Thursday, September 06, 2012

Velib'art!


This put a smile on my face when I saw it off la rue des Martyrs in the 9th arrondissement. You probably recognized a Velib, only instead of being nicely parked in a station, this one was attached to a street sign in a pretty odd way ;-) It was probably a stolen one, as, when you don't put it back in a station you're still billed by the hour... and people generally don't do that! It's impossible to know how many Velibs get stolen every year, for the company that manages the service does not disclose the figures, but I suspect they are pretty high...

11 comments:

  1. Non, that is the one I was riding when I got blindsided by a bright red Citroën! I knew I should not try to bike in Paris!

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  2. It does look rather dangerous, if this is what happens when you were riding, Virginia! I would not want to ride a bike in Paris, at least not on the first trip, I'm more of a Metro kind of girl. My favorite way to get around in a big city.

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  3. I wondered about the theft problem when I first heard about the Velib system. I think theft is one of the main reasons we will never have what is such a great idea in my city.

    The poor little bike in this photo reminds me of all the abandoned shopping carts I see all over my neighborhood from people who have stolen them from the grocery stores to carry their stuff home or for other reasons.

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  4. Well, I hope that whoever steals one of these has the price of it charged to his credit card. And thanks for a good chuckle, V!

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  5. Sadly, that's probably some other poor soul's credit card! Ironic tho, that the thief seemed to want to stop someone else walking off with it by tying it up to the pole. Or maybe they were just seeing if it would balance on its back legs. must be uncomfortable for the poor bike, tho - maybe its some kind of bikey 'enhanced interrogation' position? ; )

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  6. I've been wondering too if this Velib-system would survive. I hope it will. It's sad though, that people do this to the bikes.

    I'm with Christie, I prefer the Metro too.

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  7. This is an idea that is catching on in many places. Here in Tulsa, USA there are bike stations at several locations along our Arkansas River trail. Swipe your credit card to release the bike and ride off. Swipe the card again when returning the bike within 24 hours and there is no charge. Fail to return it and you will find that the cost of the bike has been added to your account. These bicycles are painted a bright pink so it is pretty clear where it came from.

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