Like many other cities, economic growth in Copenhagen has brought with it increased traffic congestion. However, by investing in an efficient, reliable and highly integrated public transport network, it has been possible to deliver some of the highest levels of mobility in the world. Alongside traffic, congestion and pollution have been reduced to levels that are extremely low by the standards of major international cities.

The CO2 emissions from road transport rose along with the increased traffic to more than 500,000 tonnes in 2005.

Attempts to convince people to use public transport were hindered by: a massive improvement in travel time for car traffic due to investments in road infrastructure, unreliable and inconvenient public transport due to lack of investments in infrastructure and lack of integration between transport systems and operators. Without concerted action, Copenhagen could have faced the traffic congestion and pollution problems that have blighted many other cities.

The solution was investment in an integrated transport system between bus, train and metro.

Green transport optimises urban space and moves a larger number of people in a more effective way. In the same amount of space and time, 1 person can be transported in a car, 6 persons can be transported by bicycle and 4.5 persons by bus. In the Capital Region

190,000 hours are lost per day due to traffic congestion, a number that would be considerably higher without the integrated transport solution.

Building a convenient and time-saving transport system makes it possible for passengers to move seamlessly between cycle, bus, train and metro services.