Paris is a cyclist’s new best friend

Paris’ mayor Bertrand Delanoe has set in motion a new system of bike rental throughout the city, to the elation of greenies and healthies, and the to the consternation of obstinate motorists.

The system works like this: Use your credit card to unlock one of the many three-speed bikes from any station, and return it to any other station you wish. Easy enough, right? The system is aimed at both locals and tourists, with the option of month, week and day-long passes, or an hourly rate. The program already counts 6,000 subscribers and the action follows a similar program in Lyon that has been a great success.

For those who are intent on making it a free service, it should be known that if you return the bike to a station in less than half and hour, it is free. This means that if you are really weaving through crosstown traffic, you can always lock the bike back up and grab another one to continue your journey.

Bike traffic in Paris has doubled since 2001, and Mayor Delanoe is responsible for a fair chunk of Paris’ 230 miles of bike lanes. This is certainly pleasing to many, but the European metropolis trend to restrict cars and discourage people from driving has dedicated motorists saying the roads that have had bike lanes installed create more traffic jams. The retort could now very easily be: leave the car at home.