No marks for guessing that Amsterdam is the most bicycle-friendly city in the ranking.  But the Copenhagenize Index, which rates over 80 major cities around the world, does have some surprises. For instance, cities like Montreal, Guadalajara, Rio de Janeiro, New York City and Dublin ranked surprisingly well.

No city scored full marks, but Amsterdam came close with 58 out of 60. However, looking solely at the bonus points, Dublin rode off with 12 out of 12 while Paris and Barcelona scored 11 and Tokyo, Copenhagen and Amsterdam each harvested 10.

In the event of a draw, the city with the highest bonus point score is ranked higher. This determined the hierarchy among the cities of Budapest, Portland, Guadalajara and Hamburg while Helsinki and London were even on all scores, as were Rio de Janeiro and Vienna.

Top five bicycle-friendly cities 2011

Amsterdam
Copenhagen
Barcelona
Tokyo
Berlin

For more information on Copenhagenize Index, visit www.copenhagenize.eu/index/about.html

Expatica/ NG