Copenhagen practically screams that they love bikes but in case you had any doubts, there are signs everywhere encouraging their use. The city, known as the bicycle capital of the world, even has it’s own separated bike lanes with dedicated traffic lights. It’s a sort of bicycle freeway system that is so important, the city will clear snow from the bike lanes before the car lanes.

The latest and greatest in Copenhagen’s efforts to encourage the use of the bicycle is the counter or “cykelbarometer”. The program launched on May 1st this year in the City Hall Square along with a free air pump. Another one is planned for next month on the busiest street in The Netherlands for cyclists, Dronning Louise’s Bridge. This is also the first air pump in the city with five more on the way.

According to Copenhagenize, here’s how the counter works: “There is a ‘sensor line’ in the asphalt on the bike lane a few metres in front of the counter which registers the cyclists. There is a SIM-card in the counters so the information is automatically sent to the City of Copenhagen’s Center for Traffic. The counter only registers cyclists on this side of the street, not the far side, so you can double the numbers up to see how many cyclists use both directions. There are two numbers on the counter. Total so far today and total so far this year.”

The counter is designed to help increase bikers by showing everyone how many cyclists take to the street and as extra encouragement, the 500,000th biker gets a new bike. That might sound like a lot but with the numbers that pass this spot, it’s only a couple months. According to Copenhagenize, about 12,000 cyclists pass this counter each day, and that’s only one side of the street!

A bit more biking info from Copenhagenize:
“Contrary to how it is in many others countries, the numbers of people cycling are low on a Sunday – I went past at 18:23 and only 2884 people on bicycles had been past the counter. On a weekday it’s between 10,000 and 12,000. Really a sign that the bicycle is much more of a transport tool rather than a recreational activity.”

And when it comes down to it, the people of Copenhagen aren’t just biking experts and enthusiasts, they look damn stylish doing it too.

all images via copenhagenize