[00:03.61]Unit 9 Wheels Lesson 1 On Your Bike
[00:09.28]Return of the white bikes!
[00:12.02]People have been enjoying the benefits
[00:14.20]of cycling in Amsterdam for years.
[00:17.02]It is a good city for cycling
[00:18.51]because it is flat
[00:20.04]and therefore is convenient for bikes.
[00:23.07]There are also plenty of places
[00:25.14]for bicycle parking and most streets
[00:27.75]in the city center have a bicycle path.
[00:31.06]Today some people call Amsterdam the
[00:33.86]"City of Bicycles" because of
[00:36.42]the convenience for bicycles there.
[00:39.00]In the 1960s, a group of cycling fans
[00:41.82]had an idea.
[00:43.17]They believed that it would be better
[00:45.36]for everybody if cars weren't allowed
[00:47.65]in the city center and only bicycles were.
[00:50.94]They were hopeful that this would help
[00:52.97]to save energy,reduce pollution
[00:55.71]and provide free public transport.
[00:58.94]The group painted hundreds of bicycles white
[01:02.17]and placed them in lots of neighbourhoods
[01:04.16]around Amsterdam for people to use.
[01:06.93]Anyone was allowed to take them
[01:09.05]and use them for short journeys.
[01:11.51]Wherever someone finished a ourney
[01:13.86]they would leave the bike there
[01:15.34]for someone else to use.
[01:17.63]The problem was that it didn't work
[01:20.27]thieves took all the bicycles within weeks!
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