Mayor's latest idea import: Bike rentals.

Byline: Gary Washburn and Emma Graves Fi

Sep. 12--Mayor Richard Daley, known for taking early morning rides along the lakefront, just loves bicycles, and he delights in getting ideas from other cities.

So is it any wonder that Daley is eyeing a bike rental program that could make Chicago just a little bit like Paris?

On the other hand, could a ride down a Michigan Avenue jammed with short-tempered rush hour motorists possibly compare with a leisurely cruise along the banks of the Seine?

Daley, traveling in Europe, took a spin on a rental bicycle Tuesday in the French capital, where by year's end 20,000 more two-wheelers will be available for pick-up and drop-off at 1,400 locations. Back in Chicago, city officials are considering two proposals for a similar, though much smaller, program.

The success of similar mayoral ideas so far been mixed. Daley returned from a trip to England in the 1990s smitten by what he considered the beauty of the wrought iron fences of London, and the result is visible everywhere today: faux wrought iron fencing from one end of Chicago to the other.

Daley also tried Venice-like gondola service on the Chicago River a few years back. The businessman who won city approval for that one is now nowhere to be found.