Malmo: Biking & Walking in a New Town

We're on our last day (day 3) in Malmo, Sweden, and although it's a short stop and we only had bikes for 1.5 days, I have some thoughts about the bike/pedestrian infrastructure and use here. 

How things work

Here in Malmo, most lanes are bidirectional, so one side of the street will have a wider cycle track, and the other side will be a side for the pedestrians. It's much less orderly than Copenhagen, and there's no specific ways to turn or to signal that you're stopping; people just figure it out with the yield signs. There is also no paint on the cycle tracks to indicate which side someone should stay on for which direction, and they are most often at the same level as the pedestrian walkways, just separated with material type and color.

Things that are done well

A bidirectional cycle path

My first impression of the bidirectional bike lanes was that they were a bad idea and when bike traffic got worse and they had to switch to unidirectional lanes, they wouldn't be able to do it. After giving it some thought and speaking with some other people, I've changed my mind and while I don't think they're ideal, I think they are a realistic first step that many cities in the US could benefit from, especially because using space for bike lanes is such an issue and having a bidirectional lane on one side will take away less parking. I also can understand how it might not be so bad when the switch from bidirectional to unidirectional lanes happens, because originally I thought that the bidirectional habits would be engrained in peoples brains and it would be complete chaos, but I realized that if people take these routes every day, they'll be able to figure it out and they'll notice the construction. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the two-way lanes, but I know that in many US cities it's a more realistic step to getting safe bike infrastructure.

A continuous sidewalk and cycle track intersecting with a street

Another thing that is done really well in most places around the city is their traffic calming infrastructure. I've noticed that crosswalks are often at narrowed parts of roads, there are many traffic circles, and there are continuous sidewalks that stay at the same height where drivers have to go over cobblestone to get up to the sidewalk height. In the areas with this infrastructure, you can see the difference in the behaviors of drivers and how much better they treat cyclists and pedestrians in these places.

Bike parking with a car structure

They also seem to have really nice bike parking in most places here. Many people have told us that bike theft is a big issue, so its nice to see them starting to prioritize parking where you can lock your frame to the structure instead of just the wheel. It also seems like they generally have enough parking for everyone near busy places, like the mall and their pedestrian streets. You can also see cool parking structures around the city that have car structures attached to them, which serve the purpose of making sure people park their bikes on a certain side of the street, as well as showing how many bikes can fit into one car parking space, and the small amount of space that bikes take up, which can help people understand how they are more efficient and sustainable.

A pedestrian shopping street

Lastly, they seem to have a large amount of walkable areas that they have turned pedestrian only for such a small city, which is very exciting to see. They have many pedestrian streets that are either summer only or year-round, and it seems like they are so successful to the businesses that people are pushing to make most of them year-round. On all of these, even in the rain and wind, I have seen a lot of people walking through and in the businesses, so they are clearly working to bring economic gain as well as to bring the community closer together.

Things that are done poorly

One thing I don't like about the Malmo infrastructure is that, because there is only one side with a cycle track, there is usually only one side with good pedestrian infrastructure as well. This makes it hard to walk around because you're never sure if you're on the right side and you can't walk on whichever side you want to.

A busy intersection with traffic from many different ways

Another thing I don't like is that the intersections can get confusing with bidirectional lanes, especially during the switch to unidirectional lanes. There are some intersections that have bike traffic coming from five places that are all bidirectional, and it's hard to navigate that along with car and pedestrian traffic. It might have been okay when there were less people using the cycle tracks, but at the current traffic capacity, it doesn't work very well. Speaking of which, the bidirectional lanes cannot accommodate for a lot of traffic, so especially as bike traffic increases, it's hard to have so many people going two different ways in one cycle track, which pushes people into the pedestrian areas and makes things unsafe.

Being forced to ride on the sidewalk because the street felt too unsafe

I also don't like how many of the cycle tracks are disconnected and will end abruptly and you will be out on the road without a painted lane all of the sudden. Because the culture of respecting cyclists is not as developed here, it feels very unsafe to ride on the street and almost felt like we were back in America. Because we felt so unsafe, we began to ride on the sidewalk, but even then we got yelled at by pedestrians because we weren't supposed to be doing that. It feels like there are a lot of recreational paths here that are connected to some things, but not everything is connected, especially as you get out towards the edge of the city. In that sense, it is a bit like Columbia, MD, but I might go as far as saying that Columbia is more connected than here.

Malmo planners with photos of what the road looked like before the cycle tracks

Lastly, it seems like the funding is lacking here to do things they want with the streets. When listening to the city planners, it seems like they don't have much funding and have to do what they can instead of fully completing projects, and it seems like a lot of people still prioritize cars. This can also be seen from the behavior by people barely stopping for crosswalks and passing very closely when there is no bike infrastructure.

Malmo compared to Copenhagen

Coming straight from Copenhagen, Malmo was a bit of a downgrade and I am not the biggest fan of the city, but I also feel like I didn't have enough time or good weather to see all of it, so maybe I am making judgements based on a part of the city that is too small.

Copenhagen is a lot better in their bike infrastructure, but it is also a lot more developed and I do feel like Malmo's bidirectional lanes were a good start for introducing this infrastructure to the city without so much pushback, and they do have some good pedestrian infrastructure in their walkable areas.

A cycle path with no elevation change between the pedestrian walkway

One thing that is better in Malmo is that the cycle tracks are elevated from the road, but often times they are at the same level as the pedestrian sidewalks, with a material, color change, or signs to differentiate the two. I think this works a lot better than the asphalt in Copenhagen because it's easier to get off onto the sidewalk, and in places where a grade change is needed, they have one. This also ties in to how much more accessible Malmo is for people with disabilities than Copenhagen, especially people who use wheelchairs, or people who are blind and have a higher chance of tripping when stepping down. Malmo also uses a lot of smooth stone walkways rather than cobblestone, which still serves the purpose of a change in material and easy removal for maintenance, without the inaccessibility.

Overall, Malmo is okay, but not as good as Copenhagen, and I am interested to see how the switch towards unidirectional lanes in some areas will go moving forward.