Visitors arriving in Paris these days encounter an unfamiliar sight. Where stressed-out motorists used to crawl bumper-to-bumper across the downtown traffic chaos, now there are thousands of Parisians and tourists gliding speedily through the slow-moving rush-hour traffic on robust grey bikes. The reason for this changed cityscape is the new self-service "bicycle transit system" Velib’ (a contraction of vélo and liberté), which debuted in July 2007. The system is financed by a Public Private Partnership: the JCDecaux advertising corporation paid start-up costs of about $115 million and will employ the equivalent of about 285 people full time to operate the system and repair the bikes for 10 years. In return, JCDecaux receives exclusive control over the revenue generated by a substantial portion of city-owned on-street billboards.
True, the French capital is neither the first nor the only city with a functioning bike-hire operation, but it is the location of an unrivalled and unexpected success. In Paris of all places, the city where bikers were sneered at as kamikaze riders, the launch of Vélib triggered a real boom. During the first 24 hours the bikes were hired more than 50,000 times, a number that grew to four million in less than six months. Meanwhile there are more than 20,000 bicycles and about 1,500 stations, turning Paris into the world capital of bicycle rental. The bikes helped to change the Parisians’ mobility structure radically.
So, given that Paris isn't usually known as a city of bicycles - or bicyclists – (save those few weeks of the year spent in the thralls of the Tour de France) what caused such a bicycle revolution to happen there of all places? The formula for success is that the Vélib’ system bridges the gap between local public transport stations and passengers’ final destinations. Bikes can be picked up and dropped off throughout the city every 300 m, making Vélib’ the largest system of its kind in the world. Short-ride rates are low: after purchasing an access card, the first half-hour is free; 1 euro is charged for an additional half-hour, 2 euros for another 30 minutes, and 4 euros for every additional half-hour thereafter. And renting is fast and easy: with a subscription pass bikes can be collected from a Velib’ parking station in seconds and dropped off at any other station. Thus the bikes supplement local public transport in the short range, making it even more attractive by adding newfound independence and mobility. And the other aspect is that these bikes are a new accomplishment: they appeal to the urban individualist, who has discovered his or her ecological conscience in the debate on global warming. Thus the bikes represent the emerging savoir vivre of the modern economically and ecologically aware urban population.
A success that calls for imitation: Not only London, Dublin and Geneva plan to follow suit, but Chicago and Sydney have also shown interest. Apart from fewer traffic jams, less noise and fumes, for people and the environment the trend to hire a bike entails substantial CO2-saving potential – amounting to 500 kg CO2 annually, per person.
