Easing traffic with free bikes

JERUSALEM, July 15 (JTA) — The Ramat Hasharon town council has come up with a novel way to try to cut down on traffic jams: make bicycles available to residents for free. Taking the lead from Amsterdam, the municipality, near Tel Aviv, has purchased a fleet of bicycles, which will be painted white and placed around the city. The town hopes that residents will use them to move through the center of town and then leave them for others to use. A town official said he hopes no one will steal the new transportation system.