Passage E
          After 30 straight days of unhealthy levels of smog last December, Milantemporarily banned cars from the city center and offered discount “anti-smog” ticketson public transport. Now the city hopes to take another step to get people out of carsmore permanently—by paying commuters who choose to ride a bike. “We want tofocus the public opinion on the fact that moving by bike is much healthier for themand for the city,” says Pierfrancesco Maran, Milan’s mobility councillor.
         It’s not the first government to try handing out cash to cyclists. France tested apilot program in 2014, and smaller towns have tested “reverse tolls” for pedestriansand cyclists. Belgium, the Netherlands, and the U.K. have all also tried payingcommuters to bike, at rates equivalent to about 30 cents a mile, tax-free. Milan isstudying all of the options. “We are planning to do something similar,” says Maran.“To give direct money to those who go to work by bike, or to give them some othersustainable-mobility incentive.” Even though there’s an obvious cost involved,Maran argues that it makes sense to encourage people to bike the same way that thegovernment supports options such as public transport. “If we look at mobility all  together, for example, even half of the cost of public transport is contributed bynational funds,” he says. “So we will give a little money as an incentive for citizensto know that cycling is healthier than cars, and can be a good alternative in a flat citylike Milan.”
        Milan’s geography also means that the city is especially likely to suffer fromsmog. Because it’s in a valley, air pollution often gets trapped in the city. This winterhas been especially dry and warm, making the smog worse—a pattern that’s likely tocontinue as climate change intensifies. Milan is already routinely ranked as one ofthe most polluted cities in the EU.
        It’s not clear how well a cycling incentive like this will work. In the Frenchexperiment, out of more than 8,000 employees who participated, only around 400actually switched to a bike. Milan—with some of the worst traffic in Europe—is acity addicted to cars. But Maran says old patterns are already changing. After the cityadded 50% more bike lanes over the last few years, and more than doubled thenumber of bike-share stations, more people are riding. Drivers in the city center haveto pay a congestion charge, and in response, 20% more people started using publictransport over the last four years. The city is slowly expanding a car-free zone in themiddle of the city. Paying people to bike on its own may not make a huge difference,but it’s part of a larger plan that does seem to be working. “Something is changing inthe behavior of citizens,” says Maran. “We want to help it change faster.”Questions 14-17
【題組】14. What does Milan City intend to do?
(A) People can no longer drive to work in Milan.
(B) It will offer more discount tickets on public transport.
(C) It won’t offer commuters discount tickets on public transport.
(D) Commuters who ride a bike to work will get government subsidies.