[bikeqld] Brisbane may be saddled with bike hire disaster | TheCourier-Mail

[Peter Whittle]

"wildly popular" - the colourful language flies from both sides. In my visit in Sept 08, there weren't many gaps in the Velib racks, and I saw just a very few Velibs being ridden. Many bikes, but not many Velibs.

Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: bikeqld-bounces at bikeqld.org.au [mailto:bikeqld-bounces at bikeqld.org.au] On Behalf Of mich rolling
Sent: Wednesday, 18 February 2009 12:03 AM
To: bikeqld at bikeqld.org.au
Subject: [bikeqld] Brisbane may be saddled with bike hire disaster | TheCourier-Mail


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7881079.stm cited in http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/02/12/reports-of-velibs-demise-greatly-exaggerated/

The story goes on to say that Paris Velib bicycle theft/destruction etc costs about 2M Euros a year against bike hire fees of 20M Euro and advertising revenue (on bikes themselves and stands presumeably) of 80M Euro.

The Velib short bike hire system is not doomed yet!


Reports of Vélib’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated
by Ben Fried on February 12, 2009 
JCDecaux touted Vélib on the cover of its 2007 annual report [PDF].If
 you've read this BBC story currently making the rounds, you'd be forgiven
 for thinking that Vélib, Paris's wildly popular bike-share system, has suddenly been afflicted by an epidemic of theft and vandalism that
 threatens its very existence. Vélib bikes have been "torched," strung up
 from lamp-posts, and smuggled across borders, the Beeb reports in
 alarmist tones. A spokesman for JCDecaux, the outdoor advertising firm that operates Vélib, calls its contract with the city of Paris "unsustainable," and the whole system is referred to in the past tense. 


So is Vélib destined to burn brightly only to flare out after a short time? Hardly. Vélib is here to stay, according to officials and transportation experts familiar with the details of its operations. The BBC's portrayal of a mortal threat, they say, is best understood as a negotiating ploy on the part of JCDecaux. (Note that the JCDecaux representative is the only source quoted in that story.)"




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