[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!

[01:22.65]