HELSINKI, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Those attending the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will discover that its residents love to ride bicycles.
Prior to the Dec. 7-18 conference, a Xinhua correspondent visited the Danish capital city and was deeply impressed with Copenhageners' enthusiasm for bicycles.
Despite being winter already, cyclists can be seen everywhere in the city and add a unique feature to Copenhagen's cityscape.
Cycling is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to move around in Denmark. The country has one of the world's highest per capita bicycle ownerships, with 4.2 million bicycles for a population of about 5.4 million. Copenhagen is the only city in the world to have been awarded "Bike City" by the International Cycling Union.
Copenhageners love bicycles, with more than one-third riding bicycles to work or to school. Cyclists are from all age groups and use various kinds of bicycles, including three-wheeled kids' bikes and tricycles.
There are many reasons why Copenhageners love cycling. Surveys show that about 53 percent of cyclists feel it is easy and fast to move around with bicycles, with no time wasted in traffic jams. The average speed in Copenhagen is 15 km per hour for bicycles, and 27 km per hour for cars. For a daily commuter, whose route to work is assumed 5 km, cycling instead of driving also will save 300 kg of CO2 emissions a year.
Cycling is also great exercise. A 30-minute cycling journey at a comfortable pace brings a lot of benefit to health. Last but not least, cycling is incredibly cheap, with no worries about loans, insurance premiums, motor vehicle taxes or gasoline prices.
To encourage more people to use bicycles, the municipal government of Copenhagen has built a crisscrossed 350-km network of cycle tracks. "Green wave" traffic light control plans allow cyclists to maintain a continuous traffic flow with a maximum speed of 20 km per hour during rush hours.
Great numbers of bicycles in Copenhagen need a lot of street space to park. The government has provided many cycle parking facilities in most public places, including in front of metro stations and shops and on street sideways. There are a variety of smartly designed bike racks for public use, mostly free of charge. Even in front of the Danish Parliament Hall, there is a parking place for bikes.
Getting more cycle tracks is at the top of Copenhageners' wish list. Studies show that every time the city of Copenhagen builds a cycle track, there will be 20 percent more cyclists and 10 percent fewer cars in that area.
Copenhagen aims to become the most bicycle friendly city in the world by constructing more cycle tracks and to create better conditions for cyclists. It hopes to reach its ambitious goal by latest 2015: at least 50 percent of commuters will cycle to their place of work or school in Copenhagen, and at least 80 percent of cyclists will feel comfortable with the traffic.
During the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Copenhagen city museum will hold a bike exhibition, introducing visitors to the history of Copenhagen as a "Bike City" and the long biking tradition of Copenhageners. The exhibition explains the historical development of bicycles by showing a variety of different bikes from a type of pre-bicycle as early as in the late19th century to modern bicycles.
