“It’s the best feeling”: Copenhagen gives cyclists a green wave

For those who don’t live in bike-friendly Copenhagen: the green wave is a system the city launched sixteen years ago. To encourage its residents to commute by bike, Copenhagen synchronized traffic lights on some main routes so that a cyclist traveling at around 20 km/h during rush hour can hit “green” at every intersection. The plan now is to expand the green waves to 15 more routes after the city council approved the budget for the new cycling measure.

“The idea is great, because usually traffic lights are timed for cars,” said 33-year-old analyst Lars to The Guardian while riding along Nørrebrogade, where the first pilot project was launched. “I wish it would be expanded.”

We need more Copenhagens

Like many European cities, Copenhagen became car-centric after World War II. However, in the 1970s, the city began to push back: it organized large bike rides that pressured the city council to build an extensive network of bike lanes. A study from June this year found that if every city had a network as extensive as Copenhagen’s, carbon dioxide emissions from personal cars would drop overall by 6%.

A typical picture from Copenhagen

Officials admit, however, that even Copenhagen struggles to reduce car use among commuters coming into the city from surrounding areas. The construction of “bicycle highways” has helped people reach the outskirts, but red lights slow them down once they enter the city. Traffic engineers believe that green waves can help in this situation.

Cyclists Welcome

“It’s so important to have the freedom to ride at a smooth, comfortable speed,” says Line Barfod, the city’s Mayor for Technology and Environment, who cycles along Nørrebrogade daily on her way to City Hall. She argues that more green waves will encourage people to leave their cars at home. “You feel that the city wants and supports you when you ride your bike.”

The expansion of this measure faced little political opposition, and residents who have already experienced the green waves describe them very positively. Barfod adds: “The war between cars and bikes is more about parking spaces than changing speeds.”

However, during rush hour, locals say that Copenhagen’s cycling culture has become a victim of its own success. The lanes are often too crowded to fully experience an uninterrupted green wave, says 65-year-old fundraiser Pia, who arrives in the city by train and cycles home. “Sometimes it’s so packed that you can’t even reach the next light in time.”

A fairly typical scene in front of any public building in the Danish capitalLars, who usually rides too fast to actually catch the green wave, believes the city has reached a point where a choice must be made between cars and bicycles. “We are now at a point where we have to choose. If you give cyclists more space, it will limit the access that cars have to various places.”

Investing in Safety

For years, Copenhagen has competed with Amsterdam for the title of Europe’s cycling capital, but other major cities like Paris and London are starting to catch up. A recent ranking of child-friendly cities criticized Copenhagen for the low share of roads with a 30 km/h speed limit, although the city has already begun implementing them.

The newly approved cycling package, worth 602 million Danish kroner, will improve green waves and increase cyclist flow during peak hours. It will also aim to build the country’s longest cycling bridge and enhance lighting on bike paths. The city has installed 19 “cycling barometers” to measure cyclists’ speeds, and once it has a better understanding of the city’s pulse, it plans to time green waves to start when large numbers of cyclists reach the beginning of a corridor.

Such systems can improve the smoothness of bicycle traffic, says Gernot Sieg, a transport scientist at Münster University in Germany, but they are not yet common, partly because cyclists often ride at different speeds. In some Dutch cities, like Enschede, traffic lights have more sophisticated systems that detect approaching cyclists and give them priority when the light turns green.

The best of all are cycling highways that have no interaction with cars, says Sieg. “It’s better to have bike paths where you don’t have to cross any roads.”

The Best Mode of Transport

Getting people out of cars and moving their bodies is an effective way to save lives and protect the planet. Each year, around 20,000 people die on EU roads, and the benefits of better safety standards are undermined by the boom in large cars, which have devastating effects in collisions with people.

In cities, toxic particles released by cars through fuel combustion and tire friction on asphalt are another source of frustration for those who disagree with car-centric traffic planning.

For Leena Ylä‑Mononen, who moved from Helsinki to Copenhagen two years ago to lead the European Environment Agency, the city is an example others should follow, even if at first it seems intimidating. It took her five months to feel confident enough to get on a bike and navigate streets full of so many fast-moving people.

“Getting into that flow took me a while—but it really is the most convenient way to get around,” says Ylä‑Mononen. “Of course, it also helps that we don’t have many hills. But it’s windy, so you still have to keep pedaling.”

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