Driving in Paris is a lot of fun.
No, really.
Dangerous, sure. But fun.
Riding a bike in Paris?
Not quite brave enough for that just yet.
But they do make it easy for you to give it a try.
For about a year, the Velib - "velocipede libre" - system has
been offering rental bikes at computerized bike stands scattered across the
city.
Pop in your credit card (the French really have, um, mastered credit
cards) or a pre-paid dedicated card, remove one of the pretty silver
two-wheelers, et voila.
Drop it off at that or any other stand, and Robert est ton oncle.
The first half-hour is even
free - and try getting something for free in Paris.
After that, it's a euro -
about a buck-sixty - per half hour.
Except for Montmartre, Paris is generally not very hilly, although
apparently the bikes do sometimes tend to congregate at the lower-lying
stations and have to be trucked back up-hill.
Otherwise, Paris is an ideal bike town. Apart from the automotive and
moped traffic of course.
The system has been spectacularly successful - eleven million trips in the first four months of operation. One probably-unintended
consequence is that sales of regular bicycles have increased 35 percent in the
past year as Parisians discover that biking is maybe the best way to navigate
this complex but gorgeous city.
There have been various attempts to do something similar with cars in many cities -
rent one for a single trip; drop it off near to your destination.
But cars of course don’t fit so well into the bike racks.
Other cities are looking into the Velib plan. Will Toronto be one of them?
That I might try.
The system is expected to be launched in Montreal in September. I'm really looking forward to it, on those days when I do not bring my bike into work (most days). No more need for me to walk 20 minutes downtown, eat and dash back to work at lunch. I can pedal downtown in 5 minutes, take a leisurely lunch, and then pedal back (downhill) to my office in Old Montreal. I guess I'll have to cut back on the wine though :)
Posted by: Jacques | July 04, 2008 at 09:58 AM