Pay with Squats

I came across this and loved the creativity behind it...

In Romania, you can pay for a bus ticket with 20 squats

In Cluj-Napoca, there's a system that turns exercise into currency. Just 20 properly executed squats are enough to receive a free public transport ticket.

The system, known as Biletul de Sănătate (Health Ticket), guides you in real time. A camera counts your squats, monitors the two-minute limit, and uses computer vision to detect whether each movement is performed correctly before issuing the ticket. Simple. Accessible. Brilliant.

Launched in September 2020 by Sports Festival with support from Cluj-Napoca City Hall, the program was designed for a two-week pilot. The response was so overwhelming—14,500 tickets issued in those first weeks alone—that it became permanent.

Throughout its various editions, the project has generated impressive numbers. Over 200,000 tickets have been issued through movement since 2020. More than 2.3 million squats recorded across the first two phases. In 2022, they added a cycling option: pedal 400 meters on a stationary bike in under four minutes, and the ticket is yours.

The program is reactivated during different periods, now in its sixth consecutive year. It has no single cycle—it's installed, used, paused, and relaunched whenever there's a need to encourage physical activity in creative ways.

A simple idea that promotes daily exercise, encourages public transport use, and proves that a city can reward physical effort.

In Cluj-Napoca, movement has real value: 20 squats = 1 ride.

Source:

https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/health-campaign-cluj-napoca-20-squats-bus-ticket-2021-09-22_en