The city of bikes
 

orlandosentinel.com/travel/printedition/orl-parisbikes07aug26,0,1443382.stor
y

OrlandoSentinel.com

The city of bikes

Paris aims to be a pedal-friendly city by starting a rental program at its
Metro stations.

Angela Doland

the Associated Press

August 26, 2007

PARIS


It was a perfect Paris moment: The rain cleared, the sky filled with blue,
and I was flying across town on a bicycle, past the Louvre, along the Seine
River, through a public garden and up a cobblestone market street. As a
tourist in Paris, it's easy to spend at least an hour every day in the
Metro, but sometimes you must come up for air.

After trying Paris City Hall's inexpensive, easy-to-use bike service, I
pledged to spend less time this summer in Paris' underworld and more time
joyriding. In mid-July, more than 10,600 bikes were posted at 750 stations
in town, and the numbers of both will nearly double by the year's end. The
great news for tourists is that City Hall has made sure the service is
convenient for tourists, not just Parisians, by offering short-term passes
and access in eight languages.

Velib', as the service is called, is a word made up by blending together
"velo" (bike) and "liberte" (liberty). The idea is flexibility: You grab a
three-speed touring bike, weighing nearly 50 pounds, from any station around
town -- they pop up every 330 yards or so -- and park it at any other
station. That means you don't have to haul the bike back to your hotel if
your feet hurt or it starts raining.

Velib' is Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe's latest effort to make Paris
more green and bike-friendly, after ripping up car lanes to install bike
paths -- much to the angst of some drivers, who complain there are more
bottlenecks now.

Today, there are 230 miles of bike lanes in Paris, and Paris City Hall says
the amount of bike traffic has increased nearly 50 percent since 2001. Paris
isn't a paradise for bikers yet -- there's still a lot of car traffic and
confusing one-way streets -- but a ride is no longer the obstacle course it
once was.

The Paris plan already has more than 6,000 annual subscribers, though it
hasn't started yet. A yearlong pass is $39.50, while a one-day pass costs a
euro -- about $1.36 -- and a seven-day ticket goes for five euros -- about
$6.80.

Still, you'll wind up paying more than that, if ever you keep the bike for
more than half an hour at a time.

The first half-hour after you pick up a bike is always free, with an extra
euro tacked on for the first additional half-hour, two euros for the second
and four euros for every extra half-hour from then on.

The sliding price scale, conceived to keep the bikes in rotation, means
that if you want to spend a leisurely day riding through the gardens of the
Bois de Boulogne, it would be cheaper to rent a bike from a shop.

But if you want to stop at the Louvre, then head to the boutiques of the
Saint Germain neighborhood for some shopping, then crash at your hotel in
eastern Paris -- with the flexibility to take a bus or the Metro instead if
you're tired -- then Velib' is your best bet.


Copyright � 2007, Orlando Sentinel

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>
> orlandosentinel.com/travel/printedition/orl-parisbikes07aug26,0,1443382.stor
> y
>
> OrlandoSentinel.com
>
> The city of bikes
>
> Paris aims to be a pedal-friendly city by starting a rental program at its
> Metro stations.
>
> Angela Doland
>
> the Associated Press
>
> August 26, 2007
>
> PARIS
>
>
> It was a perfect Paris moment: The rain cleared, the sky filled with blue,
> and I was flying across town on a bicycle, past the Louvre, along the
> Seine
> River, through a public garden and up a cobblestone market street. As a
> tourist in Paris, it's easy to spend at least an hour every day in the
> Metro, but sometimes you must come up for air.
>
> After trying Paris City Hall's inexpensive, easy-to-use bike service, I
> pledged to spend less time this summer in Paris' underworld and more time
> joyriding. In mid-July, more than 10,600 bikes were posted at 750 stations
> in town, and the numbers of both will nearly double by the year's end. The
> great news for tourists is that City Hall has made sure the service is
> convenient for tourists, not just Parisians, by offering short-term passes
> and access in eight languages.
>
> Velib', as the service is called, is a word made up by blending together
> "velo" (bike) and "liberte" (liberty). The idea is flexibility: You grab a
> three-speed touring bike, weighing nearly 50 pounds, from any station
> around
> town -- they pop up every 330 yards or so -- and park it at any other
> station. That means you don't have to haul the bike back to your hotel if
> your feet hurt or it starts raining.
>
> Velib' is Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe's latest effort to make Paris
> more green and bike-friendly, after ripping up car lanes to install bike
> paths -- much to the angst of some drivers, who complain there are more
> bottlenecks now.
>
> Today, there are 230 miles of bike lanes in Paris, and Paris City Hall
> says
> the amount of bike traffic has increased nearly 50 percent since 2001.
> Paris
> isn't a paradise for bikers yet -- there's still a lot of car traffic and
> confusing one-way streets -- but a ride is no longer the obstacle course
> it
> once was.
>
> The Paris plan already has more than 6,000 annual subscribers, though it
> hasn't started yet. A yearlong pass is $39.50, while a one-day pass costs
> a
> euro -- about $1.36 -- and a seven-day ticket goes for five euros -- about
> $6.80.
>
> Still, you'll wind up paying more than that, if ever you keep the bike for
> more than half an hour at a time.
>
> The first half-hour after you pick up a bike is always free, with an extra
> euro tacked on for the first additional half-hour, two euros for the
> second
> and four euros for every extra half-hour from then on.
>
> The sliding price scale, conceived to keep the bikes in rotation, means
> that if you want to spend a leisurely day riding through the gardens of
> the
> Bois de Boulogne, it would be cheaper to rent a bike from a shop.
>
> But if you want to stop at the Louvre, then head to the boutiques of the
> Saint Germain neighborhood for some shopping, then crash at your hotel in
> eastern Paris -- with the flexibility to take a bus or the Metro instead
> if
> you're tired -- then Velib' is your best bet.
>
>
> Copyright � 2007, Orlando Sentinel
>