Advocates of climate change who have seen the use of motored or engine run vehicles as one of the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, a simple solution has emerged: get people to ride a bicycle, they not only help conserve energy but they also help themselves to be fit and healthy.
France has led the way with ten thousand bicycles at seven hundred fifty stations throughout downtown Paris.
Rental is about US$ 1.40 for a full day. A year long pass is only US$ 40.00. You don’t have to own the bike, maintain it or even house it which is a problem for apartment dwellers.
You can pick up a bike at the station nearest you and leave it at any of the other stations throughout the city when you have reached your destination.
In Stockholm, Sweden one thousands bikes are made available by the city at eighty stations. In Lyons, France which started the program a year ago, four thousand bikes are available at three hundred fifty stations across the city.
Lyon officials has estimated that three thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions had been saved since the program was established.
Convincing the public that riding a bike for errands instead of using a car will be a major problem.
In today’s conservation minded world, the bike is the vehicle where you can go anywhere, anytime, and not risk polluting the atmosphere.
Its contribution to the environment is not only to reduce air pollution but to conserve energy as well.
In the US, New York City most probably the next pilot station to try the bicycle idea. It has already run a five day test from Solo in lower Manhattan with twenty bikes that can be borrowed free of charge for half an hour.
Under the conservation plans for the city, New York has already copied Paris’ regulation of charging a fee for private cars entering the congested area of Manhattan.
Holland, Vietnam along with China made the bike as the medium form of public transport by their citizens, notwithstanding, the beneficial contributions that it can bring to the environment and to the well being of the users.
Such program can entice more cyclists, advocates on energy conservation and in the fight of global warming respectively, physical workout enthusiasts and the end users.
