Transport in Denmark

Transport in Denmark is developed and modern. The motorway network now covers 1,111 km[1] while the railway network totals 2,667 km of operational track.[2] Bridges across the Great Belt and the Øresund have done much to improve traffic flow across the country and between Denmark and Sweden. The airports of Copenhagen and Billund provide a variety of domestic and international connections while ferries provide services to Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK as well as routes to the Danish islands.

Public Transportation: The public transportation system of Copenhagen consists of commuter trains (called S-trains, S-tog), buses, and a metro. The S-trains form the basis of the transportation network, stretching to most areas of metropolitan Copenhagen, with their main hub at Copenhagen Central Station (København H). Regional trains supplement the S-train services with lines extending further such as to the Copenhagen Airport, Elsinore, and Malmö. The Danish State Railways' Intercity network has its eastern terminus and main hub at Copenhagen, with most trains extending to Copenhagen Airport.

The fare system is based on 95 zones covering the capital area. Tickets are transferable from one means of transport to another within a time limit. The more zones a ticket is valid for, the longer its time validity with a maximum of two hours. Discount cards (punch cards, klippekort) and period cards are available. Ticket prices are high and have increased substantially in recent years leading to a decrease in passenger numbers In fact, the percentage of trips made on public transportation in Copenhagen is quite low by northern European standards.

The Copenhagen Metro began operation in 2002 and currently has only two lines. In April 2008, it was named Best Metro in the World by industry experts.

Local city networks: S-train: A traditional suburban train network in the greater Copenhagen area. S-trains (in Danish: S-tog) are electric trains connecting the city center with the suburbs of Copenhagen. The numerous trains leave at 10 or 20 minute intervals. S-trains run from 05:00 hours (weekdays) (06:00 Sundays) until about 0:30 hours.

Copenhagen Metro: An automated driverless rail rapid transit system serving Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, Denmark. The system opened in 2002 and currently has two lines with 22 stations and 21.3 km of track, following the 2007 opening of an extension to Copenhagen Airport.

Roads: Copenhagen has a large network of toll-free highways and public roads connecting different municipalities of the city together and to Northern Europe.[99] As in many other cities in Europe traffic is increasing in Copenhagen. The radial arterial roads and highways leading to the Copenhagen city center are critically congested during peak hours.

Road traffic in Denmark

• In Denmark all driving traffic must use right side lanes.
• People using skateboards and rollerskates / -blades are legally categorized as pedestrians and must use pavement.
• Riding bikes on pavement is NOT allowed, but very common.
• When bikes continue straight ahead in crossroads, they can either be in the right of the right-turn lane or in the right of the straight on lane.
• Cars must wait until bikes have passed, before they turn right.
• Vehicles must stop when pedestrians "obviously intend to cross the road" in a zebra crossing.
• In a car, all persons must wear seat belt.
• Cars and motorcycles must use low beam light (not parking light) at all times of the day.
• Unless signs show other speed limit, the limit is 50 km/h in towns, 80 km/h outside towns and 130 on motorways (shown on signs). Trucks, buses and vehicles with trailers may not go faster than 70 km/h outside towns, except on motorways, where 80 is allowed.
• On motorways and "if necessary" on other roads, turning signal must be used when changing lanes.
• Drivers License: A1 and A2 is for small/large motorbike. B is for cars, max. 3500 kg, max. 8 passengers plus driver and a trailer with a max. legal weight of 750 kg. C is for truck over 3500 kg. D is for bus or car over 3500 kg and/or 8 passengers plus driver. E is for trailer over 750 kg. The B/E license only allows for cars with heavy trailers, even if you have the C and/or D license. The C/E license allows for trailer on any vehicle type.

Bicycle lanes and tracks

Three free city bikes in Copenhagen: Danish cities and towns, especially Odense and Copenhagen, are known for catering for bicycle transportation. Nearly one-fifth of all trips in Copenhagen are by bicycle, and for home-to-work commutes, 36 % of all trips are by bicycle. Odense has been named the "bicycle city of the year" because of the great number of bicycle lanes in the city. A complete network of 350 km all-weather serviced lanes exists in the town — this is as much as some states in Germany.

Bicycle lanes in Danish cities and towns typically consist of an asphalted lane exclusively for bicycles between the lane(s) for motor vehicles and the sidewalk/pavement for pedestrians. There is normally a bicycle lane on each side of the street, and each is strictly one-way only. Where there is parallel parking, the bicycle lane is generally placed between the parked cars and the sidewalk/pavement.

Bicycle lanes are usually wide enough for two bicycles to ride side-by-side (2.2 m), particularly in urban areas. This allows for passing on the left hand side and a greater space buffer between cyclists and motor vehicles. In Copenhagen's 2002–2012 Cycle Policy, the city announced plans to widen some of the lanes to allow three bikes across (3.5 m) in particularly congested areas. On the largest streets at the intersections there are separate traffic lights and directional arrows for motor vehicles and for bicycles, and separate lanes for those turning and those going straight through, with the traffic signals coordinated to avoid conflicts.

As an experiment started at the end of 2006, Nørrebrogade, the main street in the Nørrebro area in Copenhagen, has had its traffic lights set for a "green wave" at 20 km/h to let the bikes get through without stopping, while cars typically have to stop at every light. This is done deliberately to make it more advantageous to ride a bike than to drive a car in the area.

Outside of the towns and cities there are often bicycle tracks parallel to, but separated from, the roads between towns. It is also common to have bicycle tracks going through forest and park areas where cars are not allowed.

During the summer months, there are free "city bikes" stationed at various spots in the downtown area of Copenhagen. The idea is that anyone can take a bike from one of the spots and ride it to one of the other spots and leave it there for the next person. There are national and regional bicycle routes throughout Denmark. They are all marked and include rest areas with benches and other necessities.

Bicycling

Copenhagen is known as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world.[101] Every day 1,1 million km are bicycled in Copenhagen.[102] 36 % of all citizens are commuting to work, school or university by bicycle[103] and it is municipal policy that this number should go up to 40 % by 2012 and 50 % in 2015.[104]

The city's bicycle paths are extensive and well-used. Bicycle paths are often separated from the main traffic lanes and sometimes have their own signal systems.

The municipality is also developing a system of interconnected green bicycle routes, greenways, with the aim to facilitate fast, safe and pleasant bicycle transport from one end of the city to the other. The network will cover more than 100 km and consist of 22 routes when finished.[105] The city provides public bicycles which can be found throughout the downtown area and used with a returnable deposit of 20 kroner.

Copenhagen's well-developed bicycle culture has given rise to the term ‘copenhagenize’. This is the practice of other cities adopting Copenhagen-style bike lanes and bicycle infrastructure.[106] In 2007 Copenhagen-based Danish urban design consultant Jan Gehl was hired by the New York City Department of Transportation to re-imagine New York City streets by introducing designs to improve life for pedestrians and cyclists.[107]

In recognition of Copenhagen's emphasis on bicycling, the city has been chosen by the Union Cycliste Internationale as their first official Bike City. Bike City Copenhagen will take place from 2008 to 2011 and consist of big cycling events for professionals as well as amateurs.

Air

In 2008, a total of 13,051,000 passengers departed from Danish airports compared to 13,036,000 in 2007.Copenhagen Airport is the largest airport in Scandinavia, handling 9,691,000 departing passengers per year (2008). It is located at Kastrup, 8 km south-east of central Copenhagen. It is connected by train to Copenhagen Central Station and beyond as well as to Malmö and other towns in Sweden.For the west of the country, the major airport is Billund (1,261,000 departing passengers in 2008) although both Aalborg (519,000 departing passengers in 2008) and Aarhus (287,000 departing passengers in 2008) have smaller airports with regular connections to Copenhagen.

List of Airports

Denmark's main airports are

• Copenhagen Airport (CPH), Scandivia's busiest passenger airport located at Kastrup to the south-east of Copenhagen city and handling over 21 million passengers a year.
• Billund Airport (BLL), in central Jutland, one of Denmark's busiest cargo centres as well as a popular charter airline destination and an airport for regular flights serving 2.5 million passengers a year, mainly from the western part of the country.
• Aalborg Airport (AAL), located 6 km northwest of Aalborg, is Denmark's third busiest airport serving over one million passengers a year, mainly in connections with Copenhagen.
• Aarhus Airport (AAH), located 36 km northeast of Aarhus, serves some 570,000 passengers a year.

• Karup Airport (KRP) near Viborg in the west of Jutland, mainly serving Copenhagen with some 200,000 passengers a year.
• Bornholm Airport (RNN) 5 km from the centre of Rønne in the southwest of the island of Bornholm, with several regular flights to Copenhagen a day.
• Esbjerg Airport (EBJ), a small airport in the west of Jutland with regular flights to Aberdeen and Stavanger.
• Sønderborg Airport ([SGD), in the very south of Jutland with connections to Copenhagen.
• Roskilde Airport (RKE), 7 km southeast of Roskilde and some 38 km southwest of Copenhagen, serves mainly airtaxi and private business traffic.

Copenhagen Airports

Copenhagen Airport is the principal airport serving Copenhagen. It is the largest in Scandinavia and the 17th largest in Europe.[115] It is located in Kastrup on the island of Amager and has very efficient connections to downtown Copenhagen with metro trains going to Kongens Nytorv in 15 minutes with 4–6 minutes between departures and regional trains going to the Central Station in 12 minutes. Its location also makes it the most important international airport for large parts of southern Sweden. Over the Øresund Bridge trains go to Malmö South in 14 minutes or Malmö Central Station in

22 minutes.[116] Copenhagen Airport has won the award as "The best airport in Europe" four times, and as "The best airport in the world" two times. Copenhagen Airport is the seventh best airport in the world - second best in Europe - when you ask the passengers. The British organization Skytrax is doing so every year, writes the airport in a press release. 40 criteria are employed for the ranking.

Sea

Rødbyhavn ferry terminal on Lolland: Denmark's ports handle some 48 million passengers and 109 million tonnes of cargo per year.

Harbour

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbour: The harbour of Copenhagen has largely lost its importance as an industrial harbour. In 2001 Copenhagen Harbour merged with the harbour in Malmö to create Copenhagen-Malmö Port. It has several functions, the most important being as a major cruise destination. In 2007 a record 286 cruise ships with 420,000 cruise passengers visited Copenhagen. 120 of these ships either started or ended the cruise in Copenhagen.[109] In 2008 these numbers grew further to 310 cruise ships and 560,000 passengers.[110] As a result of the growth in the cruise industry facilities asre being expanded and improved.[111] At the World Travel Awards in 2008, Copenhagen Port was named the number one cruise destination in Europe for the fifth year in a row.[112] Copenhagen is serviced by ferry lines to Oslo in Norway (called "Oslobåden") with a daily connection[113] and to Świnoujście in Poland (called "Polensfærgerne") with five weekly connections.[114]