If Anthony Foxx is serious about making the United States more bicycle-friendly, he couldn't have chosen a better place to visit.

The US secretary of transportation will be in Copenhagen on Monday to take inspiration from the best cycling city in the world.

Foxx’s schedule for the trip will include a bike ride through the capital alongside Danish Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidt.

“I am looking forward to welcoming my American colleague, Secretary Foxx, and for us to tour Copenhagen on bike, showing how we develop infrastructure such as 'Cykelslangen' to promote cycling, and how such infrastructure projects function as drivers of urban development and renewal,” Schmidt said, referring to the bridge connecting Dybbølsbro and Bryggebroen, which has been the subject of international praise due to its innovative design and rider-friendly opportunities.

Cykelslangen is a designated bicycle bridge with a unique architectural design. Photo: Leif Jørgensen/Wikimedia.

The bridge is just one of several projects Copenhagen has completed in recent years to further improve its bicycling infrastructure. Other additions include Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s futuristic-looking Cirkelbroen (the Circle Bridge) and bicycle 'superhighways' running to the suburbs. 

Future upgrades will include a bicycle and pedestrian companion to the congested Langebro and the seemingly-perpetually delayed Inderhavnsbroen, which suffered additional setbacks after it looked like it was finally completed last summer. That bridge, which will connect Nyhavn and Christianshavn, was supposed to be done in 2013 but is now set to open at an undisclosed point later this year.

Joining Foxx on the trip to Denmark will be the mayors of three large US cities – Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon and South Bend, Indiana – as well as the US Ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford, and the CEO of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation, Klaus Bondam.

Apart from gathering insight on local bicycle strategy, the trip will also include discussions on further collaboration on transport policy between the two countries.

“A fruitful, constructive cooperation between Denmark and the US is important in all policy areas, including transport,” Schmidt said.