City Bike Rental: re-inventing the Wheels
[français en bas]
Londoners have got rather used to the sight of their chubby-kneed mayor, Boris Johnson riding a bike. Come May 2010, many may be tempted to bare their knees and join him. That’s when the city’s new cycle hire scheme is scheduled to go live, offering a fleet of 6,000 rental bikes at 400 bike hire stations in central London. The scheme went out to tender last year, and an announcement is expected soon. Work will start in May. Can’t wait.
At this point, Mayor Delanöe ought to be feeling very pleased with himself. His administration’s bike rental scheme, Vélib’ has been widely admired by visiting overseas policy-makers. And it’s popular with Parisians, who’ve already notched up more than 40 million rentals since the start. Trouble is, it is also popular for all the wrong reasons. Vélib’ extrême, a sport that involves stealing and trashing the bikes in stunts at the local skate park, has become a mini-epidemic in the city. The Mairie is busy working on measures to address the problem. You can bet London’s City Hall will be watching with interest.
Planning to try Vélib’ on your next Paris trip? Here are a few tips.
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Les Londoniens se sont habitués à voir les genoux potelés du maire, Boris Johnson, un cycliste normal. En mai 2010, beaucoup de gens seront peut-être tentés à suivre son exemple, et de profiter de sa nouvelle initiative du vélo en libre-service. Toujours sans nom, l’initiative comptera 6 000 vélos, disponibles dans 400 stations de la zone 1 de Londres. L’appel des soumissions a été lancé l’an dernier; la décision est imminente. Les travaux commencent au mois de mai. J’ai hâte…
Le maire de Paris, Bertrand Delanöe devrait pouvoir se féliciter, ayant inauguré le Vélib en 2007. L’initiative parisienne est l’inspiration sinon le modèle pour une floraison de tels projets au delà de l’Hexagone. Les Parisiens adorent Vélib’, comme le montrent ses plus de 40 millions de locations. Mais le problème c’est qu’une minorité l’adore d’une passion destructrive. Le vélib’ extrême, un sport qui consiste à voler ces vélos et d’en faire des cascades au skate parc du coin, est devenu une mini-épidémie. À la Mairie maintenant de trouver des moyens de découragement.. À City Hall, on est très attentif.
I’m not so sure that every Parisian likes so much the velib. It’s very “branché” but according to me it’s very dangerous. The Mayor of Paris never give the statistics of velib accidents. Many people who rent a bike don’t know very well how to bike and a great part don’t know (or don’t want to respect) the rules !
Of course the idea is good, but in many places the streets are not prepared for bikes…
Next year Mr Delanoe prepares Auto-lib with eletric cars… this project has been already postponed…
Jean-Claude
March 1, 2009 at 9:41 am
It IS dangerous (though, as you say, there’s not much info on Velib fatalities.) I was a regular cyclist in Paris before Velib came in, and I’ve witnessed some manoeuvres that made my hair stand on end, truly. It’s good to see the Mayor’s office is promoting “get back in the saddle” safety classes, but it’s a very, localised small measure to deal with a big problem. I think a mass awareness campaign (ie, TV ad) is really what’s needed to stop people risking their lives and those of others by doing daft, dangerous stuff. Often out of sheer naivety.
Still, if you’d asked me 3 years ago whether Paris would ever be capable of becoming a cycle-friendly city, I’d have said no. Now I’m not so sure. True, the one-ways road systems are a nightmare, and many roads are narrow and parked-up. Yet such a lot of progress has been made, especially on opening up sections of recreational, cycle-only paths, that I’m kind of hopeful.
Now, I know you won’t believe me, but my experience of Parisian car drivers is that they are more alert and aware than in motorists in British cities. What do other people think? Talking of cars, ah, yes… Autolib’. Well, it will give French car manufacturing a bit of a boost.
Amanda
March 1, 2009 at 11:16 am
Can be absolutely wonderful, but also extremely dangerous to cycle in big cities. A good idea, though.
peterK
March 28, 2009 at 6:50 am