Countdown to Copenhagen

With a week until the start of Velo-City Global Conference organizers in Copenhagen released the final announcement of speakers and events. Regular blog readers know we’re quite fond of Copenhagen here. From my vacation last fall, Andy’s trip to the COP 15 Summit, and to Copenhagen’s Bicycle Coordinator Andreas Røhl’s presentation at the 2009 National Bike Summit, we’ve definitely done our share of highlighting the success of one of the world’s greatest bicycling cities. Now, we can’t claim to be the city’s biggest fan – our good friend Mikael at Copenhagenize.com definitely beats us hands down, which is why we’ll be partnering with him for some fun events during the Conference. Stay tuned to both our blog and his next week to follow the action.

The trip isn’t all fun – we’ll be working too. We’ll not only share League programs and our own home-grown cycling success stories, but also learning best practices in innovative designs, education and encouragement programs from colleagues around the globe. Part of my homework for the trip is to read the Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility in Europe. This report, part of the FHWA International Technology Scanning Program, looks at six successful European cycling cities, including Copenhagen. It presents programs and best practices that are working across all 5 E’s, some of which are currently being followed here in the US, while others are on their way. It’s a good read.