Velib mechanics by truck

Last summer, when I had my tour of Paris' bikeshare program, Velib, I was overwhelmed at how big the job is just to maintain all those bikes. In addition to mechanic bikes and a barge, JC Decaux has custom-designed trucks powered by eletricity (not gas), a narrow width to fit on the sidewalks next to the bike stations, and a special trailer to move the bikes around the city. These vehicles cart away broken bikes to be fixed and also redistribute the bikes so that they are available at all the stations.


Actually, some vehicles aren't electric, some run on compressed natural gas (CNG), which also does not pollute where it's used. Ideally, users would redistribute the bikes naturally through use, but work and school schedules can mess that up with what the French call the "pendular" effect (Americans also call this rush hour traffic and direction).

Passengers report never having to wait more than 5 minutes for a bike due in part to the redistribution system.

The maintenance system is so green -- even the water they use is collected from the rain.