A Velib bike with a flat tire. (Nick Kurczewski for The New York Times)
PARIS — The Velib bike rental system has been hailed by Parisians and tourists alike for its convenience, as well as being a “green” alternative to getting around the French capital via taxicab, bus or metro. But the high cost of fixing, maintaining and, in many cases, replacing the fleet of about 20,000 bikes is proving too much for JCDecaux, the company that runs the program.
The Velib name is a play on words, a combination of “velo” (bike) and “liberté” (freedom). But many riders seem to be taking a bit too much liberty when it comes to the bikes. Of the 15,000 bicycles originally disbursed for the program, more than half have disappeared, reports the BBC, presumed to be stolen. Some Velib customers have even taken to filming their Velib (mis)adventures and posting the destruction of the bikes on video-sharing sites like YouTube (here’s one). The practice apparently even has its own catchy nickname: “Velib extreme.”
According to the BBC, Remi Pheulpin, JCDecaux’s director general, told Le Parisien that replacement and maintenance costs are “so high that a private business cannot handle it alone, especially as it’s a problem of public order. If we want the Velib setup to keep going, we’ll have to change the business model.”
This could cause a problem for a similarbicycle-sharing program being considered for New York City. Last summer, the city Department of Transportation announced that it would consider creating a program similar to the one in Paris, but modeled on a successful five-day trial run held by a group of amateur bike enthusiasts.
“If feasible and adopted, such a program would create a network of publicly accessible bicycles at minimal cost, and could provide an important transportation link at transit hubs and commercial and social areas, greatly increasing mobility citywide,” the department said in a news release, asreported by City Room last July.
News that the Velib program is losing money could also put a crimp in plans to introduce a car-sharing program in Paris. Called Autolib, the system will involve the installation of several thousand “carbon neutral” vehicles, which can be picked up and returned at designated parking spaces.
