Bikes. When the Danes say to watch out for bikes, they are not joking. Nine out of 10 people living in Denmark own a bike, and there are five times more bikes than there are cars in Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, this is more than clear to see. There are around 600,000 residents and approximately 675,000 bikes in the capital.
People-watching people on bikes has become one of my favorite parts of my morning commute. There is so much you can learn about Danish culture purely from their biking. Every day on my way to classes in the Inner City, I am passed by swarms of bikers; their faces are calm, mundane, maybe tired, maybe annoyed by the slower person in front of them. To me, it seems very comparable to morning commuters heading to their 9-to-5s—which they are. Gray-haired individuals pass me, but so do elementary-age kids on their half-sized, bright-colored bikes. Some bikes have massive carts in the front that function like an oversized basket. Inside, you might find a pair of siblings giggling about something as their parent waits at the stoplight, and in others, a coworker carries their colleague to work.
When not using a bike, people use the bus or metro. Compared to my home back in Queens, New York, trust me when I say I felt like I was dreaming while using the public transportation in Copenhagen. The buses are always on time, and even if I did miss my bus, the next one is bound to come in five minutes—maybe even earlier during rush hours. All of the information is updated at the bus station on a pixelated display system so you stay in the loop at all times. Furthermore, like the bikes, the buses also have their own lane on the street so they are never stuck in traffic.
Maybe it is just because I am scarred from my experiences on the New York City subway system, but the metro is so lovely and clean. There is no trash lying around on the platform, no rats or mice skittering around on the tracks, and no musty, mysterious humid smell wafting around. It is well-lit and spacious. The platform even has a glass wall between the platform and the tracks, which automatically opens only when the doors to the metro open so that no one has access to the tracks.
And if none of these options speaks to you, you could just walk. I have been walking around Copenhagen so much more than I thought because I genuinely enjoy it. The greenery combined with the cobblestone paths, old buildings and consistent views of the canal make for a very therapeutic walk. Even though I might be walking 20 or 30 minutes to class from my kollegium, it never really feels like it. I walk over Langebro, a large bridge, and watch morning canoers or people going for a dip in the canal before work. I walk past the Black Diamond library and past historic buildings like the København Rådhus (city hall) and the Christiansborg Palace.
In fact, one of the first things I did when getting to Copenhagen was get lost. I found simply looking down a street and walking down alleys that piqued my interest was the best way of getting oriented within a place I would be calling my home. Quickly I began recognizing familiar streets and boutiques, and soon Google Maps became an afterthought. Who knows what kind of hidden gems I will stumble upon? Maybe I will discover that your favorite cardamom bun does not come from that viral bakery I followed directions to find; maybe it is the one I picked up from that hole-in-the-wall cafe before class.
Eco-mindfulness is also ingrained in the culture. When society starts teaching their children to bike at the age of two or three, is it really that surprising to see how deeply ingrained sustainability is, even if that is not the primary intention? The infrastructure and the collective consciousness help make sustainability inherent and not something “special.” There is a lot that we can learn from the Danish mentality that could help turn around environmental degradation back in the United States and in our communities.