Cars make way for bikes as Sydney commuters saddle up to circumvent ‘crazy’ fuel costs

‘We haven’t used our car since fuel prices went crazy,’ says Sydney resident Jacinta Peperkamp (right), who has taken to cycling around the city with her children. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Before the 1970s global oil crisis, city planners in Copenhagen were considering removing bike lanes. Bicycles were considered outdated now car was king, and just 10% of locals were cycling regularly.

But as economic shock waves reverberated around the world, Denmark, which almost entirely relied on imported oil, took a dramatic U-turn, with citizens staging mass protests in the middle of highways demanding better cycling infrastructure.