Bicycle Utopia: Free Bikes in Paris!

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

I live in Lyon and use Velo'V all the time--commuting to work on nice days, running out to the butcher shop, taking a spin around the park, whatever. It's particularly useful on days when the Metro is on strike or not running (of course, then the bikes become scarce and you may have to wait a few minutes at the rack for someone to return one).

Something Benji's piece didn't mention is that there is also a long-term option that allows residents to simply carry a Velo'V card around rather than messing with a credit card. Swipe your card, punch your PIN, and you're off.

There are a few factors that have led to the success of the program in Lyon that may not be translatable to other cities (such as Paris):

1) Lyon is geographically very compact;
2) Lyon is essentially flat, except for two areas atop steep hills;
3) The local government is 100% behind the plan, building plenty of bike lanes, alloting space for rack stations, and so forth. The stations have to be everywhere for this to be a worthwhile option for people...a city doing it half-assed will likely find it failing.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.