It's a Vélo-lution!

So, some of you may have heard about this bike thing in Paris called Vélib...some of you may even live in or near cities that are currently investigating the idea (Chicago for one). “What” you ask “is this Vélib thing”???

What is is:

Vélib stands for 'vélos en libre service' – free service bicycles. Not free in the sense of no cost, but free in the sense of available for your use. It's a community bike sharing program. All over Paris are hundreds of vélib stations, the plan being to eventually have at least one within 300m, no matter where you are in Paris. A station might places for anywhere from around 10 to 30 bikes. The bikes are locked into attachment points, and there is a terminal at each station where you can sign up for a short or long term “abonnement” if you haven't already, enter in your account number, and select the bike number you want. Once you've selected the bike, the system unlocks the bike, and you can remove it from it's attachment point, and off you go!

How much?

You can sign up for one day (1 euro), one week (5 euros) or one year (29 euros). These rates give you the right to rent a bicycle for that duration – it does not mean that you keep the bike the entire day, week, or, year! After the initial fee, the first half hour is free, than the 2^nd half hour is 1 euro, than 2 euros, than 4...I'm not sure if it stays at 4 or keeps going up. The system is designed for short trips – running errands, going to the movies, biking home after a dinner or night out, etc. You do not have to return the bike to the station you got it from – you can re-attach it at any station. For example a recent Saturday I used it 4 times – once to go the gym where i play tennis, then again to return home, then later to go to the movies, then later to go home again after going out to dinner after the movies. All trips less than half an hour. :)

How are the bikes?

Sturdy, heavy 3 speed city bikes. I will have to take a photo...they are quite unique looking. And they all come with a basket so easy carry around your purse, backpack, shopping bags, etc.

Is it popular?

It is HUGE. The first day it started, in the 5 minutes walking to the park to do my run, and the 5 min coming back, I saw 10 vélibs. Yes, i was counting. I certainly don't even bother to count now. They are absolutely everywhere. On nice days especially, most Velib stations are empty are only have a few bikes. You would always see lots of bikes in Paris anywhere – especially compared to American cities – but now it's even more.

One time of day that sees a lot of Velibbing which wasn't expected is the wee hours of the morning! But in a way in makes sense – the métro in Paris shuts down early for a cosmopolitan city – 1am, and 2am on Saturdays. So now if you've missed la dernière métro and can't find a taxi, or don't want to pay for a taxi, you can just vélib on home! That is, if you're not to tipsy to handle the bike... I myself have vélibbed at 1am... it's actually quite pleasant to bike among the quiet and still streets.

And not to worry, the bikes are equipped with very strong reflector lights...you can see a vélib from miles away at night!

A whole new vocabulary has sprung up – for example in French the word for “single” (having no romantic attachments) is célibataire. Well now there is vélibataire! Mean a person who rides vélib and is single...supposedly the stations are prime spots for meeting people...

I'm not sure how many actual romances have sprung up so far, but there is a definite sense of community among the vélibbers – people help others who are trying to rent a bike for the first time, they ask one another how they like the service, the bike, they make sure you re-attach your bike properly (if not, it's not registered as being returned! And no one else will be able to use it!), etc.

There are a few other cities in France and elsewhere in Europe that have Vélib, and more cities are planning to start it. I really hope the idea takes off in America, that it helps cities to promote means of transit other than cars, and that it helps Americans to realize biking can be an efficent – and fun! - way of moving around a city. If the US doesn't start to move in this direction, I might just stay in Europe....:)