Bicycles

Let’s forget about the monolithic welfare state for a moment and consider something simpler and more tangible that could also play a role the general level of happiness in a society: the bicycle. Copenhagen is one of the great cycling cities in the world. There are more bikes than people; about half commute to work or school by bike, including reportedly 63% of the members of parliament.

In the morning rush hour, the bike lanes leading downtown are packed up to three rows across with a cross-section of the population: kids on their way to school; women in dresses and high heels; middle-aged men in business suits; thirtysomething guys in full racing outfits who shower and change at the office; young parents taking a toddler in a seat behind or in a cart in front to day-care on the way to work; three-year-olds riding beside a parent with a hand on their shoulder or others cruising ahead themselves through intersections full of pedestrians, buses and merging cyclists. They ride year round unless there’s a foot of fresh snow, in full rain gear when necessary. Headphones are more common than helmets; some carry on an avid conversation with them in full career; others slow down only when they need to read or send a text.

“It’s all good”

When I first moved to the city and joined this movement four years ago, I was amazed at how smoothly it proceeded. It feels like being part of a complex self-organizing system as the streams of riders converge toward the city center, each at her own speed, winding around the slower ones, staying out of the way of the speed demons, signaling dutifully, stopping for busses to unload their passengers, negotiating detours around construction sites, timing the lights. Starting at an early age apparently explains how they adjust instinctively to the obstacles that arise. In Norway, you see toddlers on skis. In Denmark, they’re on bikes. In fact in these four years I’ve never seen a bicycle accident not involving me.

It’s obviously a healthy habit and a brisk wake-up drill, low-impact exercise whose aerobic pace you can dial up as much as you want, and especially convenient for people who otherwise have trouble finding the time. It reduces health care costs for society, including the mental health care costs of depression from inactivity. And of course it reduces traffic congestion, oil consumption, air pollution and CO₂ emissions. Seems like it’s killing a flock of birds with one stone.

Nudging by car haters

But it’s not entirely an accident of Copenhagen’s extreme flatness or the result of a fitness craze or environmental conscience. It also owes something to the unsubtle influence of public policy, or if you prefer, the nanny state. The sales tax on new cars is onerous – 150% (after a recent reduction). The tax on gas is about $2.95 a gallon. The city invests in bike lanes and paths, particularly for commuting. There are bikes available for free or at nominal prices around the city for tourists to use.

The number of parking places has been reduced steadily by the left-leaning Copenhagen City Council, and led by the “mayor” for technical and environmental affairs, the democratic socialists wage a campaign to implement road pricing or rid the city center of cars entirely. You can’t get a driver’s license until the age of 18, and the high tax on cars makes most young people delay buying their first one until they finish college and get a full-time job. Denmark promotes collective traffic heavily – rail service is widespread – but it’s also expensive.

Can’t happen here?

So what can America learn from this phenomenon? The benefits are obvious, particularly considering two of the country’s most distinctive, acute and intractable problems: oil consumption and obesity. As I understand, there is a growing movement in the US to promote cycling. I was surprised to see the number of bike lanes in Manhattan. In Washington, DC, schools, young kids get bike training if they haven’t learned at home. Millennials seem to prefer cities to suburbs and are less attached to the automotive lifestyle than their parents and grandparents.

But of course the distances to destinations are much greater. People who live in a suburban tract far from work, school, the supermarket and everything else face a challenge. Few of the thoroughfares and roads are designed for bikes and may not be very safe or pleasant to ride on. There also seems be an antipathy toward bikes on the part of some motorists. While I was riding for exercise once in Charlottesville, Virginia, a few years ago, two teenage girls in a beat-up Chevy veered close to me, jeering “Get off the road, muthafucka!” There are bound to be some hiccups and fatalities in the transition.