Municipal bicycle rental program to be launched in T.A. in 2008 - Haaretz

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Mon., September 10, 2007 Elul 27, 5767

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Last update - 08:56 10/09/2007

Municipal bicycle rental program to be launched in T.A. in 2008

By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent

Tel Aviv may soon join Paris and other European capitals in offering bicycle rentals on a mass scale at a very low cost.

Senior Tel Aviv municipality officials expect the new program to be launched in 2008. The program is designed to reduce traffic congestion as well as pollution in the city. Each year, some 1,100 residents of central Israel die as a result of air pollution.

However, a senior municipality official warns that a new law requiring bicyclists to wear a helmet or face a fine may diminish the program's success.

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The tender for the operation of the program, which is to be operated by a private company, is scheduled to be publicized in the coming weeksץ

The new program will allow people to pick up a bicycle at any of 25 rental stations throughout the city, and drop it off at another station in the vicinity of the person's destination. Dr. Moshe Tyomkin, in charge of Tel Aviv's transportation, traffic and parking, told Haaretz on Sunday that the project will include 2,500 bicycles at first, and will expand in accordance with the program's popularity.

The stations will be erected in central areas such as theaters, hospitals and train stations. Tyomkin added that the rental cost would be minimal, maybe even single shekels. The cost will be charged from the customer's credit card in order to prevent bicycle theft.

Yotam Avizohar, the director of the Israel Bicycle Association, welcomed the initiative, but expressed doubt over the adequacy of the city's bicycle paths. Tel Aviv's paths, currently a total of 74 kilometers long, "are still unsatisfactory ? especially in the southern and eastern parts of the city, though there are many bicyclists there," Avizohar said.

Avizohar maintained that the municipality is promoting policies that contradict each other. "If the municipality wants to promote bicycle riding and walking, it cannot continue to build massive parking lots, roads and lanes for private vehicles," he said.

The municipality has said that the new mandatory helmet law recently passed by the Knesset is a "serious blow" to the project and will hinder its success. According to Tyomkin, residents will be reluctant to rent a helmet previously worn by dozens of others. The law, which was passed despite the objection of public transportation groups, will go into effect at the end of the month and will require all bicyclists to wear a helmet or face a fine.

A similar bicycle rental program was launched in Paris this year, which will reach some 20,000 bicycles and 1,500 stations by year's end. Similar programs have been established in Lyon, Olso, Copenhagen, Vienna, Berlin and Helsinki. A bicycle rental initiative is being examined in London.

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1.	Way to go Tel Aviv!	10:25	\|	Urbanite	10/09/07

2.	Bike rental program also in Spain	10:31	\|	Paul	10/09/07

3.	Why wouldn`t someone use a helmet???	10:48	\|	B`galil	10/09/07

4.	# because it makes you hair look bad, and it is hot	12:48	\|	Aaron	10/09/07

5.	Only the first step	13:36	\|	Naftush	10/09/07

6.	Re: Why wouldn`t someone use a helmet???	13:39	\|	Dina	10/09/07

7.	Don`t require helmets but give a discount for those who take them	14:58	\|	Moshe	10/09/07

8.	helmet laws suck	15:54	\|	h. davidson	10/09/07

9.	Re: Only the first step	16:07	\|	Zvi	10/09/07

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