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Making a place for bikes

At first glance, bikes and cities might seem like a bad mix. There’s so much traffic! Everyone is in such a hurry! Not to mention all those trucks and buses.

But for many city people, getting around by bike makes a lot of sense. Bikes are small, cheap, and easy to park. Biking is fun and good exercise. In cities around the world, more and more people are riding bikes and cities are finding ways to help them share the road.

Ways to Go

One of the simplest ways cities can help bikers is to make bike lanes. This is a traffic lane just for cyclists. Just like lanes for cars, bike lanes are marked with painted lines. Symbols and colours say, “No cars allowed!”

Cycle Cities

The Netherlands is a country that really likes bikes. There are bike lanes everywhere. So many people bike in the city of Amsterdam that they’re running out of bike parking spaces!

Copenhagen, Denmark, is another bike-happy city. It has five times as many bikes as cars. To help all those bikes get across the harbour, they built a long, wiggly path that goes right over the water. Because of the winding path it takes, it’s called “bike snake”. By separating bikes from other traffic, special paths like this make the streets less crowded.

Pedaling Together

What if you don’t own a bike? Or just want one a day? Many cities around the world have “ bike-sharing” programmes, a little like lending libraries of bikes.

In these cities, you’ll see large groups of bikes lined up at sidewalk stations. For a small fee, you can check out a bike at one station, ride it, and leave the bike at a different station. This lets people cycle around without having to worry about buying, storing, or repairing their own bikes.

In the Netherlands, some kids ride a bicycle bus. These specially made vehicles have seats for 11 kids and one adult driver. Each rider has her own set of pedals. If the group’s pedal power isn’t enough to make it up a hill, an electric motor can give the bus a boost.

1．________ are small, cheap, and easy to park. (       )

A．Trucks

B．Buses

C．Bikes

2．Copenhagen has ________ times as many bikes as cars. (       )

A．four

B．five

C．six

3．________ is a country that really likes bikes. (       )

A．New Zealand

B．The Netherlands

C．Copenhagen

4．The bicycle bus has ________ seats. (       )

A．11

B．1

C．12

5．If you don’t own a bike, but you want to ride a bike. Which can help you? (       )

A．One of the simplest ways cities can help bikers is to make bike lanes.

B．Many cities around the world have “bike-sharing” programmes.

C．To help bikes get across the harbour, they built a long, wiggly path.