Transportation
An Italian City Will Pay Residents to Ride Bikes
Similar plans have been tried in Paris, Milan, and elsewhere with mixed results. So will Bari’s cash-to-cycle program find success?
The southern Italian city of Bari is keen to get more of its citizens cycling to work. So keen, in fact, that it’s prepared to pay them.
Starting in February, the city of roughly 330,000 residents will fit up to 1,000 participating bikes owned by individuals with GPS devices to measure mileage and award riders €0.20 per kilometer (about $0.36 per mile) for any bike journey between home and work. For bike journeys other than work commutes, participants will get €0.04 per kilometer, with the overall amount of money handed over (by bank transfer) in a month capped at €25 per person. Not a bad windfall for people who just want to get from point A to point B.