Happy Birthday, Vélib’!

Vélib’, Paris' famous bikeshare program, is two years old today. Here is a movie from Streetfilms on the system made in honor of its first birthday.


Since 15 July 2007 here are some of the main use trends and developments for Vélib in Paris (courtesy of Eric Britton):
- 53 million rides
- 36.5 million with long term (annual) passes
- 16.5 million daily or weekly tickets
- The Vélib street terminals have issued close to 7 million tickets
- Increased use in conjunction with rail/transit stations
- Stations are being extended at key use points
- Continuous monitoring and technical upgrading at level of bikes, stations, distribution, and software
- Increased night maintenance and redistribution
- The following credit cars are now accepted: Visa, MasterCard, Europay, American Express and JCB (with computer chip only, American-style cards do not work)
- Stations now offer full text instructions in English, Spanish, German and Italian, as well as French (which Pariens still occasionally use)
- No bikes or parking slots at your station? Try clicking 4, then 5 on the terminal. It will show you the status of nearby stations for both bikes and parking slots. It also scrolls if you are really desperate.
- iPhone on Vélib

New communes in surrounding area
- 17 already have stations opened between April and June
- 136,556 trips in the new areas
- Program has Vélib extensions to 30 communes in the surrounding area (many of them small cities in their own right)

For more, in French