Cash or bicycle for gas guzzlers

Ottawa: Canadians will be offered bicycles, public transit passes or cash if they agree to scrap their old gas-guzzling vehicles, the government said on Wednesday.

The National Vehicle Scrappage Programme will be up and running by January 2009. Incentives include C$300 (Dh1,080) in cash, membership in a car-sharing programme or a rebate on the purchase of a new vehicle. Ottawa will spend C$92 million (Dh331 million) over four years to fund the programme.

Ottawa says five million of the 18 million cars and trucks in Canada were made before 1996, when tougher emissions standards were introduced. The older vehicles produce about 19 times more pollutants than newer models, the government said.