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Public servants in Changwon City, South Gyeongsang Province are busy buying bicycles after the municipality became the first in the country to make it mandatory for employees living within 3 km of the city hall or village offices to cycle to work. The measure aimed at making the city cycle-friendly as well as an ¡°environmental capital¡± becomes effective in March and will affect 700 out of the city¡¯s 1,500 officials, although some may opt to use public transport instead.
Mayor Park Wan-soo himself bought a collapsible bicycle for some W180,000 (US$1=W937) to set an example, and Kwon Jae-hyuck, the director of the Construction and Traffic Bureau under which the bicycle taskforce was formed, have been cycling to work since January.
The city plans to station ¡°official use¡± bicycles at its premise for officials who have to visit nearby places. The City Hall will transform the first floor of its three-story car park into a parking lot for 600 bikes. The city also unveiled an ordinance aimed at encouraging bicycle use among citizens, which includes creating and sprucing up bicycle paths and taking out insurance in the mayor¡¯s name to cover bicycle accidents on the paths. The mayor said he was looking at various incentives for those who use bicycles to commute.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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