And the winner is… wait for it… Amsterdam. But the U.S. city ranks just ahead of 3rd place Copenhagen!
Virgin Vacations has ranked the top 11 most bicycle friendly cities in the world, with brief descriptions of each and some of the reasons for their rankings. Two of the reasons Amsterdam takes top honors is because about 40% of trips are done by bike, and they have designated bicycle streets and traffic signals, making bikes an integral part of their transportation plans, not an afterthought like in so many U.S. cities. That, and they’re building a 10,000 bike parking garage near the central trainstation, and all drivers have to learn bicycle safety in order to get their license. (The video has more good stuff, if you can get past the lame intro)
Portland comes in next thanks to its strong bicycle culture and a network of bike paths and lanes that connect all parts of the city. Virgin Vacations says:
Portland’s bicycle network has grown from 60 to 260 miles since the early 1990s. Bicycle use has quadrupled over the same period without any increase in crashes. The city still has 38 miles of bike lanes left in order to achieve its master plan. But in some neighborhoods bike commuters are as high as 9%.
A quick rundown of 3rd thru 11th after the jump…
3. Copenhagen, Denmark
4. Boulder, CO, USA
5. Davis, CA, USA
6. Sandnes, Norway
7. Trondheim, Norway
8. San Francisco, CA, USA
9. Berlin, Germany
10. Barcelona, Spain
11. Basel, Switzerland
