Paris launches new, eco-friendly bike service (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

PARIS, France (AP) -- It was a perfect Paris moment: The rain cleared, the sky filled with blue, and I was flying across town on a bicycle, past the Louvre, along the Seine River, through a public garden and up a cobblestone market street.

As a tourist in Paris, it's easy to spend at least an hour every day in the Metro, but sometimes you need to come up for air. After taking a test run of Paris City Hall's inexpensive, easy-to-use new bike service, I pledged to spend less time this summer in Paris' underworld and more time out joyriding.

Starting July 15, more than 10,600 bikes will be posted all over town at 750 stations, and the numbers of both will nearly double by the year's end. The great news for tourists is that City Hall has made sure the service is convenient for tourists, not just Parisians, by offering short-term passes and access in eight languages.

Velib', as the service is called, is a word made up by blending together "velo" (bike) and "liberte" (liberty). The idea is flexibility: You grab a bike from any station around town -- they pop up every 330 yards or so -- and park it at any other station. That means you don't have to haul the bike back to your hotel if your feet hurt or it starts raining.

Velib' is Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe's latest effort to make Paris more green and bike-friendly, after ripping up car lanes to install bike paths -- much to the angst of some drivers, who complain there are more bottlenecks now.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/getaways/07/16/paris.bicycles.ap/index.html

[DangerDave921]

1. Cool Idea

Very cool! As a cyclist myself, I would love to live in a place where you can bike around more easily. I tend to ride only on weekeend mornings when the traffic is lighter and not so many aggressive assholes on the road.

[Orrin_73]

2. My first thought when I read the thread was "Paris Hilton

launches...."

:crazy: :silly:

[jeff30997]

4. Hehehe...

Me too!:)

[dhill926]

3. very cool....

going there next week, so I'll check it out.

[unpossibles]

5. awesome! There are a couple of American cities which do this now as well n/t

[kestrel91316]

6. I SOOOO want to go back to Paris now........this is very good!

[Help me help Earth]

7. Step in the right direction!

I ride my bike everywhere I can, but it's hard when you don't live in an urban area. We really need to improve our public transportation if we are to stop the man made climate crisis.

[marmar]

8. Yet another reason to love the greatest city on this planet.....

Paris, m'amour. Je t'aime!