Velib - Free Bikes For Parisians
I'm sorry but I have to laugh because I just knew this would happen. Paris introduced an almost-free bike system about a year ago. Called Vélib (from vélo meaning bike and libre meaning free). Seems some Parisians have taken the free bit a little too literally. Since they were introduced last year 7,900 Velibs have disappeared. As in stolen. Out of 20,000 that were supplied - over a third of them. And most of the original bikes have now been replaced. The company handling the velibrication, JCDecaux, wants the Town Hall to rattle the can to help offset the cost of replacing damaged and stolen Velibs.
I use Velibs quite regularly and I 've been caught several times with bikes with flat tyres, bikes with no lights and bikes where the gears won't change properly. It's a handy service but I can't see it lasting. The thieves are literally tearing the bikes away from their locked stands. I see them abandoned all over my quartier and I've given up taking them back to the Velib station.
Here's a link to the official Vélib site - it's mostly in French.
Malcolm Lambe
Today JCDecaux - the French billboard advertising company who run the Vélib business - announced that they made €57 Million last year from the two-wheeled terrors. Must be a bloody good contract they have with the Paris Town Hall and Lyon and wherever else they've placed Vélibs. They've just brought out a new model - dubbed VéL02 (02 - get it?). Only difference over the old one is the colour and the new slogan - Ceci n'est pas un Vélib...c'est bien plus qu'un Vélo...c'est ...la liberté! - It's not a bike...it's better than a bike...it's freedom!
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Reader Comments (2)
I hope I'm wrong.
Thank you for sharing.