Happy birthday Velib!

I can still remember the day I told you about Velib, this bike sharing system that the Paris town hall implemented throughout the city to stimulate the use of non polluting vehicles (instead of cars and motorbikes). Well, it's been exactly 6 years, as Velib celebrated its 6th anniversary last Monday... One thing is sure; it's a success! More than 250 000 Parisians subscribe to the service on a yearly basis, one Velib is rented every second within greater Paris and the oldest user is... 88 years old! Tourists also use it, of course! Look at the chart they have here if you can read French. As for me, well I tried it once, about 5 years ago, but never since the!  

Velib is 5 years old!

The Velib (on demand bicycle service that I mentioned many times here) has just turned 5! With more than 23 000 bicycles and 1 700 stations, it has really conquered the hart of many Parisians (there are 224 000 - regular - subscribers and more that 13 million people used it at least once (I did!) during the 5 past years. To celebrate, there was a velib "race" yesterday morning on the Champs Elysées. I was there, of course (taking photos, not riding!!). More about Velib in English.

Velib to go international

After all, it does not matter that much anymore if taxis go on strike in Paris now that we have the Velib! Velib is still a huge success - a little too much, as sometimes it's hard to finD one. Not only did the the company that makes them (JC Decaux) win a prize recently for the design of the bikes, but they're also selling them like hot cakes all over the world! I hear that Chicago might soon fall for them too. What is it with the French and their transportation systems (bullet train, Metro, Velib...)!

After Velib, Pielib

You all remember Velib right? This new bike rental system that allows Parisians - and tourists - to pick up a bike from any of numerous stations spread out through the city. Well, yesterday, to make fun of all this and to get attention, someone (Sébastien Brochot) inaugurated the first Pielib station. Pielib is a play on word with Pied (foot in French) as Velib is also a play on word with Velo (bike in French). As you can see on the making of Pielib offers a "rental shoes service" and strangely use the exact same stations as Velib, LOL!

Velib, a huge success

Huge success for the Velib, the - almost - free bike system that the Paris Town Hall installed about a month ago. The 1 million bike rental milestone was hit only 18 days after the inauguration and about 50 000 to 70 000 people use it everyday. I still haven't tried it yet. One more day before my vacation... Just uploaded 20 pics for you, now I need to write the captions!

(Almost) free bike ride, day one!

You remember this post, when I told you they were currently installing a fantastic bike service called Velib in Paris? Well, that's it, they opened it yesterday (Sunday). The principle is very simple: there are 750 terminals throughout Paris (and there will be more - one every 100 meters/ 110 yards - by the end of 2007) from where you can take or return a bike. If you're just visiting here you can buy a 7 day ticket for 5€ (or even a 1 day ticket for 1 €) then pay as you go. Well, in fact you may never pay since the first 30 minutes are free... For a complete information, please visit the PDP Forum under this topic.