TRAFFIC IN COPENHAGEN 2008 3 Preface Dear reader You are now holding ”Traffic in Copenhagen, 2008” in your The traffic trial in Nørrebrogade can scarcely have passed hands! This is a publication that attempts to provide a cohe- anyone by. The theme describes the biggest traffic engineer- sive overview of the results from traffic counts, and air and ing trial ever undertaken in Copenhagen and the underlying noise measurements collected by the Technical and Environ- concepts. At the heart of this trial is prioritizing urban life, mental Administration of the City of Copenhagen in 2008. bicycles and public transport over through car traffic. Besides this information, this year’s edition includes two topical themes on subjects we have put a particularly great As in previous editions of this publication, we will be follow- amount of work into. These are the area of cycle parking and ing up the 20 areas of commitment from the Traffic and En- the “traffic trial” in Nørrebrogade. vironmental Action Plan from 2004. What happened in 2008? The cycle parking theme deals with the 5,000-plus new cycle parking spaces added around the city, and the way we have I hope you will find the publication easy and enjoyable to tidied up often chaotic facilities for bicycles so that we are read, and that it will provide you with answers to any ques- now able to offer options and amenities to support and de- tions you may have about traffic in Copenhagen. velop the cycling culture for which Copenhagen is so well- known, and rightly so. Copenhagen, May 2009 Niels Tørslev Director of Department City of Copenhagen Technical and Environmental Administration Traffic Department Contents Masthead Cycle traffic ........................................................................... page 3 Published by: City of Copenhagen Technical and Environmental Administration Car traffic .............................................................................. page 4 Copenhagen Traffic Department Public transport .................................................................... page 6 Islands Brygge 37 DK-2300 Copenhagen S The traffic trial in Nørrebrogade ........................................... page 7 Editorial: Copenhagen Traffic Department, Cycle parking ......................................................................... page 8 Environment Department, and COWI A/S Layout: COWI A/S Traffic safety ......................................................................... page 9 Pictures: Cover photo: Ulrik Jantzen, photos on pages 7 and 12: Noise and air pollution ......................................................... page 10 Marie Louise Brandt, photo on page 8: Troels Heinen, other photos: City of Copenhagen 2004 Traffic and Environment Plan – status ........................ page 12 Base map: City of Copenhagen, Technical and Environmental Administration Printing: Jønsson Grafisk Produktion ApS. Printed on Galerie Art Silk. Environmental: Swan mark printed item, ISO 14001 Translation: ad Astra Translators - www.ad-astra.dk Circulation: 500 2 Cycle traffic Cycle traffic is a central partof the overall traffic scene in 2008 saw the publication of a free Cycle Map and operation- Copenhagen and there are ambitious targets for its develop- alization of www.ibikecph.dk, so that Copenhageners now ment in the run-up to 2015 (the Eco-metropole). have a forum in which they can discuss and develop the cy- cling culture in Copenhagen. With the construction of new cycle tracks, cycle lanes and green cycling routes (incl. ”Åbuen”, the architecturally dra- Internationally, there is still great interest in Copenhagen as matic cycling bridge) in 2008, Copenhagen now has 338 kilo- the world’s best city for cyclists. Even greater interest is ex- metres of cycle tracks, 19 km cycle lanes and 39 km green pected in conjunction with the Climate Change Conference in cycling routes. In addition, cycling has been permitted over a Copenhagen at the end of 2009. 2 km section along the inner-city lakes. Cycle tracks have been installed on Folke Bernadottes Allé, Index of total cycle traffic work Nørre Voldgade and part of Hillerødgade. Shorter stretches 160 of cycle track have also been built on Sundkrogsgade, Freder- 150 iksborgvej and Enghavevej. 140 130 The Nørrebro Cycle Route was expanded in 2008 to include a 120 cycling and walking bridge, ”Åbuen”, across Ågade, thereby creating an attractive linkage between the districts of Nør- 110 rebro and Frederiksberg. 100 90 Three intersections have been improved, including shortish 80 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 sections of cycle track: Jarmers Plads, Englandsvej and Grøn- dals Parkvej/Jernbane Allé. At a large number of intersec- Development in total traffic work (no. of km ridden) on a bicycle tions, the stop line for cars has been withdrawn so that mo- from 1990 to 2008. torists can more easily see cyclists intending to go straight on. Total cycle traffic during the daytime Across the lake cross-section Across the municipal border The cycle link in Strædet between the City Hall Square and 200,000 Kongens Nytorv is complete, with a contra-flow track having 180,000 been created in Lille Kongensgade and a contra-flow lane in 160,000 Store Kirkestræde. In addition, a cycle lane has been set up 140,000 120,000 on Enghavevej up to Vesterbrogade. 100,000 80,000 The next step will be cycle tracks on Stormgade, Carl Jakob- 60,000 sens Vej and Øresundsvej, scheduled for completion during 40,000 2009-10. 20,000 0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 The development in cycle traffic work – i.e. the number of kilometres ridden on a bicycle – has risen more than 50% Development in cycle traffic from 1990 to 2008. from 1990 to 2008. There has been a slight drop from 2007 to 2008, but the level has been virtually constant since 2003. 3 Car traffic The overall development in car traffic work (no. of km driven) Index of total car traffic work in Copenhagen shows an increase of about 20% from 1990 to 150 2008. The increase has centered mainly on the largest of the Entire road network 140 Regional roads roads, while there have been no major changes to distributor Distributor streets 130 streets and district streets in recent years. The City of Copen- District streets hagen has revised its road network plan and, among other 120 things, introduced a new type of road: lightly trafficked, 110 main shopping streets. In the years ahead, the traffic counts 100 will be spread out according to the new road network plan. 90 From 2007 to 2008, the volume of traffic on the road net- work as a whole has remained virtually unchanged. 80 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Over the past 10-15 years, car ownership among Copenhage- Development in overall traffic work (no. of km driven) in a car ners has risen. The number of private passenger cars was from 1990 to 2008. 21% higher in 2007 than in 1999. From 2006 to 2007 there was an increase of slightly over 4% in the number of private cars in Copenhagen. Regional roads Distributor streets District streets STATION The City Authority’s major roads broken down by road type. 4 In 2007 there were some 180 privately owned cars per 1,000 Number of privately owned cars inhabitants in the municipality. Nationwide, the equivalent 100,000 figure is over 300. Thus there are still far fewer cars per in- 90,000 habitant in Copenhagen than in the rest of the country, but the number is rising. 80,000 70,000 The increase in car ownership has put great pressure on 60,000 street parking. Partly for this reason, the City of Copenhagen adopted a parking strategy in 2005, one result being the 50,000 opening in 2008 of a municipal parking facility for the public 40,000 and the start of building work on three fully automated un- 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 derground parking installations. Development in the number of privately owned cars in the City of Copenhagen from 1990 to 2007. Figures for 2008 have not yet Car traffic is not growing evenly throughout the municipality. been computed. One cross-section, where the roads cross the municipal bor- der, has seen growth well in excess of 30% since 1990. From 2007 to 2008 the volume of traffic fell marginally, so that Total car traffic in daytime hours Across the municipal border Across the lake cross-section traffic in 2008 was on a par with traffic in 2005. Car traffic 600,000 across the lake cross-section, where the roads cross the lakes and the port, has remained virtually unchanged from 1990 to 500,000 2008. Since 2002, however, there has been a slight down- 400,000 trend. 300,000 The proportion of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) varies from 200,000 section to section. At the municipal border and the lake 100,000 cross-section that proportion is around 6% in 2008. The heavy traffic at both the municipal border and the lake cross- 0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 section has generally been on the decline since 2000. From 2007 to 2008 there was a drop of about 3% for the municipal Development in car traffic, 1990-2008. border and about 7% for the lake cross-section HGVs during daytime hours Across the lake cross-section Across the municipal border 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Every year the municipality counts the traffic at the Development in the number of HGVs, 2000-2008. Figures from lake cross-section and the municipal border. previous years have not been computed. 5 Public transport On a normal weekday, public transport takes more than The number of Metro passengers in the City of Copenhagen 700,000 passengers in the City of Copenhagen. Public trans- has risen by 15% from 2007 to 2008. The increase is prima- port is accessible from about 1,200 bus stops and 40 sta- rily due to general growth in passengers, but the opening of tions to trains, metropolitan S-trains and the Metro.