Dublin is becoming a greener city, because of a rising number of cyclists. The Dublin City Council has set up 450 specially-made bikes at 40 stations around the city. The bicycles can be obtaining using a credit card. The first hour of riding is free but it costs half a euro ($0.67) for the first full hour and 6.50 euros for four hours. I think its quite a reasonable price, especially compared to other forms of public transportation. Despite the Council's worries of theft, since September '09 when the program as set up only 2 bikes have been pilfered in the first six months. Council spokesman Paul Finan says, "The scheme has exceeded all expectation. Since its launch in '09 we are heading for over 500,000 trips with a population of 1.2 million people in the Dublin region." Also, last year the government set up a bike-to-work tax incentive program. It allows employers to buy bikes for up to maximum of 1,000 euros and sell them to their workers tax-free at a reduced price of 40%. This has also greatly increased the number of bikes on the road and helped to reduce carbon emissions. These bikes however have been reported stolen, by about 1/3 in the first nine months of last year. The police have also switched over to patrolling on mountain bikes. Not to worry about the speed limits though, those have been reduced to 20 miles an hour in the city center. Lastly Dublin is not as rainy as we think it is, making biking to work a very suitable option for workers. I think the program is a really great idea and it seems to working, so i say expand it and make the bikes even more readily available.
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