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An ltalian town will pay people hundreds of euros per year if they ride bikes to work instead of using their cars.

The government in Massarosa， just north of Pisa， says the small project will see bikers paid 25 cents per kilometre travelled， up to a monthly cap of 50 euros， the regional H Tirreno news website reports. That means passengers who change to two wheels could get up t0 600 euros in a year. It's said to be the first such project in ltaly.

Fifty workers will be included in the12-month project， which will use a smart-phone app to record the distance travelled each day. The project is being provided with fines collected from traffic tickets in the town， which by law has to be used in road safety， the site points out.

“The Bike to Work project will offer encouragement to citizens to make sure that the area becomes more comfortable to live，” says local official Stefano Natali， adding that it will naturally mean less traffic on the streets，and will have health benefits. The ltalian Fed-eration Friends of the Bicycle （FIAB）， which helped to develop the idea， says it hopes that other towns will now follow Massarosa's lead.

A similar project was introduced in France in 2014， with mixed results. While a six-month trial found that paying people to ride bikes to work did increase the numbers doing so， most people had been using public transport， rather than private cars. Of those making the move from cars to bicycles， most had already been carpooling （拼車 ）.