Secrets of the City

Last I heard, a lot of the Paris bikes were being vandalized and even thrown into the Seine (sigh). I don’t know what the current status is, as this was a few months back.

“Through the Bike/Walk Twin Cities program, $1.74 million of federal innovation project funding has been allocated to purchase bicycles and kiosks.”

That’s too much money. Send it back to Washington, or wherever it came from. People can buy a bicycle if they want to ride one.

I think some of the people in charge of government here play a little game called City where they do all kinds of City Things.

Let’s be like Barcelona! Let’s be like Stockholm! Wouldn’t that be fun!

But that’s millions dollars. Why? What for?

I’m with Rat; this one is too pie-in-the-sky even for my hippie bleeding-heart ass. Bikes are good. We need more people riding them. We need more paths and lanes. And I’m optimistic that this can happen. What I’m not optimistic about is Americans sharing something they can buy for themselves for a few hundred dollars and get exactly what they need. Better to use the money to help people obtain bikes who can’t afford one, if that’s a problem. But everyone has a car, it seems, so everyone should be able to afford a bike – and the Sibley Bike Depot already exists.

The tale of Velib Extreme in Paris.

“But many riders seem to be taking a bit too much liberty when it comes to the bikes. Of the 15,000 bicycles originally disbursed for the program, more than half have disappeared, reports the BBC, presumed to be stolen. Some Velib customers have even taken to filming their Velib (mis)adventures and posting the destruction of the bikes on video-sharing sites like YouTube.”

I predict the missing bikes in Paris will, somewhat inexplicably, ened up in Minneapolis.

French Sûreté Inspector Robert Fletcher said that it was just a matter of “bad paperwork,” and that the missing bicycles are, in fact, not really missing at all.

He offered no explaination why the bicycles were found thousands of miles away, but praised the work of the officiers in the multi-unit Velip Joint Task Force.

“What I’m not optimistic about is Americans sharing something they can buy for themselves.”

What belongs to Everyone belongs to No One.

A friend who spent several years living in Kiev told me the story of apartment dwellers in Soviet Russia. She would visit someone and step into an immaculate pre-Revolution apartment, nicely furnished and clean. The hallways and entries looked like tenements in the Bronx. Busted steps, dirty and rundown. Everyone used the entries, but no one owned them.

Well, I’m not quite that pessimistic. Many things that are publicly owned are respected and quite pristine; for example, our city parks look pretty good. Or semi-private, like the car sharing services that are popping up, work pretty well, because they’re well-regulated, and cars are expensive and resource-hungry and a good thing to share. Bikes I just don’t get.

While I like the concept, I’m with everyone else. Americans (perhaps all humans) are too selfish to share anything.

“I predict the missing bikes in Paris will, somewhat inexplicably, ened up in Minneapolis.”

Hope not. Them are some ugly-ass bikes. They scream “work me like a rented mule.”

@Rat: Ugly-ass bikes might be tempting targets in Paris but, surely, our local bike thieves would turn their noses up at them.

Snobs!

Not meth addicts looking to sell them as scrap metal.

What about maintenance costs? fixing the bikes, pulling them out of the rivers, re-distributing them to their appropriate kiosks when they all end up being left downtown….
Use that money for something else.

You get charged 250 if the bike is stolen while you are renting it….!

and is 5 bucks a day even worth it? it’s just a bit less than an all day bus pass, which is 6 bucks…

Do they say how much a year long pass will run? I can’t find that info.

They scream “work me like a rented mule.”

So do I.

Bet your neighbors complain a lot, Max.

Of exhaustion and of extreme soreness.

I’ve actually met with the guy who is doing fundraising, because they want a kiosk at my place of employment.

The bikes have GPS tracking, you have to sign up for an account online – and then you’re issued a pass that attaches one bike to one rider. If the bike disappears, you get charged (your credit card is required to get a pass). Bike rentals are daily ($1.50), monthly, or annually – which in Minnesota is 8 months.

Service people are hired to move bikes around the city, repair bikes and kiosks, as well as pick up and remove the kiosks when winter comes. The kiosks are serviced all winter long, and then put back in the spring.

This is not a program for someone who wants to ride 30 miles, you’d get your own bike for that. This is a SHORT ride. Mostly for people who don’t necessarily want to walk 10-15 blocks, but also don’t want to wait for the bus or drive their car and then have to find parking.

I find this is a brilliant idea, in theory. Bikes from Paris aren’t set up with the GPS tracking – hence their “disappearing”. I’m hopeful. We’ll see.

This program is $1.7 million and counting.

Brilliant ideas, in theory, are a dime a dozen.

Then let’s hear yours, rat.

If there is a real demand for this, why isn’t Dave’s Bike Shop doing it instead of Nice Ride Minnesota? Or is there a place to rent bikes with a for-profit business plan instead of a non-profit business plan? That would generate jobs, income and taxes.

But I don’t think that’s a brilliant plan. Just cheaper.

Get with the program, Rat. The era of private enterprise is over.

Big gubmit will take care of you.

And how!

How about installing GPS trackers on people to make sure we bike a certain number of miles per week?

It’s for our own good.

I’m spinning out the brilliant ideas, in theory, now.

You mean you don’t have your government-issued tracker yet?

If you wake up one morning and your left arm is sore, you will know what happened.

If there is a real demand for this, why isn’t Dave’s Bike Shop doing it instead of Nice Ride Minnesota?

Because Dave, as a small business owner, is a fervent believer in capitalism. There’d be no profit-incentive for him in the deal.

Or is there a place to rent bikes with a for-profit business plan instead of a non-profit business plan?

There are. They tend to cluster around places like Minnehaha park, and Lake Calhoun, and cater to the recreationalists, however.

Rat, there are a lot of things that private business will not, or cannot effectively do.

Developing and implementing a comprehensive transit policies happens to be one of them, I believe.

Regarding the Times blog piece on the Paris Vélib system, it’s important to look at things with some perspective and with the whole story provided. To wit, a bit of perspective from the London Fixed Gear Forum:

Oliver Schick wrote:
JC Decaux have a commercial interest in putting pressure on the Mairie de Paris to re-negotiate the contract.

So, just be careful when taking such stories at face value. The fact is that Vélib’ is still a roaring success.

http://www.londonfgss.com/post515610-11.html

And maybe justpbob should look into vacationing in Somalia if he dislikes government so much:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0

“Generally, in the press, expect a greater likelihood that a story about cycling will be spun negatively, as the media is still to a very large degree dependent on funding from car advertising.”

It’s ludicrous to think the New York Times did that piece because they have a business driven agenda against bicyclists.

It’s certainly more appropriate to question Mr. Schick’s motives.

Rat, The New York Times piece was based on articles from other news sources. As a lot of blogs do, they were retelling the story initially told by others.

Also, if you don’t believe that motoring interests (not just the auto industry) provide our media with a significant portion of their ad revenue you are wearing very selective blinders when you look at this issue.

Matty,
If you knew justpbob at all, you’d know he was being sarcastic–he actually loves big government. In fact, he humps the leg of big government;)

Why are you trying to compare Paris’ business model to that of Nice Ride MN?
Aren’t they completely different, or am I missing somehting?

Matty, you really don’t know who I am, do you?

Next time, lurk a bit before you lay down the snark on me, bikeboy. I was kicking the people-centered, asset-based approches to urban planning, policy and design before you your born, son.

That, and banning smoking and swilling E85.

(grin)

Paris is swell, but can anyone tell me if/how this program is working in Copenhagen?

And I really think there exists in this world a path or many paths somewhere between “people-centered, asset-based approches to urban planning, policy and design” and a war-torn, lawless Horn of Africa nation with no functioning government.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Sorry about that justpbob, I read you as agreeing with the Rat. My bad–I do not make it to SOTC often enough to have you pegged. Your Facebook profile photos are too small to make out your identity definitively so I’ll throw out Judy Dutcher as a guess?

baker, I’m not trying to compare Vélib to Nice Ride–they are absolutely different systems. I’m simply pointing out that the criticisms of Vélib have been exaggerated to say the least.

I was actually pretty critical of using some of the Federal pilot project funds on this project initially, but I’ve warmed to it.

Well, given the number of young attractive, blonde Danish women on bicycles seen on any given day, The Rat would give it a thumbs up.

Here you go Rat. Some blond Dutch women on a bike:

http://gazelle.nl/nl/site_files/php/barePageViewer.php?page_id=273&TB_iframe=true&height=570&width=550

I don’t have a convenient link to Danish women on bikes, ATM.

Yes, Judi and I do have a connection, Matty.

The Rat is a fellow traveler who has seen more of the world than most of us ever will.

Judging from the url name, I think there mare be more of the blond Dutch woman than I want to see on a work computer….

I assure you that the video is fit for the workplace. It’s a well covered Dutch woman and her two children running errands on a bicycle. I promise.

Gazelle is a major Dutch bicycle manufacturer–not a porn site.

It was the E-85 comment that gave it away.

Well, then, there is no reason for me to watch it now…

Ah the Dutch and cycling.

This is silly. Too much effort for too little reward. If I am the type of person who plans ahead to subscribe to this, chances are that I’ve figured out my transport options and don’t need a bike for short distances because a. I’ve already got my own bike or b. I’m taking public transit/getting a ride. Also, it’s expensive for the city. I don’t own a bike and I wouldn’t even sign up for this, even though I’d like to take up biking when I get a steady paycheck.

the site was gazelle not jizelle.