Bullied Bikes

While spending some weeks in Paris two summers ago, I had the thrill of my life jetting through traffic on a petit Velib bike amidst imposing architecture, crepe stands and marble sculptures. Today, the New York Times contained an article about the battered bikes which are facing a wave of vandalism and theft:

Many of the custom-made 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.

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“We miscalculated the damage and the theft,” said Albert Asséraf, director of strategy, research and marketing at JCDecaux, the outdoor-advertising company that is a major funder and organizer of the project. “But we had no reference point in the world for this kind of initiative.”
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.
JCDecaux must repair some 1,500 bicycles a day, which absorbs the efforts of 400 fulltime staff members. The company maintains 10 repair shops and a workshop on a boat that moves up and down the Seine.

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It is commonplace now to see the bikes at docking stations in Paris with flat tires, punctured wheels, or missing baskets. Some Velib’s have been found hanging from lamp posts, dumped in the Seine, hidden in basements, on the streets of Bucharest or in shipping containers in Marseille on their way to North Africa. Some are simply appropriated and repainted.

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Still, with more than 63 million rentals since the program was launched in the summer of 2007, the Vélib’ has established itself as part of Parisian life, and has been extended to provide 4,000 Velib’s in 29 smaller towns on the city’s edges.
So, despite the increasing costs, the city and JCDecaux are pressing on. The company invested about $140 million to set up the Vélib’ system and provides a yearly fee of about $5.5 million to Paris, which also receives rental fees for the bikes. In return, its 10-year contract allows it to put up 1,628 billboards that it can rent.

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JCDecaux will not discuss money figures, but the expected date for profitability has been set back. But the City of Paris has agreed to pay JCDecaux about $600 for each stolen or irreparably damaged bike if the number exceeds 4 percent of the fleet, which it clearly does.
In an unsuccessful effort to stop vandalism, Paris launched an ad campaign this summer. Posters showed a cartoon Vélib’ being roughed up by a thug. The caption read: “It’s easy to beat up a Vélib’, it can’t defend itself. Vélib’ belongs to you, protect it!”


Joe Dassin - Les Champs-Elysees