable statistics on that claim? I took my ref straight from the official EU statistics.
@@LordLorenSoth Sure: deaths (by OECD) bicycledutch.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/oecd.jpg and injuries (by Australasian College of Road Safety) bicycledutch.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/injuries.jpg
@@BicycleDutch I am not sure that linking to a static picture on your own site qualifies as a reliable ref, but nm - after looking for the actual OECD source then I have to admit that you may have a valid point. The problem being that the link you gave is based on over 10 years old data and the more recent data (2011-2015) on OECD showing fatalities per km being 8 for NL vs 9 for DK - which is a significant drop in fatalities for both countries. However, note that NL only dropped by about 2 while DK dropped by about 5 in the 5 years between the 2 data sets (sidenote - Norway is actually ahead of both NL and DK in that statistic) and I will remain unconvinced whether this means that NL or DK is today (2019) the safer bicycling country will remain unresolved until the next dataset becomes available. The most recent fatality chart is on page 18 of this PDF on the official OECD site. www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/cycling-safety-roundtable-summary_0.pdf
@@BicycleDutch Not really useful for comparing cities. A much higher share of those kilometers are driven in the countryside in the Netherlands, whereas Greater Copenhagen accounts for at least 40% of the cycling in Denmark (probably more). Cities are generally less safe for bikes. The EU did a comparison (The Hague was NLs represented city) and Copenhagen was the safest biking city in Europe. When I see the Amsterdam infrastructure and how people bike there, I would be shocked if it was safer than Copenhagen.
Visited Copenhagen this past Summer. Wish that we had this good of a cycling infrastructure in Chicagoland or the US in general. Jealous.
It's better than in the Netherlands because you have a choise: car or bike. In The Netherlands it's unconvinient to drive a car. Congrats danish!
You claimed: "In The Netherlands it's unconvinient to drive a car."
Bullshit.
According to Waze, the Netherlands has the best car traffic in the world.
Why can't Indians have such a culture?? Government should encourage and provide separate spaces on the road like this
“Bikes take up a lot of space” not compared to the equivalent amount of cars
It is like that because its a small city, in my land,
cities are so big! If u get a bike, it would take you like 3 or 4 ahours to arrive to your job. Plus struggling with the chaos trafic… Im talikng about Lima, in Peru 😭
Ok,thanks for your answer. ..
In Delhi traffic is chaos . We hardly breathe here...
"Some other places in the world".
*Cough* Amsterdam *cough*.
And this is Copenhagen. Outside the capital, it is much worse.
Pieter Kuiper I heard Odense is pretty good as well. Read a few articles suggesting it is safer than Copenhagen, due to it being a smaller city ( less traffic etc ). As a result it's supposedly safer for children to cycle there than in Copenhagen. Do you know anything of cycling there or is it really just as bad?
It's actually better most places *other* than Copenhagen. And Copenhagen, although definitely having faults isn't a bad as this video might lead you to believe.
Some cyclists wear helmets others don't. Isn't that a regulation?
My! I thought Copenhagen was a pedestrians' heaven! But there's overwhelming and dangerous bicycle and car traffic there! Although the environment has become less polluted and riders have gained better cardiovascular health, pedestrians have become the losers here because they have to be extremely cautious when walking on the sidewalks or crossing the streets! Therefore, traffic authorities will probably have to assign some streets to pedestrians and bicycle traffic and some to car traffic! Sidewalks should strictly be for pedestrians and the pavement (roadways) for bicycles! Now, the number of cars driven a week should be limited to 1/4 of the total! That'd force car drivers to ride their bikes or use public transportation! Finally, massive bicycle parking is essential for the system to work properly! Thus, Denmark has made a huge, exemplary effort to humanize traffic and improve the environment, but there's still a lot of work to be done! Thanks for sharing! ☘️🇩🇰☘️
Could they cycling in rainy days ???
Of course thay can! The only differnce is they wear rain coats/clothes, and people who wear 'normal' clothes get wet... Can be nice, to see a beautiful girl/woman in wetlook... ;-)
I cycling every day summer or winter 😅
Isn't it possible to take a bicycle on the train for free in Denmark? If that's true, that's quite a nice infrastructural thing the Danes have that the Dutch don't. €7 per day in NL
It's free on the S-trains around Copenhagen, and there are also no rush-hour restrictions. This is probably my only complaint in regards to cycling in the Netherlands. But you also have to understand that there are more cyclists here than in Denmark, and more arriving with bikes to train stations (27% Danes vs. 50% Dutch). They could do a better job with providing more space on the trains, but there will always be space issues even then. It's €6.2 per day, but point taken.
Its free for folding bikes. That's why you see so many here in the Netherlands.
Interesting point you make about the numbers arriving with bikes at the train station in both countries@@tetrabeetle8630 . The trains in NL are already over full with passengers (during rush hour).
@@rebeccaalbrecht771True, I'm a Brompton rider in Rotterdam. I have also lived in Antwerp, Utrecht and Amsterdam in the last few years. Antwerp people seem even more crazy about the folding bikes!
I moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Utrecht last year. I have a regular Dutch bike for around Utrecht but use my folder when I take the train.
They ride bicycles, like people in The Netherlands.
Very nice experience
Copenhagen is not mostly a childhood memory. /
infrastructure for cycling looks disappointing I am surprised people still use it.......I have seen better cycle lanes in Bogota Colombia
While you have so many bicycles, do you guys have to deal with thief?
Yes we deal with thief, to get good bicycle.
I love how someone from the Netherlands judges Copenhagen. Ppl think Copenhagen is a bike paradise but it isn’t
whether kobenhavn's bicycling infrastructure is as good as holland's: who cares; it is certainly good enough. also, kobenhavn is a really great city.
Maybe there is less separation, and less concrete protection on Bicicle lanes because the Danish car drivers are more disciplined? (but still, those crossroads I see are far from "foolproof" and accidents are more likely to happen.)
Danes have almost the same driving education and tests as the Germans, incl. Mandatory in-room lessons, driving lessons in the dark, etc. Since Germans are often considered some of the best drivers in Europe, you might have a point, but I don't know exactly how one would reliably measure it.
Per la bici mettete la mascherina colore rosso per difendervi dalla gente in vetrina a quattro ruote italia
Any Dutch municipality reigns supreme over Copenhagen when comparing cycling infra. There's just no comparison.
Hah, our Dutchman is a little envious or wanting to take away the popularity of cycling in Copenhagen? Have never seen that many small and insignificant criticism of cycling in that city as in this video. And that last comment - simply the best 😂 Hope he's happy now.
Compared to some other places, as in compared to one other place? ;D
Funny to see a video recorded in an area of 1000-2000 m2, many angles of the same street, and then letting that be “cycling in Copenhagen” 😂. CPH is a biiiit bigger than absolute city center only, where the bike lanes have to fit into a very old and already constructed city.
Thank good that the bicycles haven’t taking over and that cars can be there as well. Not everybody bikes 😉. (Even though 1,5 million km are driven every weekday in Copenhagen by the 610.000 inhabitants of Copenhagen on their approx 680.000 bikes)
This is another common thing that a lot of these criticisms-of-Copenhagen-biking-infrastructure-videos tend to do; only judging the whole city of a select few parts that Danes have been complaining about already for sometimes years. Let alone the whole of Denmark's biking infra structure. It comes off a bit odd.
That's a stupid point. He showed busy intersections and crowded sections of the city because that's where you can actually compare it best to other countries. Bike traffic should be safe especially there. As well as the fact, you can find better infrastructure everywhere in the Netherlands, any small town, no matter the size or remoteness. In Denmark it's mostly just Copenhagen.
Those stepped cycle tracks are horrible, In my opinion they are worse than not having any separation at all, because of how sharp the angles are they just seem like an accident waiting to happen. You misjudge or do one mistake and bam, your on the ground. Thin separation like this needs to be wide enough in case someone makes a mistake so they aren't punished for those mistakes.
That one with the bus stop, all the passengers waiting are crammed in too, it would be hard to walk past them, it's pretty clear there's way too much space given over to motor traffic.
Do not compain! Check the situation in Poland ;)
It's not about complaining, though. It's about observing points to be improved upon.
This is the very reason these countries progressed as they did...
Come back to London for another visit. It's still shit but pretty good in most ways.
With this crazy high cycling adoption, wondering how many bike shops there are; I would expect a lot, and hopefully many local shops - not big chain stores. (No pun intended). Quick web search turned up Wikipedia page that says there are almost 300 bike shops in Copenhagen.
Amsterdam and other Dutch cities:Amateurs
please do cycling in kuala lumpur
supposedly having the second best bicycling infrastructure in whole of asia after tokyo
but it is also supposedly to be very poor compared to all of europe
Better than Dallas
Interesting twist. What makes good bicycle infrastructure? How do we meassure it. Clearly more fatal accidents in Amsterdam than Copenhagen per cyclist - by a margin. Hmmm. Better or worse to be cycling there?
Different population density, different geography, different needs? Well, different solutions.
compare that to sydney. it’s amazing already
I have been to the netherlands 30+ times. have biked there as I have done here in copenhagen for 29 years. And let's be honest you have the same things. same sort of lanes. Massed areas with parked bikings..... Or maybe you have never been to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or even a city like Zwolle. LOL if you go out of the main entrance of Central station in Amsterdam, and turn to the right, walk 2 minutes you will se an example. You can allso exit at the "back exit7etrance" and see the same thing LOL. I will say you have better intercity infrastructure than in Denmark, But that might be down to the fact that your country size is about 1/3 and does not exist of some 400 inhabited islands.
Sorry to say that NL and DK are about the same size...
And we have far more than 400 inhabited islands...
@@dutchman7623 I don't think you understand. He means islands in the literal sense. Land surrounded by water. You don't have more than 400 inhabited islands, I doubt you have 50 even if we count the Caribbean.
Not to mention the population density and geography differences. All things that seem conveniently forgotten whenever infrastructure is compared. Strange isn't it?
3:02 Inconvinient to you, but not for us living in Copenhagen.. It's better than the curb, than not having it at all. Yes they are steep.
Ou yeah, compare to Prague this is still much better!
Oh ok....If you see one-day Salcano or Carraro you will know those bikes made of Turkey.. Mean while web pages are www. salcano .com or carrarobisiklet.com
I don't know what you are comparing Copenhagen to but it must certainly not be Amsterdam, because here unprotected on-road bicycle tracks are the norm. As a Dane living in Amsterdam I really miss the dedicated, effortless cycling infrastructure of Copenhagen. Amsterdam for bicycles feels more like how you imagine Indian traffic for cars. Ambiguous infrastructure and general chaos. Speaking of feeling unprotected at intersections, in Amsterdam there is nothing to mark the bikes' path, and they don't have their own traffic lights either. So please elaborate how having those is a bad thing? Compared to where? The only apples to apples comparison is Copenhagen vs Amsterdam. The urbanised capitals with 1+ million inhabitants. And it's very disingenuous of you to find one example in a thousand (like the two way cycle lane that's only a shoulder width wide) and trying to blow it up as something normal. I don't even remember those existing in Copenhagen, so good job finding the one or two existing in the city.
Amsterdam doesn't need stoplights because there are very few cars. In Copenhagen, you're constantly stuck in red lights with hundreds of other cyclists not moving anywhere. Cyclling in Amsterdam is MUCH faster.
Sorry to say this dude, but the cycling infrastructure in Copenhagen is not effortless and dedicated in the slightest compared to Amsterdam.
And Amsterdam by comparison to other Dutch cities isn't even the best place for cycling in the first place.
All bike paths in the Netherlands are marked red in all cities in The Netherlands which is recognizable to everyone, even foreigners can see that right away.
Including all intersections and roundabouts are marked red for cyclists.
Copenhagen needs to learn to put more protected intersections for cyclists and keep cyclist away from cars as much as possible, especially for the sake of children.
It seems Copenhagen has chosen a blue color for cycling lanes, so why not improve on that further too huh?.
The Netherlands is probably way more ahead in cycling infrastructure technology as well compared to Copenhagen..
Im not telling you this to boast about Dutch cycling infrastructure, i'm telling you this simply for Copenhagen to improve on their cycling infra by taking criticism, especially from countries that does cycling infrastructure better then the Copenhagenize index nonsense.
@Shades 1.1 Me an average guy pushing an agenda? 🤦🏽♂️, you people are insane..
@Shades 1.1 No not at all, its not our fault that we do things better then other countries especially if some countries can' take criticism.
I think you can find errors in every city, but hey, just to keep you happy: Hup Holland Hup 😘
Beautiful city. Beautifully womens beautiful bicycles and nice description
😃
Have you seen Turkish bikes in Holland?Salcano or Carraro....?
As a Dutchie, Ive never heard of those brands. Most bikes here are from Gazelle, Batavus, etc.