NPR: A Bicycle Built for ... Millions

A Bicycle Built for ... Millions

People rent bicycles in Paris during a transportation strike last month.

Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

It's apparently an idea that's pedaling its way around the globe. A growing number of cities worldwide are starting self-service bike rental operations, many modeled after a system in Paris.

Der Spiegel reports that once people sign up for the Paris service, they can take as many trips as they like. Basic fees run from $1.45 a day to $42 for a year. People can use bikes from any one of the 750 stations in the city (that number is expected to double to more than 1,400 this year) and return it to any station. The first half-hour is free, but after that, the additional fees climb sharply.

JCDecaux, the French advertising firm that came up with the Paris model, offers cities the ability to pay for the service straight-up or work out a deal that gives the company the rights to sell advertising space on the city's billboards. The cities showing interest in the Paris model include Sydney, Moscow, London and even Chicago.

But would it work in the United States' car-dominated culture? If a similar rental system existed in your city, would you bike rather than hail a cab?

11:17 AM ET | 11- 5-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

While the concept is admirable and feasible in cities like Paris that are older and more tightly centralized, the bicycle program would be ludicrous in cities like Houston, whose sprawled infrastructure of highways and suburbs developed only after automobiles had become the norm. Most streets in Houston don't have room for a bicycle, and moreover, drivers aren't used to sharing the road, so those who do bike risk their necks. That the layout of Houston assumes people have personal automobiles is a foregone conclusion; perhaps a better way to go green would be to shift to cars powered by nuclear or solar generated electricity.

Sent by Sarah E. | 1:30 PM ET | 11-05-2007

I live in New York City and while, in theory, I'd love to take a bike around, I would be terrified of being hit by a car. We'd need a "bikes only" lane before I'd actually ride a bike alongside New York City cars, trucks and -- the craziest drivers of them all -- taxis.

Sent by Wakewoman | 1:40 PM ET | 11-05-2007

better bike lane/trail systems including designated bike lanes are needed to be in place to make this work. i'm a biker in seattle and the momentum is gathering here. hurray!

Sent by bing | 2:28 PM ET | 11-05-2007

Yes, the US is set up for autos, but would it be impossible to construct bike lanes? What a great elevation of humans to switch to the use of bikes and rid themselves of auto dependency.

Sent by Marjorie Rahe | 2:33 PM ET | 11-05-2007

A great way of going green! Boulder, CO and surrounding areas are mostly setup for bike riding. This concept would greatly help more people use bike while at lunch or just run small errands.

Sent by hfaridi | 4:10 PM ET | 11-05-2007

we need cities to model themselves after Davis, CA, they have over 80% roads with true bike lanes and traffic control; 25% of the city population bikes and there aren't schoolbuses because biking is part of the encouraged culture there; please correct me if I have any of this info wrong

Sent by planner wannabe | 4:16 PM ET | 11-05-2007

Ironically, there's a video on NYTimes.com's main page about the biking culture of Portland, Oregon. It made for an interesting companion story to this particular blog, for me at least.

Sent by hiwattage | 10:21 PM ET | 11-05-2007

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