A new focus on urbanism and the new sustainability agenda broke the glass roof when it came to cycling.
Bikes officially outnumbered cars for the first time in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In the past year, the total number of bikes reached 265,700, compared to 252,600 cars.
The city started installing electric bike counters in 2009.
Roughly $143 million has been invested in cycling infrastructure in the city since 2005, The Guardian reports.
Morten Kabell, the city's mayor of technical and environmental affairs, said the goal is to make the "central core" of Copenhagen car-free within a decade. He also wants half of all commutes across the Copenhagen area to be on bikes by 2025. So far, that number is 41 percent.
Bikes are more environmentally friendly than cars and bike paths are cheaper to build and maintain, The Guardian reports.
It seems Copenhagen has reached the same tipping point as Amsterdam in 1995! Can they now shortcut by learning from following 2 decades? pic.twitter.com/hk26whyvsx
— Cycling Professor (@fietsprofessor) November 7, 2016
Other cities are close to closing the bike-car gap, like London and Amsterdam.
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Let’s give a little cheer: #bikes outnumber cars for the first time in #Copenhagen! From @athlynck @guardiancities→ https://t.co/Xt4HAolZ0M pic.twitter.com/m8ieHj4bR2
— Sustainia (@Sustainia) November 30, 2016
Environmental organizations were big fans of the news.
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