Parisians Love their Vélos
by Bonnie Alter, London 
on 10.11.07
We've read about the bicycles around Paris that you can pick up, ride and drop off elsewhere, and now we have seen them. And we are here to report that the concept works and the Parisians are using it like crazy. Called Vélib', you register to get a "credit" card with a pin number which you load up with money. The pin number is punched into the kiosks located at the bike stand and then you are free to ride away. Literally--the first half hour is free, then it's is one euro per half hour. This encourages quick rides from point to point. On the kiosk is a map showing where the neighbouring stands are located.
Since it is Paris, absolutely no one wore a helmet--they just aren't chic. But the mix of young and old using the bikes was a pleasure to see. Since it is Paris, there are wide boulevards which leave lots of room for joint bike and taxi lanes, making riding feel safer and easier. But the growth in bicycles means that the taxi lanes are now being taken over by bicycles which could become a problem.
We saw bike stands dotted everywhere around the centre of town. During the weekdays the stands were half full of bikes, waiting to be taken. But in the evening they were empty: obviously everyone is using them to hit the cafés and do errands after work. On the weekend there were no bikes to be found. Those in the more distant areas disappear quickly and there is often a wait for them to be returned. Electric trucks go around redistributing the bicycles in the morning.
There are 10,000 bikes now at 750 locations and the programme has been such a hit that they are doubling that by the end of the year. Watch for it in your city. :: Vélib'
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Its lovely! They got a similar system in Barcelona.
http://tinyurl.com/2hm2qc // spanish website
Since it is Paris, absolutely no one wore a helmet--they just aren't chic.
Let me disagree on this. People do really wear helmets on bicycle, even in Paris and despite they are out-of-fashion. :)
Nevertheless, the recent Velib' trend saw a lot of people throwing themselves on the streets of Paris on these bikes, and it is obvious that most of them never rode a bike before in such a dense trafic. Few respect trafic lights, many ride with their walkman head-on or talking on their mobile phone, etc. I suppose most of them will have to learn danger the hard way...
sL
Can't wait for this to hit the US! But it makes so much sense and is so good for you, it might take decades.
I'm falling in love with the world all over again!
first we saw community bikes at burning man,
then we read this amazing article, and one of the comments points towards barcelona doing something similar! yahooo
> I suppose most of them will have to learn danger the hard way...
And a helmet will help how...?