What's Up With That City Offering Free Bus Rides To Book Readers?

We now live in a world infested with smartphones. It has changed our lifestyles greatly. Whenever I get on board the local bus or the metro, its funny and at the same time pathetic to see people glued to their smartphones. Gone are the days when people used to read books or socialize on public transports. But then, occasionally, I may see somebody paging through an actual novel. In that instance, I would celebrate: the book is not dead! Long live the book!

One such news hit the web a few weeks back. In Cluj-Napoca (the second most populous city in Romania), travellers reading a book were awarded free bus rides from June 4th-7th, 2015. Despite being offered for only a short time period,  positive assurances like free rides might instill a better reading habit among the general public.

This initiative was proposed by Victor Miron, a book lover and resident of Cluj-Napoca. Miron said that he wanted to "encourage more individuals to read on public transportation".  He proposed his thought to the city's mayor, Emil Boc, who then presented it on his followers on Facebook. The thought got such an overwhelmingly warm reaction, to the point that a year later it was put without hesitation.

Other activities to praise the occasion and promote reading in the city included utilizing the city's transports and cable cars to show inspiring quotes from classic and contemporary writers, giving out bookmarks to the overall population and a week after week book club which kept running all through June in the Cluj-Napoca's botanical garden.