One diplomatic vehicle equals eight bicycles, according to the Canadian diplomatic corps.
The Canadian Embassy has traded in one of its vehicles for eight Canadian-built bikes for its employees to use in their jobs or to commute, according to the blog Greater Greater Washington. The move is the latest public policy effort to increase alternative modes of transportation in the nation’s capital, for environmental and health reasons.
But the District may be copying Canadian ways, as opposed to the other way around as the city is modeling its expanded bike-sharing program after Montreal’s Bixi program.
However, it seems as though the Canadian diplomatic corps may be losing out a bit. Though they get free use of the bikes, it seems unlikely the bicycles will have those handy diplomatic plates that give drivers a free pass on the rules of the road. Perhaps they will get special bike lane privileges?
