The last time we were in Paris, we amusedly observed that most Parisians had got into a new habit of taking a Velib to go somewhere. From the teenager going back home from a party at 3 a.m. in the morning to the executive in a suit having a ride between two meetings, everybody seemed to be addicted to this new public bicycle system. Yes, you heard me right: public bicycle, that’s what Velib is all about. It’s a programme launched last summer to incite Parisians to take their car less often. And guess what? It worked perfectly. Everyone is now keen to take a Velib rather than using the other means of transportation.
How does it work? 20,000 bicycles were introduced to the city with 1,500 hire points (more or less every 500 meters) each with 10 to 20 bikes/spaces. In order to use the system, users need to subscribe to the programme, which allows them an unlimited number of rentals. Subscriptions can be purchased by the day (1 euro / 1.6 AUD), week (5 euros / 8 AUD) or year (29 euros / 46.5 AUD). With a subscription, bike rental is free for the first half hour of every individual trip, then costs one euro for each subsequent 30-minute period. But most of the time, people manage to change velibs every 30 minutes; so at the end of the day, the cost is only the subscription.
So next time you are in Paris and have planned to visit the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc of Triumph, do it by Velib!
Photo by: Nicolas Chu