Free Bicycles to Hit Streets in Copenhagen
Danes will soon be able to ride through Copenhagen on bicycles dispensed by coin-operated machines, and they’ll get their money back at the end.
The city hopes to have nearly 5,000 Bycykels, Danish for “City Bikes,” on the road by 1996. The City Bikes are free for riders, paid for partly by advertising on their frames.
Residents with a 20-kroner coin, worth about $3.30, for the deposit will be able to ride the bikes as long as they like. They’ll get the money back when they return the bike.
Officials are promoting Bycykels as a way to cut pollution and curbing bike theft.
Several cities have shown interest, among them Aspen, Colorado, and Adelaide in Australia, said Morten Sadolin, the businessman behind the private venture.
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