The world is coming to Copenhagen in December for the UN COP15 Climate Conference. The media focus is intensifying the closer we get.
About a year ago I wrote a letter to various parties suggesting some good ideas about how Copenhagen and Denmark could profile themselves when the world comes to town. One of the ideas was to provide bicycles for the delegates who will be arriving from all over the planet. Making bicycles available to them, free to use, in order to show them how the bicycle is the ultimate symbol of sustainability and quick and easy transport in the Danish capital. My idea also included recruiting iconic Danish cycling girls to lead pelatons of delegates to and from the conference centre Bellacenter.
Sure, it's in December and the weather is chilly, but the symbolic value would be invaluable.
I was pleased to learn a few months back that the Foreign Ministry was finally planning to provide bicycles for the delegates. A number of companies and organisations made a bid and two were selected for final negotiations. Both of them were to provide 100 bicycles each, with 100 bicycles each on the back burner if there was demand for them.
In the final phases of negotiations, the Danish Cyclists Federation showed up and insisted that electric bikes also be made available. The number of these bikes was 40. It was a must. Period. The reasons are completely beyond me. I can't possibly see why it was of utmost importance for them that 40 electric bicycles simply had to be included.
This ultimatum caused one of the companies involved to back out in frustration and bewilderment. They couldn't be bothered with this comedic development.
So it was confirmed today that 160 bicycles and 40 electric bikes will be made available to the delegates.
Now you get to hear why this is ridiculous. There is expected to be 10,000-15,000 delegates present in Copenhagen for ten days this December.
200 bicycles for 10,000-15,000 delegates. Unbelievable.
Add to that the estimated 20,000-45,000 other visitors to the city during COP15. NGO's, the press, activists, et al.
Listen... we scrap 400,000 bicycles each year in Denmark. Scrap 'em. Gone. Bye bye. The cities in Denmark are constantly removing bicycles from outside train stations. Many of them are sold at police auctions. Stolen bikes that are later found are given to the insurance company that now owns them. They don't know what to do with them. An organisation like Baisikeli has figured out that they can get a hold of them and send them to workshops in Africa. Copenhagen and Denmark could easily provide a few thousand bicycles. Even one bicycle for every delegate if we really put our mind to it. Plus bicycles for the press, the NGO's, the activists.
There is no shortage of bicycles. Hell, we could dredge the canals of Copenhagen in one sweep and find bicycles enough for all the delegates from Australasia. Get them fixed up nice. The very first City Bikes in our bike share system were repaired and maintained at the bike shop at one of the prisons in the city. That's just one idea.
200 bicycles for 10,000-15,000 delegates.
The marketing value we're going to miss is astronomical. The world's press will show up and not have much to do. They'll cover the opening, a few bits and pieces in between and the signing [hopefully] of the important document at the end.
Having just 5,000 bicycles lined up outside the conference centre would not only be a photo opportunity, it would be a most powerful image and lingering symbol of sustainability.
"Do as we do. Ride a bicycle. Make a difference."
Sure, many of the delegates would pass on the offer. Probably most. But making the bicycles available would send a fabulous message.
200 bicycles. I simply can't get over it.
One of my other ideas was giving the gift of a bicycle to the world leaders who show up. When Bill Clinton visited in the 90's he was given a Copenhagen City Bike - dubbed 'City Bike 1' - by the City of Copenhagen. [funny that the Secret Service spirited the bicycle away for a few days to 'check it' for 'security reasons' before Clinton recieved it]
Give the leaders a classic Danish bike each. The many Danish brands could donate bicycles to the event. Personally, I'd love to see Sarkozy on a Christiania bike with Merkel in the box. THAT'S a photo opportunity.
But 200 bicycles? 40 of them electric in the one of the flattest capitals in Europe?
Madness.
36 comments:
How very British of them...
And don't forget 140 helmets, LOL!
Isn't there a used bicycle market in Copenhagen? I'm used to insurance-owned and theft recovered bicycles being sold at auction and appearing as used bikes in our bike shops.
In a sad sort of way, it's heartening to know that even Copenhagen has stupid officials!
I find that Pathetic 140 Bikes for 10,000 not to mention the Activists,also those Electric Bikes.
Most of our Politicians are all Fat in Ireland and get Driven around in Mercedes. Only two belonging to the Green Party actually Cycle ,John Gormly and Eamonn Ryan,John Gormly with Helmet and Eamonn Ryan without Helmet.
Only 140 Bikes ,that is giving the Nod to the Politicos to use their Gas Guzzling Mercedes in Bicycle Motivated Copenhagen.
The Authorities have slipped up ,they should have forced the Issue and Presented a few Thousand Bikes and banned Car use. That is the whole Point of this Climate Conference to lessen Global Warming, Start by Example.
I have heard a load of Climate Camp Activists from different Countries are going to CPH on their Bikes to Protest.
All this stuff about Electro Bikes,this is all Big Business trying to Publicise these Bikes. I have no problem with them per se ,so long as the Electricity is made in an Environmental Way. It is also a way of Elderly People to get around.
That is interesting News about the 400,000 Bikes being Scrapped each Year. A good Place to buy a Bike at a Cheap Price.
I love my pedal electric bike. I go for more rides, and go further. I also get up hills more easily, and on the beach it lets me fly across the top of the sand rather than sink in. It was one of those nice moments when a guy getting pulled on his skateboard by wind, and I on my hydroelectric and wind generated electric bike passed each other and said hello on a big, wide open and otherwise empty beach. I think we were both enjoying life that day.
Commuting at 30km/hr instead of 20 km/hr might mean a lot more people can choose to ride instead of drive and the electricity used is quite trivial. I can ride 100km before I'm tired instead of 60km and when I am tired I stop pedalling, but the bike doesn't stop.
For the old, or disabled, and for anyone else I recommend them. Pedal electric bikes are very, very cool, and it's another piece of the puzzle in de-automobiling our cities.
Mine has some panniers and I do my shopping in it. I can chuck my camping gear in too and go off adventuring, except there is nowhere to plug in the battery when I camp.
That's really not enough...they should provide more.
@le homme au velo: your ID should be l'homme au velo instead.
I totally agree with your point of view. 140 bikes probebly provide for a nice photo opportunity. But that is not what it's about. Copenhagen has the ultimate opportunity not only to host the conference about Climate and everything related, but the city can show how easy it is to navigate a city on a bike.
Suggestion; Give all taxi drivers a week off. With full pay....
140 bikes is ridiculous.
*speechless*
I can see a problem, though. Berlusconi plus Danish cycling girls is asking for trouble.
I'm not surprised at the demand for e-bikes. Last week the Spanish Vuelta had its start in Holland and prior to it there was a "Vuelta for amateurs". Thousands turned up, among them many local politicians, including of course those of the GreenLeft party. The GreenLeftists were the ones to ride e-bikes, even advertising the fact. In Holland where every car owner also has at least one bike, and uses it!
DIY - That's right Do It Yourself! Organize a donate a bike day, and volunteers to fix them. What can the officials do if there are a thousand bikes lined up on the street with signs saying they are free to the delegates. Go for it, guerrilla bicycle advocacy!
JohnBike
Mikael, you are usually so calm and level-headed in your way of communicating your opinion - so it is a BIG DEAL when you write so vehemently on a subject - and rightly so, this is a total DISGRACE. For cyclists like us in other less bike-friendly cities (London) we hold Copenhagen up as an example to our leaders... who will all be there for COP15 - we NEED Copenhagen to deliver so our ministers come home to us with the right message; so you see it is a big issue. When news like this comes along it is all too easy to role one's eyes and accept it, but in this case something has to be done - I won't rest until I see Obama on a bike with Michelle sitting on the pannier rack! Let us know what we can do from out here in cyberspace mate; I am sure many of your readers would join me in helping to write letters to the organizers (or even to our own ministers asking them to ask that a bike be made available for their visit.) Whatever about the electric bikes, but 140 push bikes at the World's biggest climate conference in the world's most bike-friendly city is an insult to anyone who is working hard to advocate for cycling around the world.
Should we bring our own ;-)?
(Dutch Cycling Union)
Hey guys the answer is forming!
The DIY idea is excellent!
Get as many bikes down there to donate to the delegates as you can. What a great idea.
Make sure you grab any Australians who turn up mistakenly thinking they're at a "Clean Coal" seminar.
They'll be the ones hopping into the closest thing they can find to whatever an American is driving but with a sticker on the back saying Carbon Offset!
Pretty miserly, I agree. Each delegate should get a COP15-logo'd Strida (or similar-scale folding bike) as part of their packet, with planned tours, and either an offer for them to take them home with them - or donate to local charitable causes.
I hope a DIY armada can set up a full-scale COP15 bikeshare from the recovered discards.
Thanks Anonymous,I will try and correct it on the Blog.
I don't really think most cyclists of any age need an electric bicycle in a city such as Copenhagen that is not very hilly. E-bikes can be useful for people with cardiac conditions or with joint problems, when climbing hills, but in general gentle exercise (such as cycling at urban speeds on flat or gently rolling terrain) is GOOD for circulatory and joint complaints. I'm about the same age as Sarko and Merkel and have some arthritis and I ride everywhere, including our hills (I do have a six-speed Raleigh Sprite) - it is imperative to strengthen our muscles to help our joints, if not the condition gets worse.
Ha, actually I'd rather see Merkel on the bicycle with Sarko in the cargo basket! And I'm sure Michelle Obama, an athletic type, would rather be on her own bicycle.
Not all disabled people can use an electric bicycle either. Some have balance problems and need an adult trike, and paraplegics who have the arm strength use hand-powered cycles. I know a fellow who cycled through the hilly "Eastern Townships" (Estrie) area in Southern Québec just north of Vermont with one of those.
I know some ecology activists in Amsterdam who are planning to ride to Copenhagen, though it could be a blustery ride indeed up along the cold sea.
By the way, l'homme, it could be "l'homme à vélo" or "l'homme au vélo" in French. The former is more common as when you are riding you are "à bicyclette" as in the famous Yves Montand song in which he lusts after "Paulette". "L'homme au vélo" is the man with a bicycle, meaning he owns it or that he is walking along with it.
Place au vélo! La ville, la vie à vélo!
This sounds like politics as usual in my country. Every great idea gets eventually crushed under the weight of an obese bureaucracy and overwhelming apathy. In fact, apathy is Canada's greatest export.
Why not get them a load of conference bikes instead? they'd save millions in office space!
But most of the bikes will probably not be used for anything but photo-ops, I couldn't imagine anyone who requires body guards to bike from meeting to meeting.
I am surprised that they did not insist on helmets...
Apart from that this is just the normal insanity of europe regarding bicycles. In Regensburg, Germany, where cycling accounts for 21% of all trips (and cars for 44%), the city is proud to have parking space for 300 bikes in the historic center - while, at the same time, providing more than 10.000 spaces for cars in the same place.
Maybe you should stick to blogging about cycling in Copenhagen and leave politics to those who understand it.
You failed to understand the value of a political gesture. What matters is that the bikes are photographed--and thus included in the worldwide coverage. It doesn't matter how many are actually ridden, since there was no way to provide bikes for so many delegates.
Show some flexibility. The cycling community doesn't need you attacking the bike program just because your impractical proposals were not adapted.
include your name and I might actually bother considering your rant. being anonymous is sooo 2004.
although i'm curious to hear who this mythical 'cycling community' is. we don't seem to have one. merely the road safety council and their 'friends'.
but not to worry. plans are underway for a project that will upstage this nonsensical 'gesture'.
"...plans are underway for a project that will upstage this nonsensical 'gesture'."
In other words, since these people don't wish to include your proposals, we can look forward to cyclists attacking other cyclists in the name of promoting cycling.
Felix Krull
attacking? odd choice of words. some people are content with a little windmill in the garden, others would rather see an offshore wind farm.
the power of the bicycle as a symbol of sustainability and commitment to reversing climate change should not be underrated.
some people are just better at marketing than others. when the goal is as big as it is, bigger is better when getting the message across.
"some people are just better at marketing than others."
And some people are willing to undermine an excellent opportunity to promote cycling just because their schemes were not implemented.
Felix Krull
lol. i can't get too cranky with you, felix, since i have son by the same name.
Hey! What about 140 Helmets to be shared with 140 Bicycles. :)
They are to be considered, ya!
It would probably be wiser to provide motorist helmets, given the increase in car traffic during the conference and the higher risk of head injury associated with driving. All those police-escorted convoys ferrying heads of state around.
And pedestrian helmets for the increase in pedestrian traffic. That's logic.
what's with the sexism? iconic Dnish cycling girls?? screw you.
lol. what's with the rudeness? the iconic 'cykelpiger' or cycling girls are a strong cultural element from the very first days of Bicycle Culture 1.0.
You can read more about it here.
Celebrated in art, song, literature and poetry for more than a century. It still lives on.
So instead of calling it 'sexist', try learning about culture. And sexist, in one of the world's leading gender equality nations. Giggle.
Well if I go to Copenhagen as an activist I will bring my own bike!
If this is the response of a relatively progressive country, what chance is there for those delegates to hammer out a deal that remotely reflects the demands of physical reality this December.
I despair to think.
"flattest capitol in Europe" ???
Ha! I almost snorted water out my nose when I read that! :)
You must be forgetting Vesterbrogade (especially near the Zoo), Ingerslevsgade, Frederiksberg Alle, Bernstorffsgade (between Tivoli and the Central Train station), H C Andersens Boulevard, Vester Voldgade (heck, just about any road going from the harbor to Nørre Voldgade is uphill), both bridges crossing the harbor into Amager, Grønningen (heading towards Osterport), Folke Bernadottes Alle (along the Kastellet), the Langelinie roads near the Mermaid, Godthabsvej (near Grøndal Station), nearly *any* road within 1 km of the Fredrikssundvejtunnel, the section of Ørestads Boulevard next to Amager Fælled is a small climb/descent but it feels steeper it on a very windy day, and lastly we cannot forget Tagensvej, which is a fun (mostly downhill) rollercoaster from the Bispebjerg Hospital to the Rosenborg Castle.
Copenhagen is *not* flat, by any stretch of the imagination! :D
(edit: ok, ok, I can accept it to be the flattest 'capitol' in Europe, but even that is misleading people to think that Cph is actually 'flat'.)
Otherwise, (sorry I forgot to note that I can't re-edit my posts) I agree that these people obviously didn't think your ideas through. It just means more revenue for us rickshaw drivers! :)
Post a Comment