20,000 Rental Bikes to be Unleashed in Paris
by EcoGeek.org on 03.27.07
This July, Parisians will have an exciting new way to travel around their city. About 1,500 stations stocked with specially designed, vandal-proof bikes will be scattered around the city. Once your membership is paid, and your credit card is on file, the bikes can be borrowed from one station and returned to any other station in the city. Membership ranges from $2 for a day to $40 for a year, and rentals are free for the first 30 minutes. To reduce opportunities for theft, riders will be encouraged to return the bikes to a lock station quickly by incrementally escalating rental fees. The second half hour is $1.30, the third is $2.60 and the price increases from there.
A similar project has been extremely successful in Lyon, where the membership fees are a bit smaller, but biking has been shown to be faster than any other mode of in-city transportation. Lyon's deputy mayor gushes, "It has completely transformed the landscape of Lyon -- everywhere you see people on the bikes."
The mayor of Paris hopes for a similar change. His aide, Jean-Luc Dumesnil says, "we think it could change Paris's image -- make it quieter, less polluted, with a nicer atmosphere, a better way of life." I'm pretty sure that's what we're all looking for. And while the Utopian free-bike movements of the past were a nice idea, technology seems to finally have given bike sharing real life.
::Hugg hugger - jpratt. ::Washington Post
Barcelona has a similar initiative starting right now.. It's called bicing and it's smaller (just 1500 bikes and 100 stations) but it has the same philosophy.. can't wait to try it!! : )
I hope this spreads to every city and town.
Now this is really a smart move. This truly is "individual public transport". Public transport but with the freedom to go where you like. Incredible. These bicycles get used 7-15 times a day on average. Not only are they an environmentally friendly method of transport - they are shared and well used! How fantastic is that? A really, really smart system. And the idea of first 30min free then sliding scale after that is also really smart. When you have your own bike you tend to want to take it everywhere you go - because if you park it somewhere you are going to have to go back and get it at some stage. This system - with its extensive network of stations, eliminates that altogether - so not only does it encourage cycling, but it encourages walking also, as you won't want to go over the 30min limit so will take first opportunity to park at a station near your destination and walk the rest of the way - and even better, you don't have to come back that way, you can just continue on and pick up another velib somewhere else if you want to. Amazing system. A real boost to the civic good. I am not at all surprised that the big financial institutions are buying into Paris CBD real estate. If this does reduce auto traffic even a little, it will make Paris cleaner, quieter, safer, healthier and more pleasant.
I feel in love with the Velib bike sharing program in Paris when I was there last month. It is, however, far from free. There is not only a subscription or membership charge, but the city has traded significant advertising revenue for the system. Check out the details on my blog: www.greenjoe.com.
They also have bikes to rent for a small fee (season pass approx $25) in Stockholm, Sweden. The city has lots of bike paths that are separated from automobile traffic.
www.stockholmcitybikes.se