.....Last year, 11 months after its inception, I wrote 2 stories for iReports about the city-wide bicycle rental program that began in July 2007, and questioned, after seeing these bikes vandalised and hearing of their theft, whether or not the program could survive.

I still have the same question and now others are asking the same thing. Can "Velib" survive?

                                                                                Two articles concerning the health of the bike-rental system recently appeared in Paris journals and after further inquiries this is what is agreed upon:

                                                                                170,000 people have joined the program...memberships are for 1 year and cost 29€ or about $40 per year.

                                                                                41 million trips have been recorded since July 2007. There are 230 miles of bicycle lanes throughout the city...sometimes in a convoluted lay-out but generally manageable.

                                                                                Of the 20,000 bicycles in the program 7,800 have disappeared....some reported seen in Africa and East European countries.

                                                                                11,600 have been vandalised. Many beyond repair.

                                                                                The private company JCDecaux, which is running the program has a complicated contract with the City of Paris and is now asking the city for financial bail-out......with their strong financial presence in 45-countries they can certainly afford to bear the costs of keeping Velib afloat on their own.

Ah HAH!!!...I think the real story is here...----

....another government bail-out???...

who is keeping the books at JCDecaux?...and what's their connection with those who are deciding on the bail-out???....Sound familiar??....Perhaps, same game,....different country. Google JCDeaux and read about the company with divisions in 45 countries which is asking for a bail-out....

I am an avid cyclist,...keen on seeing a bicycle rental system succeed and also a keen observer of the existing system and here's what I've concluded.

The system they developed for Paris was faulty.

The design and construction of the bicycle were faulty.

The check-out stations where the bicycles are located are vulnerable to vandalism and theft.

The people who engineered this system are at fault as well as the culprits who have abused the system.

The system they have for servicing the bicycles is in many ways inefficient.

JCDecaux is huge...the bicyle rental system is peanuts compared to their other revenue generating enterprises. Give them a call for a bail-out and leave the citizens of Paris alone.

                                                                                Seeing vandalised bikes as pictured above is a daily sight...they are everywhere. You can get lots of info about Velib on-line. Get rid of the people who abuse it and it's a great system....probably true of many "systems"....                                                                              

This post does not welcome comments from:

communists....anti-communists

socialists.........anti-socialists

zionists..............anti-zionists

pro-Hamas.......anti-Hamas

pro-Obama.......anti-Obama

pro-Choice.......anti-abortion

Democrats .........anti-Democrats

Republicans.......anti-Republicans

This is about Bikes:...Everybody loves bikes, so Everyone can leave a message except the bike-vandals and bike thieves and the anti-Lance Armstrong-ers...

....LIVE STRONG & Lance Armstrong for the GOLD in the next Tour de France (if he races).