A New Fashion Catches On in Paris - Cheap Bicycle Rentals | Hacker News Reader

A New Fashion Catches On in Paris - Cheap Bicycle Rentals

nytimes.com

29 pointslurkage22 comments

In Copenhagen we have free city cycles in the entire central city area. Just slip in a coin and you can take the cycle out for as long as you want. When done park it at any of the stations and take your coin back.

Also, pretty much every street here has a dedicated cycle lane on each side of the road.

http://www.bycyklen.dk/english/thecitybikeandcopenhagen.aspx

Portland, Oregon had a similar service in 90s. Painted yellow bicycles have been scattered along Downtown sidewalks free and available to anyone who needs one. Unfortunately, it was unsustainable due to theft and vandalism of the bicycles.

What is it about American cities that make things like this fail? Why do free bikes get stolen in the US, but not in France?

(I'm an American, and I wonder why we have so much petty crime here but not in, say, Tokyo.)

A culture that prizes freedom over community breeds alot of action for the sake of it. You know, the whole "because fuck it, that's why" mentality.

Additionally, Tokyo, as a populace, is much more collective and like-minded. A hive-mind, to be more blunt and offensive. Individual actions are taken in context of the whole rather than analyzed by itself. Thus, there is just about only bowing as a greeting there; whereas in the US, there's your choice of fist-bumps, high-fives, daps, pounds, pound-hugs, skins, or variations thereof. It's even distinctive by region or even state and city, or RACE.

So, because fuck it, that's why.

The article mentions quite a few thefts in Paris, too.

I read that some cities had problems with too many bikes ending up at a select few stations. For instance, you'd bike to the shopping center and then take your groceries home via train or bus. Have you noticed this problem happening in Copenhagen johnnyzee?

I haven't noticed or heard complaints about it. They have teams of people taking care of the fleet in exchange for unemployment benefits, I believe this includes redistributing once in a while.

Also, when I was there, it seemed like mostly tourists using the free bikes. Most residents have their own bikes they use. usually a few from what i hear.

The "white bicycle" concept dates from 1965 and was proposed by Provo, a Dutch counter-culture movement. In a manifest (see http://www.gramschap.nl/provo/chrono/prpk5.jpg) they announced that they would place a white painted bike in the city center of Amsterdam which would become public property. The goal was to counter pollution of the city but it was also a statement against the increase of consumerism. After they placed the bike it was immediately confiscated by the police because it didn't have a lock.

This kind of projects brings fun traffic management challenges.

On late Friday/Saturday nights, it was impossible (experienced it myself) to find a bike for the taking in central Paris, since the flow of bikes was from the inner towards the outer Paris at that time.

Similarly, trying to find a bike after 9am on weekdays if you do not live in the center of Paris was impossible (experienced it myself): the flow of bikes was from the outer towards the inner Paris at that time.

That was Fall 2007.

They might have solved that problem...I was just there a couple of months ago, and didn't see any sign of a glut of bikes in the lower arrondissements on weekdays. If anything, there was a shortage.

I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago and saw a load of these bikes being moved by truck. I assumed at the time that they were being redistributed rather than, say, taken in for servicing.

In munich they had a system where you would get money back if you cycled from the outer circle into the inner circle.

I still don't think those bikes became a great hit, mainly because signing up for them was too much hassle (in my opinion). They are still around, but I can't imagine that they make a profit.

As China embraces the car, Paris embraces the bicycle.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/11/content_...

The fact that the government's keeping a cap on gas prices doesn't help either. On the other hand, since my trip there in 2000, electric mopeds/scooters were already immensely popular there, way before I started see them here in North America.

It's coming in Montreal too in Fall 2008: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=654...

From the Gazette's article: Montreal plans to be the first city in North America to set up a large-scale "self-serve" public bicycle rental service.

This was tried in England, and was a complete failure. The bicycles were almost immediately vandalized by chavs. Some cities are ready for it, some just aren't.

BoJo, the new Mayor of London, is a keen cyclist, we shall have to see what he comes up with.

I was there last fall and these bicycles were massively popular. I think they made quite a lot of people ride who wouldn't have otherwise.

Especially since last Fall saw the serious public-transportation strikes in Paris. This for sure is a good incentive to force people to use those bikes :) People were getting up extra early to maximize their chances of putting their hands on a bike to go to work, as they couldn't use the subway!

But don't get me wrong, this project is an unequivocal success (as well as a political investment for Paris mayor Delanoë, preparing for the presidential elections in 2012).

There is a program in Barcelona, too (http://www.bicing.com/).

I'm in Rome now and these things are everywhere.

I was in Paris when they introduced these things and it was really great. Everybody collectively figuring out how to use these things; tourists teaching locals about the system and all-round fun. I really loved it.

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