Holy Mode Split, Batman!

I just listened to Svend Auken on The Conversation on KUOW. Svend Auken is the former Danish Minister for Energy and the Environment and helped to implement many of the policies that led to Denmark's energy independence. Most of the program was focused on Denmark's efforts to generate electricity with wind and biomass, and a caller pointed out that in the United States we drive so much that any efforts to move us towards energy independence will have to address our automobile usage. Svend responded that in Copenhagen the mode split for home-work and home-school trips is 1/3 transit, 1/3 private car, and 1/3 BICYCLES. I found this pretty staggering, but also incredibly inspiring. It should be noted that Denmark also has a 200% tax on private automobiles, and this is undoubtedly pushing many people out of cars and on to trains and bikes. Although that kind of policy is probably not realistic in the near term in the U.S., it does make me think that we could certainly adopt policies that would increase the number of people getting around on bicycles.