Velib, the new city-wide bicycling program in Paris began last week and it is a pleasant surprise how quickly it has been adopted. More and more Parisians have been cruising in these safe and friendly bicycles the past few days. Each bike is designed with safety features such as front/rear headlights, a protective cover for the crankset and a friendly basket for your belongings. The bike stations are well-lit and the interface is available in French,English and Spanish. Bikes are also conveniently located all over the city. What is clever is that the rental fees for the bike can be paid for with your Navigo card, thus connecting the bicycle almost as an extension of RATP public transportation. I hope more US cities can adopt this bike system as an alternative to driving.
