Bicycle Programs Jeopardized

A Velib Bicycle station

In Europe there are a huge number of places that rent out bikes for a cheap price. It is a great way to encourage people to ride bikes rather than drive a car, or even take a bus. The bikes are wonderfully custom made and cost 3,500 each to make.

Used mainly for commuting in the urban core of the city, the Vélib’ ’
program is by many measures a success. After swiping a credit card for a deposit
at an electronic docking station, a payment of one euro per day, or 29 euro an
annual pass, gives the rider unlimited access to the bikes for 30 minute periods
that can be extended for a small fee.

Unfortunately, this program has hit a lot of problems. These rental bikes
are being stolen, sold on the black market, left on sides of roads, and
vandalized, costing the bike rental places thousands of dollars.

With 80 percent of the initial 20,600 bicycles stolen or damaged, the
program’s organizers have had to hire several hundred people just to fix
them.

The country and city has been paying a lot to keep the program going. I believe it is worth it if people start being more respectful of the bikes.

So, despite the increasing costs, the city and JCDecaux are pressing on. The
company invested about $140 million to set up the Vélib’ system and provides a
yearly fee of about $5.5 million to Paris, which also receives rental fees for
the bikes. In return, its 10-year contract allows it to put up 1,628 billboards
that it can rent.

I can't imagine something like this program working in San Francisco or Los Angeles. It seems the damage would be exponentially worse. Best of luck, France.