Emulate 'Bike City' Copenhagen

So Charleston didn't fare so well in 1996 with its yellow bike program to make bicycles available to people on the honor system.

Now, the first major city to operate such a program successfully has some new ideas to make cities more bike-friendly. It is called Copenhagenizing.

At the top of the list is creating clearly designated bike lanes (that drivers observe) and including provisions for cyclists in almost every infrastructure upgrade.

According to Health News Digest, Copenhagen found that one kilometer of bike lanes on streets that average 2,500 bikes and 10,000 cars a day would increase bike travel by 18 to 20 percent and decrease car travel and accidents by some 10 percent.

It also would bring significant savings in health care and an increase in productivity.

Copenhaven also established a cycling think-tank of city planners, engineers, cycling promoters, equipment manufacturers and others who share their expertise with city planners and politicians.

SmartBiking, will be implemented by the time Copenhagen hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December. Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SmartBiking employs a "smart tag" system that allows cyclists to exchange information and relative position with each other and to track the number of miles they pedal. It also corresponds with a Facebook social networking application called "I Crossed Your Path" for cyclists who want to connect with others on their usual bike routes.

And, like Charleston, Copenhagen has tourists. City fathers promote biking for visitors and hotels offer bikes to their guests.

So what has all this gotten Copenhagen? Less pollution, healthier people and bragging rights to say that 36 percent of Copenhageners — nearly half a million people — bike to work, school, shops and dinner or a movie. That's 685,000 miles a day.

How do they know this? Cykelbarometers. They use sensors to count bicycles passing a given point. They also have built-in pumps for bike tires.

The next time someone says Charleston wasn't built for bicycles, tell him about the medieval streets of 1,000-year-old Copenhagen. If the Danes can add bike lanes, why can't Charleston?