讓自行車飛起來

By Eleanor Beardsley

Host： In Denmark， cycling is a serious mode of transportation. One in three residents in the capital of Copenhagen rides his or her bike to school or work， and the city is now building a network of cycling superhighways.

Reporter： Every day， Copenhagers cycle more than 750，000 collective miles， enough to make it to the moon and back. But city officials want to encourage more people to commute longer distances. So a network of 26 new bike routes， dubbed “the cycling super highway，” is being built to link Copenhagen to its surrounding suburbs. Lars Gaardhoj， an official with the Copenhagen Capital Region， says the routes will be straight and direct.

Lars Gaardhoj： It will be very fast for people who use their bike. So now the bike is going to challenge the car.

Reporter： The first highway， to the busy suburb of Albertslund， some ten miles away， was completed in April. So I took my rental bike out to test it.

When you get on one of these bike lanes you got to move in fast. Its not leisurely biking. This is serious stuff in Copenhagen. Its a parallel world of transportation going on here. Youve got the cars on the roads and the people on the bikes and its very similar. There are thousands and thousands of people on their bikes here in this city.

As commuters pour into Copenhagen on the new highway， I talk to Cona Endelgo at a red light. Endelgo says he used to drive his car to work， but biking is better all the way round.

Cona Endelgo： It gives you more exercise and motion and its more free and its quicker. When I pass the harbor， I wave to the cars.

Reporter： Each mile of the bike highway will cost about one million U.S. dollars. And in a country where both right- and left-leaning politicians regularly bike to work， it has 1）bipartisan support. Several innovations are being tested， like green wave technology， which times traffic lights to suit bikers. Meaning， if you maintain a certain pace you can ride all the way through without stopping. There are also foot rests with bars to lean on at traffic lights， and...a bike pump every mile in case you have a flat.

Winding farther out of the city the pace is slower and people talk to each other as they ride. Thirtythree-year-old Jacob Mensen is on his way to a water park with his kids. He says Danes support for the bike highway project runs deep.

Jacob Mensen： Well， the bicycles are a very essential element in most people of Denmarks life， you know. And we have them from small infants and just all the way up through the ages.

Reporter： Eighty-three-year old Soulva Jensen is using the highway to visit her daughter in a neighboring town.

Soulva Jensen： The trains are too much trouble at the moment， so I thought it was easier to take the bike.

Reporter： Have you been biking all your life？

Soulva： Yes.

Reporter： Because youre in great shape.

Soulva： No， not really， but Im happy for what I can.

Reporter： Once the highway network is completed， projections show some 15，000 people will switch from driving to biking. That， say officials， will have a direct impact on the environment， public health and finances. The bike highway alone is expected to save Copenhagens health care system some $60 million a year.

主持人：在丹麥，騎車是一種很嚴(yán)肅的交通方式。在首都哥本哈根，三分之一的居民騎車上學(xué)或上班。這座城市正在建設(shè)一個騎行高速路的網(wǎng)絡(luò)。

記者：每一天，哥本哈根人騎行的總里程超過七十五萬英里（約121萬公里），足夠從地球到月球走一個來回。但城市官員還想鼓勵更多的人進(jìn)行更長距離的騎行。因此，一個有26條路線，連接哥本哈根市區(qū)與其周邊郊區(qū)，被稱為“騎車超級高速公路”的自行車道網(wǎng)絡(luò)正在興建當(dāng)中。拉斯·戈哈是哥本哈根首都區(qū)的一名官員，他說，這些路線都將會非常筆直與直接。

拉斯·戈哈：騎車的人速度可以很快，屆時，自行車可以向汽車發(fā)起挑戰(zhàn)。

記者：第一條高速公路通往繁忙的阿爾貝特斯隆郊區(qū)，約十英里長（約16公里），已經(jīng)在四月份完工。于是我騎上我租的自行車去試試。

一旦進(jìn)入這些自行車道，你就得快速移動，這可不是休閑騎行。騎車在哥本哈根可是一件嚴(yán)肅的事情，它與汽車是一個并行的世界。汽車在路上跑，人們騎著車也在跑，兩者非常相似。在這座城市里，有成千上萬的人騎自行車。

大批前往哥本哈根的上班人群涌到新建好的高速公路上，在等紅燈的時候，我跟康納·恩多哥交談起來。恩多哥說他以前也是開車去上班的，但騎車從各個方面看都是更好的選擇。

康納·恩多哥：騎車給你更多鍛煉身體的機(jī)會，進(jìn)行更多的運(yùn)動，而且更自由自在，更快捷。我在經(jīng)過港口的時候，會向旁邊開車的人招手。記者：自行車高速公路每一英里的造價約一百萬美元。在這個國家，右翼和左翼的政客都常常騎車上班，因而自行車高速公路的建設(shè)得到了各政黨的支持。有好幾項(xiàng)創(chuàng)新技術(shù)正在測試當(dāng)中，比如說綠波科技，它可以讓紅綠燈適應(yīng)騎車者的需要。也就是說，如果你保持一定的車速，你就可以一直騎到終點(diǎn)而不需要在途中停下來。在自行車高速公路上設(shè)有腳架，讓騎車者在等紅燈的時候可以倚靠，每一英里還有充氣泵，為車胎漏氣的人提供方便。

離城區(qū)遠(yuǎn)了，車速慢了下來，人們可以一邊騎車一邊聊天。33歲的雅各布·門森正與孩子們一起騎車去水上公園，他說對自行車高速公路的支持在丹麥深入人心。

雅各布·門森：呃，在絕大多數(shù)丹麥人的生活中，你知道，自行車是非常重要的，我們從小的時候開始，在不同的年齡段都有自己的車。

記者：83歲高齡的索娃·詹森騎車走自行車高速公路去鄰近的城鎮(zhèn)探訪女兒。

索娃·詹森：如今坐火車太麻煩了，所以我覺得騎車更容易些。

記者：您這一輩子都在騎車嗎？索娃：是的。

記者：因?yàn)榭茨纳聿暮芎冒　?/p>

索娃：沒有，還可以吧，但我能騎車，自己也很高興。

記者：這個自行車高速公路網(wǎng)絡(luò)建成后，預(yù)計(jì)將會有一萬五千多人從開車轉(zhuǎn)為騎車。相關(guān)官員稱，這一點(diǎn)會對環(huán)境、公眾的健康和政府財(cái)政產(chǎn)生直接的影響。預(yù)計(jì)僅僅是自行車高速公路，一年就能為哥本哈根的醫(yī)療保健體系節(jié)省約六千萬美元的開支。

綠波技術(shù) Green Wave Technology

這是一種通過調(diào)整交通燈節(jié)奏減少停車時間來引導(dǎo)交通的技術(shù)。綠波技術(shù)將協(xié)調(diào)控制一條主干道上若干個連續(xù)交叉口信號燈之間的“時間差”，讓綠燈一個接一個出現(xiàn)，就像波浪一樣，簡稱“綠波控制”。在規(guī)定好車速的綠波通道里，多個交叉口的配時方案協(xié)同合作，在不影響支路通行的情況下，增大交叉口主干道方向放行情況，使主干道路段車輛行駛通暢。該技術(shù)的應(yīng)用可以緩解交通壓力，提高交通流量，防止出現(xiàn)交通堵塞。