The Office for Cycle Superhighways
Compared to other cycle superhighway initiatives that are coordinated by regional authorities, the organisational structure of the Office for Cycle Superhighways provides unique support to regional cycling progress in the Capital Region of Denmark. The collaboration in Copenhagen has been taking place since 2009 after politicians in the city began discussing how to improve mobility by developing a strategy for cycling across municipal borders. It grew from 15 municipalities to 27, thanks to strong political will and active engagement from municipal planners. The Office is its own entity, made up of five individuals who are employed by the municipalities and the region. They facilitate the collaboration by ensuring a common strategy and concept, while also coordinating communication, branding, and following up with data and results. The work involves a steering committee made up of heads of traffic from all 27 municipalities which meets quarterly to approve the scheduled superhighway work. Furthermore, project groups, made up of cycling planners, engineers, and climate planners (among others) gather for regular meetings to discuss regional priorities. When the planners intend to improve cycling infrastructure, the Office helps them find information and knowledge which they can use to argue their case with local politicians or municipal departments to gain the necessary support. This includes data, user studies, and impact assessments that highlight the benefits of cycle superhighway implementation. They also provide guidelines (such as how to communicate about cycle superhighways to the public and other actors, best practices for linking cycle superhighways to public transport hubs), as well as tools (such as the route assessment tool) to enable effective cycle superhighway planning and implementation. The Office is 65% funded by the region, with municipalities covering the remaining costs. However, when it comes to the infrastructure of the cycle superhighways, the municipalities cover the majority of costs, supported in part by state funding.
Route Assessment Tool
The Office for Cycle Superhighways’ Route Assessment Tool is used by different municipalities to evaluate whether a cycling route meets the recommended design and infrastructure standards for a cycle superhighway as agreed upon by the municipalities in the collaboration. For example, the tool recommends a bidirectional cycle path to maintain a width of at least 3 metres if the estimated peak hour traffic is more than 200 cyclists (and at least 4 metres for more than 1,500 cyclists). This ensures ample room for cyclists travelling both ways, as well as other cyclists to “overtake” at a higher speed. The tool also clarifies design suggestions for cycle highways in urban and rural areas. For example, bidirectional cycle paths are less risky outside of urban areas where road crossings may be less frequent, whereas unidirectional paths are advised for urban areas. It is also recommended to separate cyclists from pedestrians rather than establishing multi-use paths. The tool also makes suggestions regarding road verges, speed limits for car traffic when cycle superhighways run alongside roads, and principles for gradients and curves along the path to accommodate safe travel for higher cycling speeds (Super Cykelstier, n.d.-c).