Public bicycles in Montreal. Credit: Flickr user pdinnen
The high damage and theft rates of Paris’ Vélib’s, public bicycles for hire, was portrayed as an idea that had had its time.
‘French ideal of bicycle-sharing meets reality’ sniggered the headline of a New York Times story at the weekend, reporting that 80 per cent of the bikes ended up vandalised or stolen. Some end up being shipped to eastern European or north African countries; others are just trashed for fun, or to vent frustrations in a city polarised between the wealthy urbans and those who live in the banlieues, where unemployment is rife.
Several Parisiennes bemoaned the social discord behind the widespread vandalism, with one user saying “It’s a reflection of the violence of our society and it’s outrageous: the Vélib’ is a public good but there is no civic feeling related to it.”
It’s easy to mock bike sharing schemes. The notorious free schemes attempted in Amsterdam and Cambridge were indeed stories of idealism and failure.
