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Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

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Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#61

Post by maelito »

prmoustache wrote: post #51
maelito wrote: post #22

Ranking Bordeaux and Nantes next to Amsterdam is nonsense. Amsterdam is miles ahead in terms of infrastructure. This ranking dilutes the most important thing to get these results : good bike lancés everywhere with no discontinuity. Disclaimer : I've built villes.plus, an open source automated evaluation of bike lanes. 100 points, compute itineraries in "secure" mode with Brouter between these points, count the % of s…

I can't speak about Nantes which I haven't visited for decades but I think it is wrong to count bikes lanes as a single parameter. Dutch urbanists have found that bike lanes are very important when streets used by cars are unaltered. Once you implement a lot of traffic calming features and cars never reach 30kph comfortably, bike lanes aren't that important and then streets can be shared across all users.

> it is wrong to count bikes lanes as a single parameter.

Of course it is. See % of safe km as a minimal condition, not as perfection.

Note that bike lane ! = safe km. You're right. There are bad bike lanes and good peaceful streets. See other comment for algorithm.

20 km/h streets are counted.

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#62

Post by vlabakje90 »

petermcneeley wrote: post #27

It is currently -1 to -3 in Montreal and -2 to -7 in Quebec (city). So yes folks literally freezing. It will remain so (down to -35) for the next 4 months.

Is was like that in the Netherlands about a week ago. It really doesn't make a difference.

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#63

Post by petermcneeley »

breuleux wrote: post #45
petermcneeley wrote: post #27

It is currently -1 to -3 in Montreal and -2 to -7 in Quebec (city). So yes folks literally freezing. It will remain so (down to -35) for the next 4 months.

Eh, biking in the cold isn't really worse than walking in the cold. The snow is a bigger issue.

The alternative is not walking :)

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#64

Post by prmoustache »

mongol wrote: post #23

The biggest hurdle to biking for me is parking safely. Unless I can park it behind locked doors I have an anxious feeling that it may not be still there when I return. This is no problem when bicycling to work, but for arbitrary errands it is. A good lock helps of course, but it still feels like a gamble.

I always kept my bicycle inside my office. I also found out that if you ask politely, many shops allows you to enter with your bike provided there is enough space.

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#65

Post by petermcneeley »

vlabakje90 wrote: post #62
petermcneeley wrote: post #27

It is currently -1 to -3 in Montreal and -2 to -7 in Quebec (city). So yes folks literally freezing. It will remain so (down to -35) for the next 4 months.

Is was like that in the Netherlands about a week ago. It really doesn't make a difference.

Ah well that settles it then! Im going to tell the female lawyer I know to stop taking her car and instead buy gear and a bike so she can bike in the freezing cold for 20 minutes to get to her job where she also has to dress as a lawyer. No problem just pack a bag of clothes in a pack + all other workthings and then don artic style gear. So much fun!

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#66

Post by prmoustache »

petermcneeley wrote: post #54
TulliusCicero wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oulu Finland has plenty of biking in the winter, despite its extreme northern latitude. It's about infrastructure and investment.

In Vancouver this mostly works because it is cold but not cold enough. There are only a few days where it is very sketchy. The rest of Canada is not like this.

Studded tires. This is an investment but it works. Caveat is you need space to store them on a second set of wheels or bike because you don't want to ride them all year long so it is not for everyone.

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#68

Post by jeroenhd »

sandworm101 wrote: post #42
heresie-dabord wrote: post #12

Bicycling is part of the mobility culture of Montreal, but whether Montreal is actually friendly to bicyclists is open to heated debate. Cars dominate the topology.

Montreal's city leaders might be friendly. Its climate is not. Once the snow falls, the number of bicycle commuters plummets towards zero. Paris, vancouver, the netherlands ... they have stable climates condusive to bike use. At -10 it isnt the cars that will cause a crash, it is the physics of a two rubber wheels trying to navigate on ice. Also, Quebec is not a city. The city is called "Quebec City" just as how New…

> the number of bicycle commuters plummets towards zero

That's proof that there's either a lot of progress to be made, or the local culture just isn't as tolerant to the cold.

Cycling around -10 works just fine if the roads have been taken care of (which, in your example, doesn't seem to be case, as apparently they're covered in ice).

With decent infrastructure, the difference between cycling 10 degrees above and 10 degrees below freezing is a matter of outfit.

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#69

Post by heresie-dabord »

betaby wrote: post #36
heresie-dabord wrote: post #12

Bicycling is part of the mobility culture of Montreal, but whether Montreal is actually friendly to bicyclists is open to heated debate. Cars dominate the topology.

> 'Bicycling is part of the mobility culture' That's a very {Plateau,reddit,no-kids}-centric view.

It's evident that people use bicycles in Montreal -- TFA itself attests this.

But if your point is that North American cities all tend to have the same downtown/suburban contrasts, you are quite right.

People who live $Downtown usually have walkable neighbourhoods and perhaps even access to underground transit. People who live outside the centre of the city mostly end up depending on a private vehicle.

Bicycles are part of the mobility culture in Montreal. But Car Cancer has the same effect everywhere.

Re: Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities

#70

Post by sandworm101 »

jeroenhd wrote: post #68
sandworm101 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Montreal's city leaders might be friendly. Its climate is not. Once the snow falls, the number of bicycle commuters plummets towards zero. Paris, vancouver, the netherlands ... they have stable climates condusive to bike use. At -10 it isnt the cars that will cause a crash, it is the physics of a two rubber wheels trying to navigate on ice. Also, Quebec is not a city. The city is called "Quebec City" just as how New…

> the number of bicycle commuters plummets towards zero That's proof that there's either a lot of progress to be made, or the local culture just isn't as tolerant to the cold. Cycling around -10 works just fine if the roads have been taken care of (which, in your example, doesn't seem to be case, as apparently they're covered in ice). With decent infrastructure, the difference between cycling 10 degrees above and 10…

Ice isnt a product of cold. It is actually rare on roads in the high north. Ice requires melting and re-freezing, and gets more slippery when wet. Ice is a problem when the weather bounces back and forth around freezing. Each city will be very different, but those near the great lakes are famously impacted by ice storms. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ice_storms
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