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PARIS PUBLIC RENTAL BIKES STOLEN AND VANDALIZED
NY Times - Renters of Vélib' [rental] bicycles in Paris say it can be a challenge to find functioning ones among those that have been vandalized. Enlarge In Paris 80 percent of Vélib' bicycles are stolen or damaged. Readers'
Residents here can rent a sturdy bicycle from hundreds of public stations and pedal to their destinations, an inexpensive, healthy and low-carbon alternative to hopping in a car or bus.
But this latest French utopia has met a prosaic reality: Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and northern Africa. Many others are being spirited away for urban joy rides, then ditched by roadsides, their wheels bent and tires stripped.
With 80 percent of the initial 20,600 bicycles stolen or damaged, the program's organizers have had to hire several hundred people just to fix them. And along with the dent in the city-subsidized budget has been a blow to the Parisian psyche.. . .
Bruno Marzloff, a sociologist who specializes in transportation, said, "One must relate this to other incivilities, and especially the burning of cars," referring to gangs of immigrant youths burning cars during riots in the suburbs in 2005.
He said he believed there was social revolt behind Velib' vandalism, especially for suburban residents, many of them poor immigrants who feel excluded from the glamorous side of Paris.
"It is an outcry, a form of rebellion; this violence is not gratuitous," Mr. Marzloff said. "There is an element of negligence that means, 'We don't have the right to mobility like other people, to get to Paris it's a huge pain, we don't have cars, and when we do, it's too expensive and too far.' ". . .
Daily use averages 50,000 to 150,000 trips, depending on the season, and the bicycles have proved to be a hit with tourists, who help power the economy.
But the extra-solid construction and electronic docks mean the bikes, made in Hungary, are expensive, and not everyone shares the spirit of joint public property promoted by Paris's Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë.
At least 8,000 bikes have been stolen and 8,000 damaged so badly that they had to be replaced - nearly 80 percent of the initial stock, Mr. Asséraf said.
Residents here can rent a sturdy bicycle from hundreds of public stations and pedal to their destinations, an inexpensive, healthy and low-carbon alternative to hopping in a car or bus.
But this latest French utopia has met a prosaic reality: Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and northern Africa. Many others are being spirited away for urban joy rides, then ditched by roadsides, their wheels bent and tires stripped.
With 80 percent of the initial 20,600 bicycles stolen or damaged, the program's organizers have had to hire several hundred people just to fix them. And along with the dent in the city-subsidized budget has been a blow to the Parisian psyche.. . .
Bruno Marzloff, a sociologist who specializes in transportation, said, "One must relate this to other incivilities, and especially the burning of cars," referring to gangs of immigrant youths burning cars during riots in the suburbs in 2005.
He said he believed there was social revolt behind Velib' vandalism, especially for suburban residents, many of them poor immigrants who feel excluded from the glamorous side of Paris.
"It is an outcry, a form of rebellion; this violence is not gratuitous," Mr. Marzloff said. "There is an element of negligence that means, 'We don't have the right to mobility like other people, to get to Paris it's a huge pain, we don't have cars, and when we do, it's too expensive and too far.' ". . .
Daily use averages 50,000 to 150,000 trips, depending on the season, and the bicycles have proved to be a hit with tourists, who help power the economy.
But the extra-solid construction and electronic docks mean the bikes, made in Hungary, are expensive, and not everyone shares the spirit of joint public property promoted by Paris's Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë.
At least 8,000 bikes have been stolen and 8,000 damaged so badly that they had to be replaced - nearly 80 percent of the initial stock, Mr. Asséraf said.
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