Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard

Copenhagen is a cycle capital – known as one of the best of its kind. I wish Copenhagen to be the world’s most bicycle friendly city – and we are nearly there: 36 percent of the city’s inhabitants ride their bike to work every morning and 50 percent use their bike on a daily basis. We are very proud that the Australians call their cycle lane ”The Copenhagen Lane”.

But it can always get better and therefore we continually invest big amounts of money into the improvement of cycle lanes and such. An example of this is ”the green wave” project. This means that on roads, where there is a green wave, the traffic lights will regulate themselves according to the cyclists. By doing so, cyclists will be able to get around the city much faster.

My goal is a clean Copenhagen. This is why we focus on bicycle friendly streets . We want the people, who have a car to switch to bicycles – and therefore we do everything we can to make this switch smooth and attractive.

I am pleased to be ambassador for International Ride to Work Day and I hope that we together can encourage physical activity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion.