An awesome visual, courtesy of Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize.com, that tells how our mobility models have changed over the years.. In a way it serves a testament to show how much the highway lobby has influenced our society’s transportation preferences, diminishing walking and bicycling over the generations.
A Short History of Traffic Engineering – Image Courtesy: Copenhagenize.com
(Source: Copenhagenize via Treehugger)
Image courtesy: Mikael Colville-Andersen via Copenhagenize.com
This one image says a thousand words, and many of them indicate how a society is thoughtful, accommodative, encouraging and appreciative of its citizens’ efforts to use alternative modes of transportation, even during the punishing winter weather conditions. Our beloved bike blogger, Mikael Colville-Andersen at Copenhagenize.com, writes about the snow-removal practices in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the focus is also given not only to travel lanes for cars and trucks but also for those bike lanes in the city. Copenhagen, as many of us know, has one of the highest number of bicycle commuters, who regularly use these bike lanes to get around the city. You may ask but why snow-removal for bike lanes is a priority in the winter? Here is what Mikael has to say on his blog about this:
The result? Clear channels on which the bicycle traffic can move. Prioritizing the bike lanes is, of course, a great and necessary way to encourage people to ride bicycles all through the year. On the other hand, it is also a practical necessity. If the bicycle lanes weren’t cleared, a whole lot of people on the day after a snowstorm wouldn’t ride.Tens of thousands. They would seek alternatives. Cars, perhaps, but mostly public transport. Imagine the complications of having tens of thousands of people suddenly show up at train stations and bus stops. A logistical nightmare. So keeping the bike lanes clear is an important factor in keeping Copenhagen moving.
Hope other cities, especially the ones in the US (DC/NYC) realize the importance of keeping the snow off the bike lanes. Click here to read Mikael’s blog post and a few more awesome pictures from his collection.
