Bike-To-Brown

Velibs Facing Uncertain Future?

Most of you have probably heard abou the Velibs program in Paris.  They are the frontrunner in large scale, bicycle sharing programs.  A recent report out of the BCC attracted a lot of attention for their doom and gloom outlook for the program

It was introduced to roaring success — hailed by environmentalists and cycling enthusiasts as the ideal solution to congestion on the streets. But life is now proving brutish and short for the Vélib, the self-service bicycle that the city of Paris introduced 18 months ago.

The article sites that the bicycles were

Hung from trees, thrown in the river or shipped to foreign parts, the Vélib bikes have met much more aggressive treatment than expected when the first of the 20,000 of them were docked at their 1,250 stations in July 2007. The damage has forced JCDecaux, the advertising company that supplies them to the city, to replace most of the original bicycles at a cost of more than €400 each.

After reading this article,  my concerns over whether the small programs being started by Brown and RISD students can work.  However, the people over at Streetsblog provided some great coverage of this issue, in particular the response from the city of Paris and Velib.  Their claim is that

“Decaux is using media sensationalism in order to obtain more money from the city of Paris,” said Denis Baupin, who as Deputy Mayor for Transportation oversaw the Vélib launch in the summer of 2007.

and

Not that bicycle abuse is a phantom problem. It exacts a real toll, but much of that cost has been anticipated and accounted for. Last July, the city of Paris agreed to pay JCDecaux 400 euros for every bike stolen in excess of four percent of the total fleet each year. Given the enormous popularity of Vélib — users have taken 42 million rides since its debut — the cost of those payments is minimal. Using the BBC’s figure of 7,800 missing bikes, the pricetag for the city comes to less than 2 million euros annually, out of 20 million euros in user fees.

The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.  I for one hope that the model is sustainable, because I imagine there are many other places watching this program closely to see whether or not the model would work for their cities.

A Sign of the Times

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling to keep tabs on the recent weather.  One day starts in the 40s and by the ride home it’s almost sixty.  The next day it’s snowing.  It may just be me, but I’m beginning to wonder if this is a sign of the times to come, more unsettled weather, etc.

Geoff recently posted a pdf slideshow of pictures he took during his commute in just after this most recent storm, where we received around three inches of rain in a day.  If you missed the email on the list, you might enjoy looking at what a mess the EBBP was.

Staying Motivated

Now that the weather has turned colder (depending on the day of the week anyways), I thought it would be a good time to start a quick thread on motivation.  The Commute by Bike blog had a post near the end of September citing 10 Tips for Staying Motivated:

1. Ride a different bike. Swap bikes with a friend or co-worker you trust or switch one of your other bikes out as your commuter bike.
2. Try multi-mode commuting. Over winter, I switch to a bike/transit commute which allows me to choose how far I want to ride depending on where I choose to get on and off. You can also drive part-way or drive in, then ride home. Ride back to work and drive home the next day.
3. If you have a geared bike, try a “one gear” commute. Over a few days, use trial and error to find the one gear combination that works best for your commute.
4. Pick up and throw away one road hazard per day: nails, screws, tacks, and big chunks of debris.  Don’t neglect your traffic awareness, but try to make a point to get one piece of potentially harmful debris off the road.
5. Find some new routes. Talk to fellow cyclists or just go exploring on one of your recreational rides. Not seeing the same scenery every single day can keep things interesting.
6. Recruit some friends. It’s a lot easier to keep riding if you have a buddy to talk to and at least share the misery of a chilly morning or baleful headwind.
7. Take some pictures. You can use your camera phone, an inexpensive digital point-and-shoot or even a disposable camera! If you see something interesting, there’s no harm in taking a break to enjoy it and capture it to admire and share later.
8. Reward yourself. For every week of car-free commuting, do something as a small reward. You might need to get your significant other to sign-off on this.
9. Greet anyone and everyone that you pass. One of the great things about riding a bike is that you’re out in the open. Say hi to joggers, dog-walkers, and even pedestrians hogging the multi-use path by walking three abreast… not that it ever happens…
10. Mix up your commute a bit with small errands that you can run on the way home or to work.

What works for you?

Bikes on walkway railings being removed

A recent article in Brown Daily Herald announces that

The Department of Facilities Management and the Department of Public Safety have undertaken an initiative to remove bicycles secured along walkway railings across campus, which stand in violation of Rhode Island fire safety code, according to Michelle Nuey, the manager of special services at DPS.

The article doesn’t mention anything about this, but hopefully, they are working conjunction with the planning department to ensure that we have adequate viable parking.  The groups also claim that

more space could be made in existing racks by removing abandoned bikes. Bikes missing parts and worn from long exposure to inclement weather that are “visibly abandoned,” are being removed as a part of the initiative.

So let’s be careful out there and make sure that we aren’t locking our bikes inappropriately. Let us know if you are having problems finding enough parking. We will pool the responses and get in touch with the planning department with the information.