Velib

Posted by Stephen - August 6th

While not exactly Shanghai, Paris does have a lot more bicycles than most US cities, and more than I recall from London, Munich or Florence. (I am sure somewhere out there you can Google which city has the most bike riders). The city also has a very accessible, municipally supported short term bike rental program. It is called Velib, and there are stations everywhere, probably about 4-5 within a few blocks of my apartment. According to one source it has saved over 10 million car trips! And, not only is the program successful, it has also caused a general growth in bike ownership and bike riding...how green, how European. The first 30 minutes is free, after that a few Euro. An hour an a half is less than 2 Euro. Many people use it to go to work every day!

Now, if you go to the Velib web site, it all initially seems so simple. As I am now considering myself a resident versus a touriste, I decided to opt for the annual pass. Simple really. Log on to the web site, give a credit card number, make a link for authorization to have my subway pass be used to charge for bicycles charges and voila, once again I am reducing my carbon foot print, not to mention giving myself an alternative to the knee pounding runs I do frequently on the hard Paris pavement. Ah, but wait, this is France...alors.

It is not a credit card, but a bank card that is needed for the annual pass. The credit card option is for the 1 or 7 day pass. (la pass touriste). To get a bank card I need to open a bank account and to open a bank account I need...oh well, that is another story.

This is a picture of a Velib "station" near the apartment. This is early morning and it is full. Not unusual to see it empty later in the day, weekends etc. Not only does this station lock the bikes, but it also charges the front and rear lights that are quite bright and a good safety feature.

Velib self serve rental box. Quite complicated I thought.

If you want to know more, here is a good link.

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/paris-bike-rentals.htm

I mentioned general bike ridership in Paris has increased. This is pretty evident as I walk around Paris, everywhere there are bicycles locked onto anything that is heavy or bolted down. Very common to see a line of bikes and scooters along the sidewalk.

On occasion, you will see a bike, that while technically "locked" has suffered a serious accident or "malaise", and one doubts the owner will return. The Paris authorities seem very tolerant or patient, and there appears to be no rush to remove these semi bike carcasses. I asked a waiter from the restaurant behind this bike how long it had been there, and he replied he had worked there 4 months and it was there when he began.

I would think locking your bike to garbage receptacle would be asking for a problem, but no. The kind souls at "properte de Paris" step over this "bicycle" every day, assured that it owner will some day came back.

In the past I had stood in front of these self serve posts, but had been unable to figure out how to use the system. Some of the French terms I just did not understand. I saw mention of a fee of 150 Euro and would get concerned. Never got the courage to just stick my card in and see what happens.

Then I would see a families of American tourists merrily riding down the street on these bikes. Very frustrating. Must be the 14 year old kid who figured out, like a video game these things. However I was determined, Today at lunch, using a bribe of a baguette lunch, with the assistance of one of my French HR team members, I delved into the intricacies of the system. After about 3 minutes he politely pointed out to me that there is a button that converts the system language to English. Hmm, had not seen that button. Ah, yes, but anyone can do that...I wanted to figure it out in French.....(The 150 fee is a reserve in case you abscond with the bike)

Anyway, I leave Paris on Friday for 4 weeks. I will probably going to try the 1-7 day version on my return to Paris in September, if I like it I may actually open a bank account.

Happy Trails