Wheel good idea

PHILADELPHIA, like many cities, faces a growing problem with traffic, congestion and pollution. The high cost of gas and negative impact on the environment highlight the need for alternatives to our car-driven culture. On Wednesday, City Council heard testimony about a great idea called bike-sharing that may offer at least a partial solution.

Bike-sharing programs provide residents with free or cheap access to bicycles that can be borrowed for a few hours. Riders return bikes to docking stations placed in strategic locations across the city. Bikes are also equipped with technology to prevent them from being lost or stolen. (If nothing else, our city will be a great test of that system.) Essentially, bike-sharing would add bicycles to the public transportation system in Philadelphia. Talk about a no-brainer.

Plus, programs in other cities prove bike-sharing can be done without spending a single tax dollar - by selling advertising space on bicycles and docking stations that pay for the program. (For more on the cost of bike-sharing, check out "It's Our Money" at www.ourmoneyphilly.com.)

Our favorite part: Bike-sharing is an idea imported from Paris. We could use a little more of that around here. *