Copenhagen Bicycle Infrastructure

 The small details of the Copenhagen infrastructure help makes bicycling a more seamless experience. One of the simplest features that I think makes the biggest difference is the miniature asphalt bike ramps. They are strategically placed where you would naturally want to dismount of go in different directions. There's nothing fancy about them - in some you can even tell that they just haphazardly poured some concrete. I think this would be an easy feature to implement around Eugene. Constantly getting on and off your bike is annoying and interrupts your trip. I think adding these ramps in has the potential to make a disjointed network feel more connected because you don't have to get off your bike as much. Other bike infastructure features I noticed were handles at intersections to grab onto or place your feet. I thought these were great but they need to be much longer. There is really only enough room for 2 people to comfortably use the handle. The bicyclists also have their own lights that cycle through red, yellow, and green. After red, the light goes to yellow so everyone can prepare for the green. I think this is a good idea so bikers don't loose time on the green trying to pedal again. With the light system and signage, I always felt like I knew where I needed to be. 

On our walking tour with Copenhagenize, we learned the story behind the blue bicycle paint on the roads. James said that research has been done that you only need the painted part at big intersections. The paint is meant to alert you that you should pay more attention at this intersection. I think this was interesting because I feel like we paint our entire lane. I imagine that only adding paint in areas where it is necessary would be cost effective. Additionally, if everything is painted, it does make it harder to designate any differences or special points.

Walking through Christiana, I found an interesting example of traffic calming done with raised cobblestones. The path was some sort of asphalt and the cobblestones were designed into a raised circle. This path is not for cars, so these were implemented to slow down bikes. The path goes alongside residential homes, so it makes sense to include something to slow people down. As a pedestrian, these wouldn’t hinder your walking ability. They also add some visual interest to the path. 

My overall infrastructure observation is that most transit users follow the traffic rules. You can tell that someone who does not is probably a Copenhagen native and bikes all the time. They seemed to know how the system flowed so they could continue biking. I think the infrastructure is a key part to the bicycling success of Copenhagen.