Courteous drivers; Easy to use municipal hire scheme
Disadvantages:
Sometimes velib 'stations' are full (or empty)
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
(originally written for citycycling.co.uk, a recent trip to Paris was made even better by discovring how easy it is to cycle around, especially with the aid of the fantastic 'Velib' scheme)
I love Paris in the spring time I love Paris in the fall I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles
I love Paris every moment Every moment of the year I love Paris, why oh why do I love Paris Because my Vélib is here
Okay, so Cole Porter is probably spinning in his grave right now, and I'd have to admit that a recent trip to Paris had more to recommend it than some snatched cycling, but seeing Parisians embracing cycling with the help of a well-used municipal bicycle hire scheme is enough to send any city cyclist's heart soaring.
But let's get back to the beginning, emerging from the RER station after using the train to get from the airport, into the middle of a pleasant March day in the French capital. And straight away I was thrown into a world so different from my own, with every piece of railing surrounding those steps to the subterranean station providing a home to a bicycle.
Walking down the street to the hotel and that scene was replicated continually on any railing, and against numerous lamposts. It was like I'd entered the twilight zone. A feeling which was confirmed watching the cyclists who were on the move.
It took a second before I'd put my finger on it, but suddenly there it was. Or rather wasn't. No sign of any hi-vis material. A distinct lack of helmets. Normal shoes to the point of, well, the point of high heels on some of the ladies. Jeans. Scarves. Quite frankly these people were not dressed for cycling at all!
The final straw came as we made our way down a main boulevard. A cyclist was heading downhill within a bus lane, which here was separated from the main carriageway by a raised hump. A car in the main carriageway was moving slightly faster, just past the cyclist, and signalled right to turn into a side street, across the bus lane and in front of the cyclist. I instinctively flinched, then noticed something very odd indeed.
The driver had stopped. He was still indicating right, he was pointing towards the side street, but he had stopped to let the cyclist pass before he moved on. This was not just a moment of paying attention to other road users, but actually a slice of deference to the right of way of the cyclist.
Had I really just seen that?
Now I'm not naive enough to suggest that Paris is some sort of cycling nirvana, and there are statistics available that show accidents/incidents can and do happen. But this sight wasn't a one-off, and it wasn't limited to those situations where cyclists clearly did have the right of way.
Indulging in the usual tourist haunts, we were standing atop the Arc de Triomphe watching the traffic below make its way around the Place des Etoiles. It wasn't quite at the insane gridlocked levels it might normally achieve, but this meant that traffic was moving reasonably swiftly around the monument. And from our high vantage point we saw cyclist after cyclist entering the melée. And time after time we saw them exit unscathed.
In most cases cyclists took what can only be considered a brave option of heading for a middle way (rather than 'lane' for there are none) and the cars noticeably backed off, and gave time. For some, though, the thought was clearly a bit too much, and so instead they made their way around the outside.
Some stopped at each exit from the roundabout, waiting for a gap so they could carry on their circumnavigation. Others, however, simply kept moving around the outside, and here the cars didn't try to nip round in front, or intimidate behind, but stopped. Waited. Then carried on.
I'd seen enough. I just had to try some of this Parisian cycling, and fortunately Paris has an answer for anyone who doesn't happen to have a bike with them, or a hire shop just outside their hotel.
They have the Vélib.
For those who haven't head of the Vélib this is essentially a bike hire scheme with a difference, launched in mid-2007. It's certainly not the first of its kind in the world, nor in Europe. Actually, it's not even the first in France, but it does seem to have captured the imagination. We saw them everywhere we went walking. Perhaps it's not really that surprising when there are now around 20,000 of the heavy grey bikes available, from 1,450 automated stations.
And so, with two hours to myself, I took the plunge.
The system couldn't be simpler. Stations have bikes attached to posts and a central computerised terminal which gives you access to the bikes. You can take out subscriptions of a day, 3 days, a week, really whatever you want. Opting for the ease of a one day ticket (for the princely sum of €1, plus a €150 deposit that doesn't actually leave your account unless you damage the bike) within five minutes I was punching in the stand number for my chosen bike and pulling it from its dock.
To say that the bikes are basic, or heavy, would be a bit of an understatement, but their distinctive shape and look helps deter theft, and they come with everything included - integral lock, hub dynamo lights, 3 speed Shimano Nexus hub gears, basket...
But I had seen enough people riding these to know the form. There I was in jeans, trainers, jacket and scarf, bare-headed and looking for all the world like I was heading to the nearest café for some discourse on Sartre. The quick release saddle was raised (at it's maximum height it just managed to fit my 6'3" frame), I pushed off, and I was away.
I was surprised by how easily the bike rolled, and despite the weight it responded well to a kick on the pedals, with the three gears spaced far enough apart to give a cruising speed on the flat, a decent sized gear to move on at a bit more of a lick, and something to make the hills a little easier on the thighs. The biggest problem I was finding was the switch to the right hand side of the road, but I really started enjoying myself as I moved out onto a wide boulevard, slotted into a bus lane and started humming Edith Piaf tunes.
The first test of my nerve wasn't far away however. My separated bus lane was about to be halted abruptly by some roadworks, and a young lad in a battered Peugeot 205 was moving up on my left. I braked, wondering if I could slot in behind him. At first I thought there was something wrong with the brakes as I suddenly seemed to be making distance on him, until it struck me that he was braking for me. I stamped on the pedals, swung out into the main lane, and threw a wave of thanks that he probably didn't know what to do with.
The next hour or so passed in much the same way - feeling as if I was part of the traffic, but one which was actually allowed to do things like cycle over a pedestrian bridge. At busy places there were cycle lanes, but not like we have all too often in the UK. Here they seemed to be thought out, placed where they were going to be of benefit, and often segregated. Where they came back out, or crossed junctions, you had right of way, and it was a right of way adhered to by the drivers around you.
Moving up the inside of traffic it pulled slightly to the left to create more space, even taxi drivers indulging in this moment of road sharing. I was beginning to see why this scheme has proved so popular in Paris (and in a country which someone told me treated cycling as a 'sport' not as a way of getting around). Add to this that it's virtually free (if you return the bike to a station within half an hour you pay nothing, after that it's €1 per half hour until it's being held onto for a long time when the price ramps up) and it becomes a very attractive option.
There are problems, of course. Stations at the bottom of hills tend to fill up leaving nowhere to park your bike, while those higher up can stand empty. But the terminals at the station can tell you where the nearest alternative stations are, and exactly how many bikes are currently parked there, or how many spaces are available for you to park. Meanwhile a van with a big trailer shuffles bikes about, and takes damaged bikes to the barge workshop which moves about the Seine.
There has been talk of replication of this scheme (albeit on a smaller scale) in London. The Mayor, Ken Livingstone, seems determined on the issue. But it is perhaps a statement on the UK mentality towards cycling that apathy or an instant gut feeling of 'it wouldn't work here' takes hold whenever it's mentioned.
Maybe they're right. I certainly haven't enjoyed a feeling of being part of the traffic with a right to be there as much as I have in Paris, and this may be the crux of the problem for the UK. Never mind the tenfold increase in cycling within Paris (with only a threefold increase in accident rates); never mind the social and environmental benefits. Like attempts at 'café culture' within the UK the whole difference is based on exactly that: 'culture'.
Whatever the reasons, emboldened by my jaunt the previous day I was joined by my partner for a trip round to the Eiffel Tower on the bikes the following day where my thoughts on Parisian cycling were confirmed and vindicated. Vive le Vélib!
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