Are Bikes the Secret to Danish Bliss?

Seeking an answer to the question "Why are Danes happier than everyone else?," ABC News speculates that trust and bicycles make all the difference:

In Denmark, you can see trust in action all around you. Vegetable stands run on the honor system, mothers leave babies unattended in strollers outside cafés, and most bicycles are left unlocked. And perhaps the bicycle is the best symbol of Danish happiness. Danes can all afford cars, but they choose bikes —  simple, economical, nonpolluting machines that show no status and help keep people fit.

Since they give bikes their due, ABC gets a pass for neglecting the congestion pricing theory of happiness.

Photo: bananaterror/Flickr

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Climate Idealism Can’t Hold a Candle to Collective Action

|
Cross-posted from the Carbon Tax Center. Why do Copenhageners ride bicycles? The key reason, says Yale economist and bestselling author Robert J. Shiller, is that Danes are idealists who resolved, after the oil crisis of the 1970s, “to make a personal commitment to ride bicycles rather than drive, out of moral principle, even if that […]

Where Can Bikes Fit Into the Urban Cargo Delivery Market?

|
New York City should be an ideal place to ship cargo by bike. It’s dense, space is at a premium, traffic regularly ensnares delivery trucks, and customers demand near-instant delivery. Despite its advantages, pedal-powered freight delivery has remained a niche operation. A panel at a conference on last-mile freight delivery hosted by the University Transportation […]

Kids on Bikes Where You Live

|
Here’s something to be thankful for over this holiday break: Kids on bicycles. A beautiful thing. We got so many submissions for this one, it was truly inspiring. Many thanks to all who contributed, including Sarah Gilbert at cafemama, rbairdpccam, baudman, Julian Davies of Totcycle, Barry Childress of Baltimore Spokes, Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious, Liam […]

Notes on Bicycling in Copenhagen

|
Copenhagen, Denmark is not a natural bicycling city. In the early 1960’s it was very much of a car town. In 1962 the city created its first pedestrian street, the Stroget, and every year since then Copenhagen has allocated more and more of its public space to bicycles, pedestrians and people who just want to sit […]