Copenhagen installs information screens to alleviate cycling congestion

There are now so many cyclists in Copenhagen that authorities have installed information screens allowing riders to choose routes with the least congestion.

There is barely enough room for all the two-wheeled commuters at peak time, and to alleviate frustration, large screens will explain where the jams are.

“More accessibility is needed for the increasing number of cyclists that unfortunately are fighting for space on cycle lanes,” the head of the city municipality’s technology and environment department, Morten Kabell, told the Danish broadcaster, DR.

“The new information screens give cyclists the opportunity to choose the most traffic-free routes through town,” he said.

Niels Agerholm, a traffic researcher at Aalborg University, added: “It makes a difference. If there is a way through somewhere, then a screen of this kind could get people to change direction.

“And you have to say that, with the amount of cyclists that are in Copenhagen now, we have a congestion problem.”

Despite such apparent success at making Copenhagen a cycling city, it has not finished the job.

The Danish capital hopes to be carbon neutral by 2025, calling on its Intelligent Transport Systems Action Plan to make riding a bike or taking the bus more appealing.

Copenhagen wants to cut bus travel times by 5 to 20 percent, and cycling travel times by 10 percent. It wants to reduce the number of times cyclists have to stop by 10 percent, according to Wired.

To do that, the city is spending $8.9 million installing 380 “intelligent traffic signals” that will spot, and prioritize, buses and bikes.

“These systems will ensure traffic that flows better so that as many people as possible can save time in the greenest possible way,” Morten Kabell, the city’s technical and environmental mayor, told Copenhagenize. “It means that Copenhageners won’t waste time on their way to and from work and that is good business. Copenhagen will be a laboratory where we develop new solutions.”

Morten Kabell said, "In short, these systems will ensure traffic that flows better so that as many people as possible can saave time in the greenest possible way. It means that Copenhageners won't waste time on their way to and from work and that is good business. Copenhagen will be a laboratory where we develop new solutions."