Bike rentals on the streets in Paris...catching on
PARIS, FRANCE: Don’t look now, but one of the biggest revolutions to have hit the streets of Paris in recent years is that of cycling. Since the French Revolution, Parisians pride themselves on the ability to get up and stand up for their rights. In recent years street protests have been far ranging and include railway workers' pensions and rights for taxi drivers.
And since Paris mayor Bernard Delanoe introduced the first Velib’ rental bikes in 2006, Parisians have embraced the bicycle in numbers not seen since World War II. Today no fewer than 20,000 Velib’ bikes, can be found a hundreds of stations on the city streets of Paris. As a result, cyclists can simply pick up a bike from one of the stations, go for a ride, and drop it back at any station they choose.
The introduction of the Velib’, or “freedom bike," along with greatly expanded bike lanes, ignited a visible rise in bike commuters over the past five years.In a recent study cited in the French daily Le Parisien at least 50 percent of those living in the French capital think that more could be done.
For some, the Velib’ program encouraged the purchase of their own bike. But others have found the Velib’ to be a better alternative. Currently it is estimated that one third of cyclists in Paris rely on the Velib’ while the remaining two thirds possess their own bikes.
“I’ve calculated that it is actually cheaper and more efficient to rent the Velib’s," Carole Moreno-Chapelu told Bicycling. Ms. Moreno-Chapelu lives in the 14th arrondissement and commutes 45 minutes to the north side of the city most days. “The other advantage is that if you have a meeting or something else planned where you are not returning home, you don’t have to worry about you are going to do about your bike."By some standards, the numbers remain modest. While the number of bike commuters has doubled in the past five years, still barely three percent of the population travels regularly by bike. Nevertheless, cycling is now clearly one very viable means of transportation, something that ironically was not a given in the land of the Tour de France.
First 5K race October 4, 2009 (34.59) PR 5/22/11 (27:26)
First 5 Mile: January 1, 2011 (50:30)
First 10K: July 4, 2010 (1:03.26) New PR 4/10/11 (1:01.14)
First 10 Mile: April 11, 2010 (1:46.15)
First 1/2 marathon: June 13, 2010 (2:22.21) PR: 5/1/11 (2:17.30)
First Marathon: October 16, 2011: 5:47:20
Goofy Challenge: January 7-8, 2012
If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you're right. - Mary Kay Ash
More info from Google...
Vélib’ (a portmanteau of French: vélo - English: bicycle - and French: liberté - English: freedom) is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. Launched on 15 July 2007, the system has expanded to encompass over 20,000 bicycles and 1,202 bicycle stations, located across Paris and in some surrounding municipalities.[1] Vélib’ is operated as a concession by JCDecaux, a major French advertising corporation.[2]
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History
The initiative was proposed by mayor of Paris and French Socialist Party member Bertrand Delanoë. The system was launched on 15 July 2007, following Lyon's Vélo'v success and the pioneering 1974 scheme in La Rochelle. 7,000 bicycles were initially introduced to the city, based from 750 automated rental stations, with fifteen or more bicycle spaces each. The following year, the scheme was enlarged to some 20,600 bicycles and 1,450 rental stations, with roughly one station every 300 metres throughout the city centre, making Vélib’ the largest system of its kind in the world.
System
Each Vélib’ station is equipped with an automatic rental terminal and has stands for dozens of bicycles. Maps showing the locations of the city's Vélib’ stations are available at all kiosks.
The grey bicycles were produced in Hungary by the French bicycle company Mercier and are repaired by JCDecaux.[3] The price per bicycle has been variously stated as US$500 [4]US$1,300 (if provided by JCDecaux),[5] €300,[6] US$3,460[7] or US$3,500[8] apiece. They are three-speed bicycles, each weighing approximately 22.5 kilograms (50 pounds).[9] Velib bikes are equipped with always-on LED lighting powered by a fronthub dynamo, a locking system and a front bicycle basket.
If a user arrives with a rented bicycle at a station without open spots, the terminal grants another fifteen minutes of free rental time. The rental terminals also display information about neighbouring Vélib’ stations, including location, number of available bicycles and open stands. A fleet of 23 bicycle-transporting vehicles are used 24/7 to redistribute bicycles between empty and full stations.
Rates
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A Vélib’ pay station
In order to use the system, users need to take out a subscription, which allows the subscriber an unlimited number of rentals. Subscriptions can be purchased at €1.70 per day, €8/week or €29/year. With a subscription, bike rental is free for the first half hour of every individual trip; an unlimited number of such free trips can be made per day. A trip that lasts longer than 30 minutes incurs a charge of €1 to €4 for each subsequent 30-minute period. The increasing price scale is intended to keep the bikes in circulation.
Some stations located above an altitude of 60 metres are called V+. They give any user returning a bicycle from a non-V+ station 15 free minutes of rental: if the rental lasted more than 30 minutes, 15 minutes will be deducted to calculate the amount the user has to pay, meaning that, for example, a 45-minute trip to a V+ station is free. If the rental lasted 30 minutes or less, the 15 minutes are added to a bonus V+ account, and can be used for future rentals exceeding 30 minutes.
A credit card or debit card with PIN is required to sign up for the program and to rent the bikes. The credit/debit card will be charged €150 if a rented bike is not returned. The credit card is required to contain an EMV-chip in most cases[10] (this includes all French cards and most European cards, but as of June 2008[update], few US credit cards), although American Express cards without an EMV chip can be used. 1-day and 1-week subscribers are given a printed ticket with a subscription number to be used for future rentals during their subscription period, while 1-year subscribers are sent an RFID card. All types of sign-up can also be attached to a Navigo pass instead. The RFID card and Navigo pass allow direct use of the card readers at Vélib’ stations.
