Two Copenhagen mayors have called a roundtable meeting with bike rental companies, hotels, tourism organizations and safety experts to address what they describe as “summer chaos on the cycle paths” caused by tourist cyclists.
The initiative comes from Andreas Keil (Social Democrats), mayor for employment, integration and business, and Line Barfod (Red-Green Alliance), mayor for climate, environment and technology. Both sit on Copenhagen’s City Council. The plan was announced in a press release and reported by DR on August 7.
No date has been set for the meeting, according to DR. The stated aim is to bring the industries that put tourists on bicycles into the same room as safety experts. Keil said tourists are welcome to see the city from the saddle, but that it must happen in a way that feels safe for people who live in Copenhagen all year.
What the mayors are proposing
Per DR’s reporting, Barfod wants more wide cycle tracks and safer school routes across the city. She also argues that safety can be improved by preparing tourists better before they enter traffic. She described the goal as giving visitors a helping hand into Copenhagen cycling, so that the paths become safer both for tourists and for everyone else.
The two mayors are at the same time asking Copenhageners to show more patience in traffic. DR notes that cycling tourists are frequently criticized by locals on the city’s cycle paths. The outlet also reports that it and other Danish media have covered problems in Copenhagen’s cycle traffic over the past several months.
An earlier survey conducted by Epinion for the Danish Road Safety Council found that 32 percent of cyclists in Copenhagen saw cycling tourists as a traffic-safety problem to a high or very high degree. DR cites the survey without giving its year. The figure is used by the mayors as part of the case for acting now.
The Danish Road Safety Council has already started a campaign in the cityscape and on social media, according to DR. It gives tourists an overview of the rules they are expected to follow while cycling in Denmark. Flyers have been placed in hotels setting out the cycling rules and the various hand signals used by Danish cyclists.
Why the issue is being raised now
DR links the timing to the summer season, when large numbers of tourists travel to Denmark and the capital. That shifts the composition of cycle traffic, bringing many inexperienced road users onto the network at once. The mayors’ move follows months of media attention to conditions on the city’s cycle paths, alongside the Road Safety Council’s ongoing information campaign.
Copenhagen has taken other steps aimed at visitor pressure, including a decision to block 13 hotel projects.
