VOA标准英语2010年-London's Bike-Rental System Aims to Ea

London's transport agency has introduced a bicycle rental¹ system throughout central London to encourage people to ride bikes rather than drive, take taxis or use other public transport. It's an effort to alleviate² congestion³ on London's overcrowded roads and transport system.

They're unloading brand new bicycles all over the British capital.  And mayor Boris Johnson hopes Londoners will use them regularly.

"I think you should all have a go on these bikes," he said.

The $150 million system is the second largest of its kind in the world. Riders use an electronic key to unlock a bike from one of more than 300 stations. They cycle to their destination and return the bike to another station. Johnson says he has learned from mistakes made in Paris, where many of the bikes were stolen or thrown into the river. He is confident this will work here.

"This is a fantastic experiment of a new type of public transport in London," he said.

The bikes are heavy and robust⁴ to minimize damage and vandalism.

The mayor hopes to make London one of the greatest cycling cities in the world, even so, riding a bike through the capital has its challenges.

One of the biggest challenges is traffic. In some areas there are marked bike lanes; in others there are not.  And there is a long history of animosity between drivers and cyclists here.

Bright blue cycle superhighways are one solution, to clearly mark road areas designated for cyclists. So far there are only two 12-kilometer-long routes. Another 10 routes are expected to open by 2015.

London's overcrowded bus and subway system might also benefit from the bikes.

"If we can reduce some of the capacity on the tube [subway] network in the center of London and some of the buses, then that's a good thing," says David Brown, from Transport for London.

Scott Taggart already rides his bike to work. He hopes the new plan will mean fewer cars on the road. "The more people we can get on the roads with bikes the better," he said.

There will be 6,000 bikes available, and the mayor hopes once it gets rolling, this system will result in 40,000 bike trips a day.

 
 

1 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

2 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

3 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

4 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。