It is such good news to know that Paris is gearing up for a transport revolution next month, when a fleet of 10,000 self-service bicycles will roll out across the city as part of an ambitious bid to coax urbanites out of their cars.

From July 15, Parisians and tourists alike will able to use swipe or credit cards 24 hours a day to rent bicycles for short trips around the city, dropping them at any of 750 bike points to be picked up by a new user. City Hall hopes Parisians will adopt the system en masse and expects to have at least 200,000 regular users by the end of the year - when the number of bikes will more than double to 20,600 - at 1,451 stations.

Spaced about 300 metres apart, the docking stations form a dense grid across the city, and cyclists can use the Internet or a mobile phone to check on bike availability at any one of them. Rental is free for the first half-hour, rising to ¤1 (Bt46) for the second, two for the next and so on.

The scheme is a first for a major capital and is being eagerly watched by city planners from Rio de Janeiro to Montreal.

Many cities in Thailand should also consider implementing the scheme, particularly Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya, where old structures are threatened by pollution.

Imagine the early-morning ride in Chiang Mai or Ayutthaya, along narrow streets lined with tall green trees. Surely, cities were meant to be this way.

In a dilemma

Just when Total Access Communication (DTAC) is completing its dual listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Singaporean-based Creative Technology is considering an opposite move to a single listing.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that Creative Technology plans voluntarily to delist from the US Nasdaq stock market, because of the high cost of dual listing. August 1 will be its last day of trading on the Nasdaq, where it has been listed since 1992. The company's primary listing on the Singapore Exchange will become its sole one.

Listing on two markets means a company must comply with two sets of rules, and that means a higher compliance cost.

DTAC is insisting it will keep its SGX listing after joining the Thai bourse. But who knows what will happen? The story will be closely monitored by Thai Beverage, for sure.

achara_d@nationgroup.com