Romanian City Gives Free Bus Rides To Passengers Who Read Books Inside
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To encourage more people to read on public transportation, I proposed to our mayor Emil Boc that the city not charge passengers who read books. It took me more than a year to make this proposal a reality. Long story short, between the 4th and 7th of June 2015 everyone who “travelled by book” in Cluj-Napoca rode free of charge.
I also do other campaigns with my friends to promote reading, for instance, Bookface. People who have a book on their Facebook profile picture receive discounts in all sorts of places, from book stores to hair salons and even in dental practices. Another action we carry out is on the 23th of April (World Book Day). On this day, people who have a book with them can visit for free the local Botanical Garden.
PS: our biggest challenge now is to persuade Mark Zuckerberg to Book-face his Face-book profile. So keep your fingers crossed.
I came up with the idea of not charging passengers who read books on public transport
Our mayor posted my proposal on his Facebook page and the feedback was amazing
Finally, after 1 year of constant effort, my idea became a reality
Between the 4th and 7th of June 2015, anyone who read a book on the bus rode for free
I believe that it’s better to promote reading by rewarding those who read, instead of criticising the ones who don’t
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Would love to see this done in America !
That is very cool!
it's fake. only for the news. me and a friend got a ticket for it. just for the news
What, no Kindles?!
Nope, only physical books. Imagine the conductor's reaction if you had with you In Search of Lost Time :))) Jokes aside, I'm from Cluj and I haven't seen many people with Kindles in city buses, either because they're expensive or they're not so popular yet.
It's because we still love the classic old books, with their smell and yellow pages ! Hopefully we'll stay the same, my beautiful Romanian people!
Here in eastern europe the book kindles you. We love books, no batteries, no dictionary and internet to distract you from reading. And out internet is especially dangerous since it is so fast you experience time dilation whilst browsing da web :D
The guy reading the romanian literature history made me smile. That's one biiig book :-)
Awesome idea and to reward the ones who do as opposed to criticizing those who don't is a beautiful. My thanks to the Mayor of this city and the citizen who encouraged him to do it.
This wouldn't work for me :/ I absolutely love books!!! But reading them while in motion makes me feel so sick :/
Read a book, any book - great idea and maybe can be promote as EU/US/UNICEF initiative. I think is worth a lot, for future.
1.) This discriminates against people with motion sickness 2.) Will the driver actually be checking that everyone is reading? 3.) What about Kindles? 4.) How on Earth does having a book in your FB profile picture prove that you read???
People with motion sickness will get motion sickness regardless if they pay a ticket or not. By all means blow down a fun measure that promotes culture and only took place for a few days because of a small percentage of the population. 2) You have ticket checkers in busses, so no, the driver does not check tickets. 3) Few people use kindles here..too expensive. 4) How does having a physical book on the bus proves that you read?
You apparently don't have motion sickness. I love reading books and I would love to be able to do so on a bus, but I can't. The only way I can avoid motion sickness as much as possible is by looking outside the window. Whenever I try to read, my sickness increases tenfold! So, yes, it's a great initiative, but indeed, it sucks for those with motion sickness who do love to read.
Nope, I only get motion sickness when reading or if I seat on one of those backwards seats.
Will the ticket checker be able to prove that you are reading? Why does your last point highlight the problem with this idea? I'm saying you can easily take advantage of this by getting on the bus with a book and not actually reading, just so you don't have to pay for a ticket.
@ LaureluSoarecu Good grief! There's always that one person who sees a nice idea and turns it into a problem/complaint.
Why do you have to be so pessimistic? Of course not all of them read the book they had in their hands, but why don't we first do something instead of staying on the side looking for faults to criticize? Did you have any project to encourage teens to read? Or make old people find the pleasure of reading again? Then please do not try to make others give up something so wonderful just because you can't say something nice.
Its techno-racism !!!
maybe it would be a great idea here in the city i live in brazil
it's fake, i got a ticket for it :) and i`m from the city. fake news, fake city, fake country
Yeah..so very cool until you get a fine because the ticket checker said that I was only holding the book in my lap, but I was looking out the window, which I did, for like 5 seconds, to check the station. And of course we got into a fight and I ended up paying the fee, which was like 10 times more than a ticket itself. So yeah...sounds good, doesn't work.
That is just amazing
Giving free ride to encourage reading Give penalty to Hungarian minority because on the market they dare to write their product's name in Hungarian (for Hungarian customers)....What are you doing Romania?
Wouldn't they miss their stop all the time?
Great idea! I would love to experience such an action in Athens !
All of my family are Bookaholics So I think getting more people reading books is great. The smell and feel of a real book can't be beaten BUT I feel reading on public transport means travellers will miss out on meeting those around them. Chatting with the person next to you can be such a wonderful thing. We need more book shops that don't just sell best sellers but obscure books too. Also book exchanges are wonderful.
awesome! truly there are folks with more creative substance than we will ever know. who would have thought of such a dramatic and dynamite idea? thank you! hope it will become a world-wide once-a-year event.
Harry Potter, anyone?
I consider it two birds with one stone as it's also a goal to let people ride for free and leave their damn cars at home.
This is very cool, but I wanna vomit when I read in a bus. I'm motion sensitive, sorry. Can't even read a comic. Tried it, felt dizzy.
I would love to see this happen in Australia!!!
Great job!
1.) This discriminates against people with motion sickness 2.) Will the driver actually be checking that everyone is reading? 3.) Why are Kindles not allowed? 4.) How on Earth does having a book on your FB profile picture prove that you actually read???
I think you take the discrimination part way too far. It's not like they're not allowed to get in the bus. They don't read in the bus anyway, regardless this project it's done or not. And about the tickets: in our country the driver doesn't check them, he only drives. I feel sorry for you because you are so pessimistic.
I totally think this was a great initiative, but being a motion sick book lover myself, I do agree with Angela on discrimination. Yes, we are allowed in the bus, but we have to pay, and when the money for public transport maintenance gets too tight, we'll eventually end up paying for all of them. And still keep envying those who can enjoy pieces of literature, instead of wasting time, while moving in the city.
That was an awesome idea for our city. :D Congrats!
Proud to be romanian !!
carry on with your ideeas ^^
Nice 1
GOOD THINKING !
brilliant
Extraordinary idea, I love it!!!
I always read...........................................................................................................unless I'm on my computer AT HOME.
Love it!
Gypsis know to read ?
Would love to see this done in America !
That is very cool!
it's fake. only for the news. me and a friend got a ticket for it. just for the news
What, no Kindles?!
Nope, only physical books. Imagine the conductor's reaction if you had with you In Search of Lost Time :))) Jokes aside, I'm from Cluj and I haven't seen many people with Kindles in city buses, either because they're expensive or they're not so popular yet.
It's because we still love the classic old books, with their smell and yellow pages ! Hopefully we'll stay the same, my beautiful Romanian people!
Here in eastern europe the book kindles you. We love books, no batteries, no dictionary and internet to distract you from reading. And out internet is especially dangerous since it is so fast you experience time dilation whilst browsing da web :D
The guy reading the romanian literature history made me smile. That's one biiig book :-)
Awesome idea and to reward the ones who do as opposed to criticizing those who don't is a beautiful. My thanks to the Mayor of this city and the citizen who encouraged him to do it.
This wouldn't work for me :/ I absolutely love books!!! But reading them while in motion makes me feel so sick :/
Read a book, any book - great idea and maybe can be promote as EU/US/UNICEF initiative. I think is worth a lot, for future.
1.) This discriminates against people with motion sickness 2.) Will the driver actually be checking that everyone is reading? 3.) What about Kindles? 4.) How on Earth does having a book in your FB profile picture prove that you read???
People with motion sickness will get motion sickness regardless if they pay a ticket or not. By all means blow down a fun measure that promotes culture and only took place for a few days because of a small percentage of the population. 2) You have ticket checkers in busses, so no, the driver does not check tickets. 3) Few people use kindles here..too expensive. 4) How does having a physical book on the bus proves that you read?
You apparently don't have motion sickness. I love reading books and I would love to be able to do so on a bus, but I can't. The only way I can avoid motion sickness as much as possible is by looking outside the window. Whenever I try to read, my sickness increases tenfold! So, yes, it's a great initiative, but indeed, it sucks for those with motion sickness who do love to read.
Nope, I only get motion sickness when reading or if I seat on one of those backwards seats.
Will the ticket checker be able to prove that you are reading? Why does your last point highlight the problem with this idea? I'm saying you can easily take advantage of this by getting on the bus with a book and not actually reading, just so you don't have to pay for a ticket.
@ LaureluSoarecu Good grief! There's always that one person who sees a nice idea and turns it into a problem/complaint.
Why do you have to be so pessimistic? Of course not all of them read the book they had in their hands, but why don't we first do something instead of staying on the side looking for faults to criticize? Did you have any project to encourage teens to read? Or make old people find the pleasure of reading again? Then please do not try to make others give up something so wonderful just because you can't say something nice.
Its techno-racism !!!
maybe it would be a great idea here in the city i live in brazil
it's fake, i got a ticket for it :) and i`m from the city. fake news, fake city, fake country
Yeah..so very cool until you get a fine because the ticket checker said that I was only holding the book in my lap, but I was looking out the window, which I did, for like 5 seconds, to check the station. And of course we got into a fight and I ended up paying the fee, which was like 10 times more than a ticket itself. So yeah...sounds good, doesn't work.
That is just amazing
Giving free ride to encourage reading Give penalty to Hungarian minority because on the market they dare to write their product's name in Hungarian (for Hungarian customers)....What are you doing Romania?
Wouldn't they miss their stop all the time?
Great idea! I would love to experience such an action in Athens !
All of my family are Bookaholics So I think getting more people reading books is great. The smell and feel of a real book can't be beaten BUT I feel reading on public transport means travellers will miss out on meeting those around them. Chatting with the person next to you can be such a wonderful thing. We need more book shops that don't just sell best sellers but obscure books too. Also book exchanges are wonderful.
awesome! truly there are folks with more creative substance than we will ever know. who would have thought of such a dramatic and dynamite idea? thank you! hope it will become a world-wide once-a-year event.
Harry Potter, anyone?
I consider it two birds with one stone as it's also a goal to let people ride for free and leave their damn cars at home.
This is very cool, but I wanna vomit when I read in a bus. I'm motion sensitive, sorry. Can't even read a comic. Tried it, felt dizzy.
I would love to see this happen in Australia!!!
Great job!
1.) This discriminates against people with motion sickness 2.) Will the driver actually be checking that everyone is reading? 3.) Why are Kindles not allowed? 4.) How on Earth does having a book on your FB profile picture prove that you actually read???
I think you take the discrimination part way too far. It's not like they're not allowed to get in the bus. They don't read in the bus anyway, regardless this project it's done or not. And about the tickets: in our country the driver doesn't check them, he only drives. I feel sorry for you because you are so pessimistic.
I totally think this was a great initiative, but being a motion sick book lover myself, I do agree with Angela on discrimination. Yes, we are allowed in the bus, but we have to pay, and when the money for public transport maintenance gets too tight, we'll eventually end up paying for all of them. And still keep envying those who can enjoy pieces of literature, instead of wasting time, while moving in the city.
That was an awesome idea for our city. :D Congrats!
Proud to be romanian !!
carry on with your ideeas ^^
Nice 1
GOOD THINKING !
brilliant
Extraordinary idea, I love it!!!
I always read...........................................................................................................unless I'm on my computer AT HOME.
Love it!
Gypsis know to read ?