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Copenhagenize Index 2025: The Global Ranking of Bicycle-Friendly Cities
- smyk1777 10mo agogreat website, very helpful for traveling cyclists
- aallaall 10mo agoOf course it helps if the city, and country in general, is completely flat. Cities in Norway or Nepal have mother nature against all form of manual locomotion.
- mperham 10mo agoAre you a time traveler from 2010 who's never heard of e-bikes?
- aallaall 10mo agoDo you think it’s a coincidence that the top two countries are completely flat?
- mperham 10mo agoNo, but I think it’s because e-bikes have only come into widespread use in the last decade. It takes decades to build high quality infrastructure and those countries are the ones that could make bikes work for the general population before e-bikes were available.
- noveltyaccount 10mo agoIn Copenhagen, the vast majority of people park their bikes on the street using only a cafe lock (frame mounted, immobilizes the rear wheel). The bikes are generally nothing special, old rusty junkers, with one or three gears. E-bikes flatten terrain but also you need an indoor place to store it and they become a magnet for theft. A cheap bike you can ride to the Metro and leave in the elements is versatile in a way e-bikes are not. (I say all this as a massive e-bike fan living in a very hilly US city who recently visited Copenhagen and adored its bike culture.)
- mmoll 10mo agoWe once rented bikes in Copenhagen, they all looked like they were fresh from the junk yard. We had to try several to find ones where at least one of the brakes was still working. It was a horrible experience, and we tried several different places. That was after we found out that the public bikes that were supposed to be available all over the city had all been stolen.
- UltraSane 10mo agoE-bikes make this much less of an issue.
- aallaall 10mo agoNo, E-bikes doesn’t make this much less of an issue.
- UltraSane 10mo agoYes they do. If they don't you need a more powerful e-bike. Try a 750 watt or higher.
- Toutouxc 10mo agoFor me personally charging and keeping e-bike batteries in the apartment is a source of stress. I do keep and charge my drone and FPV plane batteries at home, even DIY ones, but e-bike batteries are much bigger and harder to chuck out of the window in case something goes wrong. I actually got rid of my e-scooter because of that, I just didn’t trust it.
- UltraSane 10mo agoThat is a very reasonable concern. My apartment has 8 sprinklers so I park my e-bike right beneath one. You can get a e-bike with a removable battery and store it in a fireproof box
- analog31 10mo agoActually, I don't think it's a huge coincidence that a lot of cities are relatively flat, because they tended to develop near larger bodies of water. Oslo is #18 on that list, not too shabby. Kathmandu is in a valley.
- emilbratt 10mo agoIn Trondheim, Norway we have the famous bycicle lift. :) https://youtu.be/zipZ5kwhFfs?si=2kEsb-7wEpcS2Vkn https://youtu.be/zipZ5kwhFfs?si=2kEsb-7wEpcS2Vkn
- mnky9800n 10mo agoI think Norway is more about being comfortable riding in the cold on spiked tires. The hills of Oslo don’t bother you after a couple months of riding them.
- analog31 10mo agoI'm in Wisconsin, and I just got the bike with spiked tires out today. Even if there's not a lot of snow, I prefer to sacrifice one bike to road salt than have to maintain my "nice" bike through the winter. People act like I'm some kind of freak when I arrive at work on my bike in the middle of the winter. But I remind them that there are people who work all day outdoors in places like Alaska and Canada, and 20 minutes on a bike doesn't even come close.
- mnky9800n 10mo agoThis is how I feel about riding in the rain to work. Like yes you get wet but also are you unable to get wet? If you want, wear rain clothes so you stay dry. And if it’s really pouring just wait half an hour or take the bus if you can’t wait. Just plan to ride every day and be okay with the days when life won’t let you.
- analog31 10mo agoI think what happens is when people have a routine outdoor activity, they develop a sense of their local weather, that seems like a mystery if one isn't regularly immersed in it. Also, some subtle adaptations make it easier, such as wearing quick drying clothes or having an emergency change at work. Now, I do have the luxury of flexible hours at my workplace, but (for instance) my daughter doesn't, and she manages just fine.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- DonHopkins 10mo agoOn my first visit to Amsterdam, my friend picked me up on a bike at Centraal Station, and I rode to his apartment in the traditional Dutch style sitting on the back rack. On the way said "only three more mountains to go till we're home"! I asked "WTF?" and he explained that's what they call the bridges over the canals. This is one of the intersections we went through right after one of the mountains, showing how much the local culture affects the traffic safety and bicycle friendliness as much as the geography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqQSwQLDIK8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqQSwQLDIK8
- bethekidyouwant 10mo agolol wpadmin
- allannienhuis 10mo agoyes, seems the site is completely broken and I suspect someone is in the middle of a panicked reinstall or reconfigure of WP. I feel for them. [edit] back up now, it seems.
- mikestew 10mo agoback up now, it seems. Says you, I clicked 22 minutes after you posted, and got the WP install page. Like you, I sympathize; no one deserves this on their Saturday. I clicked again, though, to get a repro and it was back. :shrug:
- bgnn 10mo agoI'm not surprised to see Utrecht in the first place, but quite a bit surprised to see the other Dutch cities so low. No offense, but Rotterdam or The Heague is 100x better than Paris from safety and convenience point of view. I'm curious why is the ranking like this.
- piva00 10mo agoHow did you even manage to see the page? I just clicked on it and got to WPAdmin install page, asking to setup the admin account. Completely agree with you, I've traveled with my bike to many cities in Europe, the Netherlands in general has a fantastic bike infrastructure, not even sure why it's called "Copenhagenize" since I go to Copenhagen quite often and compared to Dutch's bike infrastructure it's still not on par to it. It's definitely great but the Dutch have it ahead.
- usrnm 10mo agoI've lived in both cities and I'm surprised to see Utrecht above Amsterdam. Both are great, but I'd say Amsterdam is actually more bike-centered
- ErroneousBosh 10mo ago"Welcome to the famous five-minute WordPress installation process! Just fill in the information below and you’ll be on your way to using the most extendable and powerful personal publishing platform in the world." Ooops.
- heresie-dabord 10mo agoBicycling 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.
- spooky_deep 10mo ago100%. Only a North American could consider Montreal bike friendly.
- betaby 10mo agoMontreal is bike friendly in comparison with Paris. Personal opinion of course.
- spooky_deep 10mo agoParis is not bike friendly (much better than a decade ago of course)
- werdnapk 10mo agoI really enjoy biking in Quebec city. I don't have as much experience with Montreal, but I can see how QC is a top spot.
- betaby 10mo ago> 'Bicycling is part of the mobility culture' That's a very {Plateau,reddit,no-kids}-centric view.
- heresie-dabord 10mo agoIt'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.
- spooky_deep 10mo agoWhy the Copenhagenize Index when Copenhagen is not particularly bike friendly by Dutch standards?
- usrnm 10mo agoIt's even more hilarious to see Paris in top 5
- lifty 10mo agoThey hold themselves in high regard but Copenhagen doesn’t hold a candle to most Dutch cities. And for that matter, very few cities can compare themselves to the Dutch biking infrastructure, without even mentioning the cultural aspects and acceptance by other traffic participants.
- aleda145 10mo agoI went to Copenhagen this summer. I was quite disappointed in the bicycle infrastructure, I felt like it was on par with what we have in Stockholm. Rented bikes and biked around for two days. It was nice! Not sure how this index is being calculated (site breaks a lot), but my general feeling was that Denmark is just better at marketing than actual infrastructure when comparing to Stockholm at least
- maelito 10mo agoRanking 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 secured km -> score. Amsterdam tops at 8/10. Bordeaux is at 3/10, Nantes 2/10. https://villes.plus/cyclables/Amsterdam?id=271110 https://villes.plus/cyclables/Amsterdam?id=271110 https://villes.plus/cyclables/Nantes.8 https://villes.plus/cyclables/Nantes.8
- throwaway198846 10mo agoWhat does it mean to be "secure"?
- maelito 10mo agohttps://github.com/laem/villes.plus/blob/master/isSafePath.js https://github.com/laem/villes.plus/blob/master/isSafePath.j... Feel free to suggest a better algorithm ! It's version 2, issues already discuss missing important OSM tags.
- noobcoder 10mo agoFun fact Amsterdam recovers roughly 15000 cycles per year from their canal. IIRC they have a board with the number for each year
- prmoustache 10mo agoI 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.
- maelito 10mo ago
- mongol 10mo agoThe 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.
- teekert 10mo agoIn the Netherlands you just chain it to something then you’re fine. Otherwise it’s gone in 60 seconds.
- mongol 10mo agoIs it really so binary? Locked bikes don't get stolen?
- arccy 10mo agojust a lot less, because there are so many bikes
- usrnm 10mo agoPro tip: just ride an old and rusty omafiets that nobody wants, no need for a chain.
- jeroenhd 10mo agoThat strongly depends on the city and the places you park your bike. I've never needed to chain my bike, although I do it for new bikes because insurance demands it. There are neighborhoods in cities like Amsterdam where bicycle theft is pretty much expected to happen no matter how many locks you buy, but in smaller towns there's barely a need to lock your bike at all during the day.
- prmoustache 10mo agoI 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.
- petermcneeley 10mo agoIt 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.
- TulliusCicero 10mo agoOulu Finland has plenty of biking in the winter, despite its extreme northern latitude. It's about infrastructure and investment.
- petermcneeley 10mo agoIn 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.
- prmoustache 10mo agoStudded 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.
- petermcneeley 10mo ago'space to store them on a second set of wheels' This probably explains everything about this discussion. I think im dealing with very poor people (Europeans). I think I have space in my pool shed or my other shed. Worst case I will put them in one of my many empty rooms.
- TulliusCicero 10mo agoAgain, if you'd just look at the example provided: the coldness really isn't the issue. I checked a few major Canadian cities, and Oulu was similar or colder, looked like, and it has plenty of biking going on. Investment is the issue. Cities and countries largely aren't willing to invest anywhere close to the same money into bikes the same way they do cars, and then everyone feigns surprise that this somehow makes biking harder and less popular.
- MeteorMarc 10mo agoOne reason for Utrecht scoring high: it has the largest bicycle parking lot of the world: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2024/08/21/happy-anniversary-to-the-worlds-largest-bicycle-parking-garage/ https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2024/08/21/happy-annivers...
- makeitdouble 10mo agoParis being 5th when biking there is pure chaos compared to many Asian cities makes the ranking look capricious. Paris's City hall is definitely pro bike and a lot of money and effort was poured into infrastructure, but that dosn't suddenly makes it safe or largely adopted. More generally, infrastructure isn't everything. Tokyo small streets with absolutely no markings can be way safer and bike friendlier than a bright lane in the middle of constant car traffic. I'll note the company doing the ranking is based on Paris, so familiarity might hide many of the flaws.
- rixed 10mo agoCame here to say that. I've lived a long time in both Amsteram and Paris, and seeing those two cities close in that ranking call the whole thing into question. For sure, cities couldn't game the metrics used by tha ranking, but I'm sure the metrics definitions have been gamed to make some cities look better. "Usage and Reach" is ranked better for Paris than Amsterdam? But in Amsterdam I can safely and efficiently bicycle from anywhere to anywhere, including across the rings, to the countryside and even to the sea, with the kids, and no fear. In Paris, I would not dare to venture outside of the touristic city center, and even there I would keep an eye on kids.
- fsh 10mo agoI didn't even feel particularly safe as a pedestrian in Tokyo or Osaka. Despite the good public transport, Japanese cities have cars absolutely everywhere, even in tiny streets that should really be pedestrian zones. Paris is much better in my opinion.
- makeitdouble 10mo agoTokyo fundamentally doesn't define pedestrian only zones except in very specific conditions. I get why you'd feel unsafe, but IMHO it's the exact opposite effect: 99% of the streets don't have a sidewalk or anything specific for pedestrian, and thus are pedestrian first. Small kids, dogs, cats, elderlies will be walking in the middle of the street. As a result cars drive way slower than they'd do in Paris and they need to be way more alert to what's happening. Every small street is basically the same as the pedestrian zone in the middle of Paris.
- lifestyleguru 10mo agoYou better learn how to drive bicycle while sleeping because you are not renting or buying any housing in any of these cities.
- jonkoops 10mo agoI always have a laugh when I see Copenhagen brag about its cycling infrastructure (e.g. Scandinavian Airlines declaring it bike-mecca in their flyers). I am very sorry, but it really doesn't come even close to Amsterdam, or most other Dutch cities really. There are a tonne of places where high-volume car traffic still intersects with low-speed bicycle traffic in Copenhagen, a lot of high-speed car roads with painted on lines, instead of actually separated infrastructure. Also, the Netherlands is in its entirety covered in separated infrastructure optimized over decades. Just take a look at how anemic Denmark's infrastructure is outside the cities (https://www.opencyclemap.org/ https://www.opencyclemap.org/).
- jeroenhd 10mo agoNot Just Bikes, the internet famous pro-bike infrastructure enthusiast, voiced their critique on this list a few days ago: https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes/115605190282240272 https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes/11560519028224... The note about Copenhagenize being a consulting firm probably explains why the list is so full of weird and arbitrary choices. At least their method is somewhat open (though I can't find the raw data they used/compensation factors/calculations): https://copenhagenizeindex.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/COPENHAGENIZE-INDEX2025_Report_LDef.pdf https://copenhagenizeindex.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/COP... Things like "usage of cargo bikes", "percentage of women on bikes", "presence of NGOs", "media tone" all make for rather arbitrary outliers depending on how much they weigh in the final score.
- alamortsubite 10mo agoOh The Urbanity! just did a great episode on Victoria, B.C. The city is too small to make this list (pop. ~100K), but the video is worth checking out if you want to feel a little better about the progress of bike infrastructure in N.A. cities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpWm45qting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpWm45qting
- burnt-resistor 10mo agoI've cycled the SF South Bay Area, Davis, Amsterdam, Kinderdijk, Bruge, and Antwerp. Austin TX plants random, worn out, unpainted, leftover, camouflaged concrete shapes that serve no discernible positive purpose in the middle of city streets frequented by motorcycles, pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, and skaters. That's how much of a shit they give about anyone not in a truck or a rented Slingshot. I keep meaning to cycle DC and Portland.
- cindyllm 10mo ago[dead]
- akabalanza 10mo agoTaipei? Are they ever bene there?