Helsinki puts use of bicycle on par with public transit

Helsinki puts the use of a bicycle on par with public transit. The Finnish capital city will start giving financial support to any city employee who purchases a bicycle for commuting to work, media reported on Monday.

So far employees have been eligible for a transit pass worth 10 euros (11.2 U.S. dollars) a month. Those using bicycles can now swap the right and get a subsidy for a bicycle purchase.

The swap could cover one or two year's worth of transit passes. The payments to the employees will be taxed as salary.

The policy concerns employees of the city who work at least 14 hours a week.

The user of a city subsidized bicycle could often be a nurse or a teacher. Helsinki has some 40,000 employees. Over half of them work in health care and social services and a fifth in education.

Helsinki has invested in bicycle lanes. Most notably a used railroad track connecting downtown and the south-western water front was converted into a bicycles-only street two years ago.

However, many city streets have no bicycle lanes and cyclists ride amongst cars. An accident killing a cyclist in August got much publicity. Court proceedings against the driver are still ongoing. Endit