Close to a million bikers in Stockholm

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  There are few better ways to experience Sweden's capital... Image source: Stockholmadventures.com, which arranges sightseeing tours on two wheels in Stockholm.

• Stockholmers keep on biking—more now than ever. In May of this year, close to a million bicyclists passed by the city’s permanent measuring locations. It’s a new record and an increase of a little more than 3 percent over last year. Actually, as shown by the extensive counts of bikers conducted in June (which will be ready and analyzed in time for winter), biking is increasing every year in Sweden. And the six permanent measuring locations in Stockholm (located at Danviksbron, Skansbron, Skanstullsbron, Liljeholmsbron, Munkbron and Strömbron) show the same. The count for May 2013 showed 990,264 bikers at the six locations, as compared to 958,651 in May 2012, which was the record month until now. The increase is in keeping with the general increase of biking in Sweden, which has gone on for several years, and which has led to many crowded bike lanes. An investigation by Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration) shows there’s a need for more and better regional bike paths, as only 1 percent of them keep the necessary standard. Stockholm’s city is investing one billion SEK ($149 million) between 2012 and 2018 in bettering their bike lanes and creating new ones. It remains to be seen if that’s enough. In spite of the increased biking, only about 10 percent of the bikers bike to work. Compare that to Copenhagen, Denmark, where the equivalent number is about 40 percent.

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  Swedes continue to bike a lot, in Stockholm alone there are close to a million bikers.

• The trend is all over Sweden, where more and more people bike, regardless of weather. You don’t have to stop biking just because the temperature’s dropping.