While cycling in cities like Copenhagen, Portland, Seville and Vancouver, gets a lot of attention, cycling in the suburbs around these cities is often overlooked. Planning and providing the infrastructure for bicycle commuters in suburban environments has tended to be reactive rather than proactive and incoherent at best, as argued in this article about Metro Vancouver. Reducing greenhouse gasses by encouraging cycling in the suburbs requires forward thinking, coherent plans that will allow safe and efficient bicycle commuting. Here are a few examples of where that kind of planning is taking place.
Munich is planning two-lane bike highways that would sprawl out in every direction, covering over 10,000 square kilometers. The network would provide a direct connection from the suburbs to the city with no interruption from cars. Copenhagen has already begun implementing its plan for nearly 500km of cycle super-highways, criss-crossing the urban and sub-urban region. And, London is considering a 220km system of elevated cycling paths above its suburban railways.