Copenhagen’s lord mayor, Sisse Marie Welling (SF), wants fewer electric shared bicycles in the city and has proposed a kind of bike licence and mandatory helmets for tourists.
Welling set out the proposals in a social media post on Monday, DR reports. She says there are 13,000 electric shared bikes in Copenhagen today, and that the development is going in the wrong direction.
According to DR, Welling argues that more people are being killed or injured in traffic accidents involving e-bikes. She writes that tourists are welcome in the city, but should not create insecurity in traffic.
One possible solution, she says, is a short introduction to the most important traffic rules before a tourist is handed a bicycle. Welling calls this a kind of bike licence. She also wants tourists to wear helmets, which she notes would require a legislative change at Christiansborg.
BT adds that Welling has told TV 2 the bikes should only be unlockable after users complete a course in traffic rules. That expands the licence idea into a technical lock on the rental bikes themselves.
Municipal meeting on Thursday
The Employment, Integration and Business Administration in Copenhagen Municipality meets on Thursday about challenges with foreign tourists on bicycles, DR reports. As stated by the administration in a press statement cited by Tidende, business mayor Andreas Keil (S) and technical and environmental mayor Line Barfod (EL) called the round-table meeting. Participants include bike rental companies, tourism bodies and safety experts.
Per Årets Kok, the two mayors have also invited hotels and other tourism stakeholders to help get visitors safely onto the cycle paths. The safety discussion is therefore running across several parts of city government.
Not everyone backs the licence idea. Klaus Bondam, director of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation, told Tidende earlier this month that a bike licence for tourists would be very hard to enforce and control. He suggested stricter requirements for the rental companies instead.
The number of rental bikes has grown quickly. Turistmonitor reported that in early 2025 there were 9,420 rental bicycles without fixed rental locations in Copenhagen. KøbenhavnLiv reported in July 2026 that permits have been issued for up to 15,000 rental bicycles in the city.
Efforts to inform visitors are already under way. DR notes that the Council for Safe Traffic has previously tried to prepare tourists for cycling in Copenhagen, including guidance on local cycling rules. Neither DR nor BT publishes accident figures behind Welling’s claim about injuries and deaths.
