Turning Copenhagen Into Bikeland

[Guest]

Making bike-sharing more stylish and tech-driven

Turning Copenhagen Into Bikeland : Read more

 

[bv90andy]

Those things in the sidewalk are not efficient... first of all people can trip and they are way too far apart, why not put them closer together?

 

[u-nip]

wow, this costs even more than gas. I mean $.90/halfhour+imcreases? imagine how much that would cost if you're working 8 hours straight. The exercise is good though

 

[esupan]

Not to mention it will be quite expensive to have a custom sidewalk laid to replace bike racks. I've seen how extremely overcrowded bike racks get but bike racks can be added or moved if needed.

I think the idea is great but there is definitely a better solution than the artists rendering.

 

[Pei-chen]

How about everybody owns their $100 bike and lock and the city just provide the rack. (Custom designed bike with card reading machine are just too expensive and problem prone)

BTW, are bikers going to have liability insurance now that they are going to share the road with cars?

 

[Godiwa]

guess people should know what they speak of before they speak.

pei-chen: bikes drive on the road and if a car run over them = the car pays in 99% of the cases

u-nip: 1 litre of gas costs almost $2 here or about $8,8 per gallon, you still think 90 cents is expensive?

these bikes are for those that need to get through town (visit a friend or go to a concert or whatever) and you can get through inner Copenhagen in 15-20min (so still free) it only costs if you use the bike more then the first 30 minutes.

We already have citibikes in Copenhagen and it is a quite well functioning system, but it can still be improved on.

 

[aethm]

As an avid biker I'd just like to have well maintained bike lanes on the roads. And bikers already share the roads with cars (in most USA cities it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk.)

Cyclists don't need liability insurance because hitting a cyclist is like hitting a pedestrian, and a cyclist hitting a car is suicide.

 

[HalJordan]

[citation][nom]aethm[/nom] And bikers already share the roads with cars (in most USA cities it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk.)[/citation]

Illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk? Yes. However, do bicyclists observe this? Not always. Example: A couple months ago my pregnant wife and I were nearly side swiped by a moron darting by us on his nifty 10 speed. We were on the sidewalk, with a nice sign in front of us declaring that bicyclist should stay off sidewalk. Bicyclists on the sidewalk beware, next time you get a boot to the rear end.

 

[bin1127]

The design looks pretty cool. I don't think the price is too high and given their oil is 2x ours, it can make for more convenient biking. Nothing like this will grace our shores.

 

[Parsian]

they look a bit like female's genital but i love the concept... its about time for some thing this cool looking

 

[purist]

I live in Dublin and just last year we installed a system that allows people to hire bikes for 30 mins for free with a small fee payable after that up to a max of a few hours. Take up has been very good and it's a hit with tourists and locals alike (I get a lift in in the morning and cycle home leaving the bike a the nearest rack). It sounds a bit socialist but it works, even here where the weather is wet for most of the year.

The bike racks are kinda silly, just spend less on the normal racks and install more of them. Seriously, if you can find parking for all the cars you can find parking for bikes!
Generally a good idea though!

 

[ravewulf]

[citation][nom]u-nip[/nom]wow, this costs even more than gas. I mean $.90/halfhour+imcreases? imagine how much that would cost if you're working 8 hours straight. The exercise is good though[/citation]
Not really. The point would be to rent one for the way to work (or whatever your destination), park it with other rent-a-bikes for someone else to use, and then rent a different bike for the way home.

So you only have the bike for the duration of a one way trip each way, not the total time from when you leave home to when you get back.

 

[Guest]

Also note that in Copenhagen, Biker generally do not share the roads with the cars as almost every street either has a seperate bike lane on either side, or is completely restricted to pedestrians and cyclists altogether.

In general, if you have to cross through central Copenhagen you'll get to your destination faster on a bike than in a car, no matter how lousy a cyclist you are.

 

[lejay]

[citation][nom]u-nip[/nom]wow, this costs even more than gas. I mean $.90/halfhour+imcreases? imagine how much that would cost if you're working 8 hours straight. The exercise is good though[/citation]

The point is exactly that you should not just leave the bike in front of the building you work, but put in the appropriate rack. Let's say it's an hour each way, that's $1.80 a day. Good luck buying and owning a car + buying gas in Denmark for that price.

The price is basically chosen as the minimum that will prevent people from abusing the system.

 

[jblack]

[citation][nom]HalJordan[/nom]Illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk? Yes. However, do bicyclists observe this? Not always. Example: A couple months ago my pregnant wife and I were nearly side swiped by a moron darting by us on his nifty 10 speed. We were on the sidewalk, with a nice sign in front of us declaring that bicyclist should stay off sidewalk. Bicyclists on the sidewalk beware, next time you get a boot to the rear end.[/citation]


Maybe you should try riding your bike on a busy city street sometime.

 

[sliem]

The hole in the ground looks like a female something something...

 

[victomofreality]

[citation][nom]HalJordan[/nom]Illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk? Yes. However, do bicyclists observe this? Not always. Example: A couple months ago my pregnant wife and I were nearly side swiped by a moron darting by us on his nifty 10 speed. We were on the sidewalk, with a nice sign in front of us declaring that bicyclist should stay off sidewalk. Bicyclists on the sidewalk beware, next time you get a boot to the rear end.[/citation]

I try to bike on the road whenever possible but there are some streets in my city that I will no ride on during busy hours. I had days where in a 10min trip I almost get smoked by 2 or 3 cars because people just don't care or pay attention or are just too stupid to be trusted in a several hundred pound vehicle while I'm sitting on a flimsy bike frame... easy way to fix this is just add more bike lanes.

My only question for this system is what happens if you have more people needing bikes in a given area then there are ones available. Do you have to wait for one to show up or will people be hired to move bikes from less used area's to higher traffic ones?

 

[sebastienm]

Good point Godiwa.
Interesting to see the comments here. That where you realize how far apart people from different countries are. (or maybe just because of the computer-geek environment vs architect/designers; not sure).
Eg: when I saw the picture i thought "very efficiency", then the first comment was "not efficient" ... funny.

 

[Clintonio]

I'm sick of concept art. It's just a designers wet dream and will never come to fruition.

 

[gm0n3y]

The problem I see is that this system has to be 100% subsidized by the government. The cost of riding probably won't even cover the maintenance costs for the bike, especially because riders know that its not their bike and will ride it that much harder.

Don't get me wrong though, I ride my bike to work every day and I would love to see something like this in my city (Vancouver). The bikes will have to be cheap and durable though or the cost for this will be way too high.