Customer Reviews

Paris: Velo Liberte

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The eČ series episode on the Paris Vélib system is extremely upbeat about the prospect of integrating bicycle traffic with cars and pedestrians. When the show first aired in 2008, the cheap bike rental system was less than two years old. Now Vélib is well-established, but there are still problems, which the show downplays or ignores.

They say nothing about the vandalism that leaves many of the bikes destroyed or in need of extensive repair. They do feature a floating repair shop, but leave the impression that the repairs are mostly for routine maintenance. Today's New York Times Green Blog observed that it is not unusual to find every bike unusable at any given Vélib station.

According to this eČ episode, the worst thing is that people like to ride the bikes downhill, but few ride them back uphill, making it necessary to haul bikes uphill with a tractor so that the bikes are well-distributed throughout the city. Meanwhile the bicycle stations are turning into trendy meeting places for Parisians and tourists, according to the Paris officials interviewed.

JC Decaux, an outdoor advertising company, underwrites the Vélib project in exchange for permission to scatter more than 1,600 billboards all over Paris. There are no interviews with Parisians who think that the ads are an eyesore.

Still, finding new ways to make it easy and cheap to get from one place to another is important, as is replacing transport that makes the city unpleasant (belching buses, gridlocked city centers). Check out the London: The Price of Traffic episode for a more even-handed look at how a big city is tackling the traffic problem. Car traffic in central London has been reduced by charging a congestion fee. Pedestrians and bicyclists love the increased space the reduction in car congestion has made possible, but the interview with the cranky cab driver reveals that not everyone is a fan.

A short video about the shared bike system in Paris, the Velib, encouraging Parisians to use them and public transit. I am doing the same thing lately, in Charleston, SC and in Charlotte, NC. I try to take public transit when I can, minimizing the use of the car. It opens another world for me as an artist, and involves me in a whole new community of fellow citizens. It is wise for earth. Watch this!