Whenever I’ve lived in an urban area, I’ve always been a dedicated user of public transportation. In Paris, I’ve continued this practice on a near daily basis in my commute to work and sometimes on my days off, too. The dense network of trains, metro and buses  has a great structure that generally helps to get you where you need to go in an efficient manner. The metro and buses (traffic permitting) offer a decent standard of service. The suburban trains, however, can be vulnerable to strikes, weather outages and other disruptions. As I live just outside of town (7 miles from the Eiffel tower), I depend on suburban trains (RER C) and this can lead to some frustration.

And then a few years ago, Paris launched a system of rental bikes called Velib. Velib has proven to be a great idea! The urban bike system was developed by a private firm (JC Decaux) on space made available by the city. In exchange for developing and operating the system, JC Decaux gets public advertising space around town. The system now has more than 20000 bikes and 1400 stations around Paris. The city of Paris has developed some 400 KM of bikeways (nearly 250 miles ), which helps riders to avoid motor vehicle traffic on many routes. For 30 euros (the equivalent of about 40 dollars) per year, a rider can get a pass with unlimited free rides of up to 1/2 hour at a time. A rider pays a small surcharge for going a bit over time (1 euro for the first 1/2 hour of overtime).

The result is a system that operates with private sector efficiency, at minimal public sector expense, yet with public policy objectives in mind (easing movement of people, promoting  health benefits, reducing pollution and congestion, etc). While I still need to take a train into town, the system enabled me to cut 20 minutes off of my commute (each way, each day) and avoid an often frustrating connection in town on the suburban train. In a recent month, I got more than 8 hours of additional exercise thanks to Velib (the system keeps track for you). And, somebody else is responsible for the maintenance and security of the bikes I use. No longer do I have to worry about bike theft or fixing flats. (You do need to keep in mind safety and remember to wear a helmet and some reflective material.) Now, instead of being underground, I am actually in touch with the city. I see more of the world around me and I arrive at the office feeling invigorated.

Here is a short overview that presents Velib (updated in Dec 2017). The Velib system does face some challenges. In a city with hills, it is difficult to keep the distribution of bikes aligned (people prefer to ride one way, down hill). The most difficult to reach stations provide credits to those who pedal up to them and JC Decaux does some bike redistribution during the day, but it is not enough. There is also a problem with vandalism (high youth unemployment, for example, can lead to bored and frustrated kids). And, there is a lack of parking slots at many of the most used stations. This can leave a rider wandering from station to station looking for a parking place to return the bike (or, conversely, lacking any available bikes at rush hour).

Here, I have some important advice for fellow Velib users and a plea for solidarity: If you face a lack of parking at a station, go to the automated kiosk and flash your badge and then follow the instructions to validate. The system will grant you 15 minutes of credit to give you a chance to get to the next available station. A map will indicate these on the kiosk screen. This is good for you personally. But, also, if enough of us frustrated riders continue demanding this credit, which costs the system operators, then maybe they will build additional parking places. For too long I wasn’t aware of this and continued to pedal at my own expense in such situations!

If you live in the Paris area and haven’t yet discovered the system, I’d encourage you to give Velib a try. If you live in another city without such a system, why not press your public officials to consider one. Meanwhile, here’s wishing you “happy trails”!

Update, 2 August: For perspectives on biking in London, check out this blog posting from the Economist’s Blighty Blog, “Safer than you think”.