More on The Velib
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.15.07
Ed Alcock for The New York Times
Bonnie recently extolled the virtues of the Velib, the new Parisian bike rental system; now Eric Rayman of the New York Times tries it out.
"The French have embraced communal bike ownership, according to my informal survey of my fellow Vélibiens, as have other Europeans. A culture of Vélibistes is emerging. The camaraderie — a French word that seems to have been invented in anticipation of this new cult — among the riders is entrancing. Riders advise one another on where to find the nearest Vélib docking station, where to park if one is full, and how to find the best routes around the city. When they speak of Vélibs, Parisians smile, even those like a waiter who admitted not having ridden one".
"To explore Paris by foot, by Métro or by taxi is not like embracing it on a bicycle. As I peddled around the glass pyramid at the Louvre, I was struck by the strobelike reflections from the royal buildings around it. Then I swung over the Pont du Carrousel and stole a glance at the ripples of light shimmering along the Seine in the shape of the arches of the Pont Neuf. I turned on the Boulevard Saint-Michel and discovered to my mild distress that it was a long climb. I heard the delighted laughter of a young Frenchwoman on her Vélib schussing by in the opposite direction."More in ::New York Times
This isn't some little yellow bike system, but an organized, large scale intervention that seems to be working well. When will we see its likes in North America?
Aside: I ran into the same no chip+pin credit-card problem (mentioned in the article) last year when I went to buy a train ticket from the automatic kiosk at Aéroport Lyon-Saint Exupéry. Annoying (that we in N.A. are still so backward), but at least I arrived during the day when the booth was manned and those systems accept unchipped cards.
Well there may not be a bike system like this in Miami but they do have a pilot program going on in the Design District (art section of miami) using Vespa Scooters. A company called Verde. You can check them out at www.GrowVerde.com. They used to be called something else before (they used to rent to celebrities) now they have a community based share program using those same Vespa's that get 60 mpg on a 2-gallon tank. check it out!
Hi, While there are glitches the Velib people have been updating the system every week (adding new languages, support for non-smart chip cards, etc.). The first few weeks were a bit difficult but things seem to be going well now. I can predictably rent a bike very quickly (with the metro system that is now linked to the bike terminals!).
I've been posting tips, tricks, news on
http://velibobsession.blogspot.com
evan