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Garrison Hilliard
Guest
Paris readies for Velib frenzy
By Emma-Jane Kirby
BBC News, Paris
The humble bicycle has been given a boost in Paris with the launch by the city
council of Velib, a free bike scheme to encourage people to give up the motor in
favour of pedal power.
Cycling in Paris is not a sport for the faint hearted.
The traffic runs as smoothly as a snail in treacle and drivers' tempers are
about as sweet as bitter aloes.
The local authority in Paris has deposited 20,000 heavy-duty bicycles in 750 or
so special racks around the city and anyone who wants one simply swipes his or
her ordinary travel card and pedals off wherever they want to go.
The bike does not have to be returned to the same pick-up point - you can take a
bike from a rack near the Eiffel Tower, cycle to the Pantheon and leave it in
the nearest Velib stand there.
Mathieu Fierling, the deputy director of the scheme, believes it will suit
Parisians and tourists alike.
"We've set things up so that the same card can be used for public transport and
for Velib. You can set up a subscription for just one day or for a whole week
and the subscription fee is minimal - one euro ($1.38; £0.68) to anyone who
wants a one-off go or 29 euros ($40; £20) for a year's subscription."
The Velib scheme is aimed at people who are making short journeys.
The first half hour of pedalling time is absolutely free but, if you fail to
return the bike after 30 minutes, you get charged an extra euro and the
penalties go up the later you are.
Car versus bike
While no-one can dispute that cycling is a one of the most eco-friendly forms of
transport, Christian Gerondeau, the president of the French federation of auto
clubs, says that while it is a fashionably green to use a bike, it is also green
to imagine it will solve Paris's notorious traffic jams.
"It relies on a wrong idea, the idea that you can change a car for a bicycle.
But it's not the case. These are two different problems. Bicycles will just be
very useful for those people going to do some shopping or visiting friends, not
far from home, but most of the time, when you use the car, it's for a long trip
so that's the reason why it will not solve at all the traffic problem in Paris."
Paris city hall expects to have about 20,000 regular Velib users by the end of
the year and plans to double the amount of Velib stations dotted around Paris.
The bikes do not come with cycling helmets but Mathieu Fierling insists safety
is a priority for the Paris authorities.
"The city council has launched a big campaign on bike safety. Every subscriber
to the Velib scheme will receive a leaflet with safety advice. There have also
been big efforts over the last few years to set up cycle routes around the city.
We hope that all this means there will be as few accidents as possible."
But can the Parisians be persuaded by pedal power?
The Tour de France marks out the French as a cycling-loving nation but in Paris,
a city of two million people, only 150,000 own bikes.
The Velib scheme has already worked well in Lyon, but in the capital it may be
harder to convince Parisians to give up their beloved cars.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6899082.stm
Published: 2007/07/15 19:08:28 GMT
By Emma-Jane Kirby
BBC News, Paris
The humble bicycle has been given a boost in Paris with the launch by the city
council of Velib, a free bike scheme to encourage people to give up the motor in
favour of pedal power.
Cycling in Paris is not a sport for the faint hearted.
The traffic runs as smoothly as a snail in treacle and drivers' tempers are
about as sweet as bitter aloes.
The local authority in Paris has deposited 20,000 heavy-duty bicycles in 750 or
so special racks around the city and anyone who wants one simply swipes his or
her ordinary travel card and pedals off wherever they want to go.
The bike does not have to be returned to the same pick-up point - you can take a
bike from a rack near the Eiffel Tower, cycle to the Pantheon and leave it in
the nearest Velib stand there.
Mathieu Fierling, the deputy director of the scheme, believes it will suit
Parisians and tourists alike.
"We've set things up so that the same card can be used for public transport and
for Velib. You can set up a subscription for just one day or for a whole week
and the subscription fee is minimal - one euro ($1.38; £0.68) to anyone who
wants a one-off go or 29 euros ($40; £20) for a year's subscription."
The Velib scheme is aimed at people who are making short journeys.
The first half hour of pedalling time is absolutely free but, if you fail to
return the bike after 30 minutes, you get charged an extra euro and the
penalties go up the later you are.
Car versus bike
While no-one can dispute that cycling is a one of the most eco-friendly forms of
transport, Christian Gerondeau, the president of the French federation of auto
clubs, says that while it is a fashionably green to use a bike, it is also green
to imagine it will solve Paris's notorious traffic jams.
"It relies on a wrong idea, the idea that you can change a car for a bicycle.
But it's not the case. These are two different problems. Bicycles will just be
very useful for those people going to do some shopping or visiting friends, not
far from home, but most of the time, when you use the car, it's for a long trip
so that's the reason why it will not solve at all the traffic problem in Paris."
Paris city hall expects to have about 20,000 regular Velib users by the end of
the year and plans to double the amount of Velib stations dotted around Paris.
The bikes do not come with cycling helmets but Mathieu Fierling insists safety
is a priority for the Paris authorities.
"The city council has launched a big campaign on bike safety. Every subscriber
to the Velib scheme will receive a leaflet with safety advice. There have also
been big efforts over the last few years to set up cycle routes around the city.
We hope that all this means there will be as few accidents as possible."
But can the Parisians be persuaded by pedal power?
The Tour de France marks out the French as a cycling-loving nation but in Paris,
a city of two million people, only 150,000 own bikes.
The Velib scheme has already worked well in Lyon, but in the capital it may be
harder to convince Parisians to give up their beloved cars.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6899082.stm
Published: 2007/07/15 19:08:28 GMT
