Rant on ranking

When Sequoia heard Budapest was ranked the no. 13 cycling city in the world, she just laughed.

Budapest ranked no. 13 in the recently published Copenhagenize Index of best cycling cities in the world. This year the index covers an expanded list of 150 cities.
My first reaction at seeing this? You've got to be kidding! Budapest, Hungary?! Where I was nearly decapitated by a hedge after riding into a pothole the size of Kim Kardashian's butt? Where they won't allow cyclists on the main streets in the city because there's no room?? Where the name of the much anticipated public bike system is a homonym for the mildly vulgar English term for a woman's breast??

Who are the idiots who make these listings, anyway?

Then I remembered it was me. Or at least partly me. The Copenhagenize Index is a sort-of "group-source" thing relying on some 400 local yokels who do self-evaluations of their own cities. They don't compare and contrast cities, but just rate their own scene, albeit according to standardized criteria given by Copenhagenize. Each city is supposed to be evaluated by multiple volunteers, so there's some triangulation. You can look over the index questions and methodology yourself.

Although memory doesn't serve as well as it used to, I don't think I gushed about Budapest in my own evaluation. I remember being generally critical. But I may have let some local pride skew my score upward. Or maybe it was another Budapest local who exaggerated the city's virtues. 

In any case, no. 13 in the world seems like an AWFULLY high rating for Budapest. That puts us one step ahead of Paris, which back in 2005, I proposed as a good model for Budapest. Have the tables turned since then? I don't believe they have. Velib has been expanding since its launch in 2007, while Bubi is already two years past  the originally announced roll out. Meanwhile, the Paris Respire and Plage schemes, where streets are closed to motor traffic every weekend of the summer, help promote active transport and better quality of life. Budapest has had only occasional one-off street closures -- usually on European Mobility Week.

Or take London, which didn't even crack the Index's top 20. I was in London last fall, and tried out the Boris Bikes and Barclay's Cycle Superhighways -- impressive investments that had been implemented in the previous couple years. Budapest cycling investment during the same period paled by comparison.

Of course, Budapest does have its good points. They're pretty much the same now as they were in 2011, when Budapest was ranked no.11 in the Copenhagenize Index. No other city beats Budapest Critical Mass. And largely because of the local CM, there is today a large, enthusiastic population of citizen cyclists who are out braving Budapest traffic everyday despite potholes the size of Kim Kardashian's butt. As the Index explains, "Budapest is a regional leader in bicycle culture but without political will and a modern desire for mobility change, their role will be overtaken by others." Amen to that!

Winter: It's not Just for Drinking Anymore

Winter in Copenhagen, a shot from the blog Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

I hate to start a new year on a negative note -- so I'll save that for post #2. This first post will focus on a little ray of sunshine from a place that doesn't have much of that this time of year -- Denmark. A photo exhibition of Copenhagen's renowned cycling culture will be held Thursday evening at the Európa Pont at Millenáris Park. It'll be a selection of 50 photos by Denmark's most prolific cycling shutterbug Mikael Colville-Anderson. Readers will know him as the blogger behind Copenhagenize.com and Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

Putting a local spin on the event, the Hungarian Cyclists' Club will follow up with a workshop on winter cycling. Very timely subject matter considering the threat of bankruptcy now facing Budapest public transport company, BKV. Those who haven't saddled up since September might consider pumping up their tires. At the workshop, bike club President János László and COWI Magyarország engineer and cycling expert Péter Dalos will preside.

After that, the local blog, Hungarian Cycle Chic, will host a fashion show featuring the clothes and cycling accessories of various local and international designers and manufacturers.

An English description of the photo exhibition, entitled "Monumental Motion" and being staged in various cities throughout the year, is here.

What: Cycling photo exhibition and winter cycling programme
When: 6-9 p.m. Thursday
Where: Európa Pont, Millenáris Park, 1024 Budapest, Lövőház u. 35.

People Talking about Us

Everyone likes to hear what other people think of them. A few dozen international students of urban design, transport planning and kindred disciplines were in Budapest during European Mobility Week for a field exercise that asked them to reconfigure some of the 7th and 8th districts into a more pleasant urban environment. A description of their project, along with a diary of how it unfolded, is here.

Among the participants was Anna from the Vienna-based blog Cycling is Good for You. I see she's already put up three posts on her Budapest experiences, including one on Tuesday's Critical Mass. She was impressed with that, less so with Bp's lame pedestrian underpasses.

The Copenhagen Cycling Chic blogger Mikael Colville-Andersen was also in town, presenting at the Kerekvaros conference at the Budapest Technical University and promoting a Danish cycling exhibition, Dreams on Wheels. As of this writing, he hadn't yet posted about his Bp experiences, but he wrote that he will when he gets a chance. I'm eager to see what he has to say.