Milan has a huge problem with pollution—one so bad that smog exceeded safe levels for 30 days straight last year. In December, city officials tried banning cars for three straight days and encouraged cyclists to take to the vehicle-free streets.

Now the city is trying a new tack—paying people to bike to work.

City officials say the plan will be modeled on a 2014 French pilot program that had companies paying their employees about 43 cents per mile to ride to work—a move that was considered a mixed success, with five percent of the approximately 10,000 participating commuters switching from driving to biking.

RELATED: Paris to Cut Cars and Double Bike Lanes by 2020

Pierfrancesco Maran, Milan’s councilor for mobility, says the city is considering using an app to keep track of bike commuters, and hoping to secure the necessary government funding available for sustainable mobility. City officials knows they need to take some kind of action to shake Milan's reputation as the "pollution capital of Europe," as ranked by the Telegraph.

If riding your bike to work through record pollution and clouds of smog doesn’t seem worth the pocket change to you, you’re likely not alone. While we love the idea of making a little money on our daily ride to work, the bike commuters we know are motivated more by safe cycling conditions and convenience—not financial incentives.

We’re happy Milan is trying to reduce pollution by focusing on cycling, but let's hope this encourages city officials to also consider ways to make the city safer for cycling and more accessible by bike. Milan has taken the first step with a thriving bike share system, pictured above. More bike lanes and safer cycling infrastructure should go hand in hand with the new plan to pay commuters to ride.

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