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Free Bikes To Borrow

Folks in Fresno, California, are about to get a free ride. This month the city began a new program to get citizens out of their cars and onto pollution-free bikes.

Fresno's Yellow Bike Program staff will distribute 20 to 40 public bikes around the city. The bikes will be painted bright yellow so citizens will know they are part of the city program. People in Fresno can hop on a yellow bike, pedal to their destination, then leave the bike for the next free rider.

"There is a need in the community for free transportation," says Jim Burgess, chairman of the Yellow Bike Program in Fresno. "My goal for 1996 is to have at least 200 bikes out there."

The free-bike idea began in Portland, Oregon, in 1994. Similar programs are under way in Tucson, Arizona; Denver and Boulder, Colorado; Tampa, Florida; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Seattle.

Burgess expects that more residents will bike to work or school or on errands. Local kids are enthusiastic. "It will help control pollution in the city," says Steven Welsh, 12.

Some people are worried that the yellow bikes will be stolen. But that hasn't been a problem in other free-bike cities. "How can you steal something that's free?" asks Burgess. "Most people will abide by the rules."

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