Vélib' je t'aime - City of Lights to City of Bikes

Cycling has been a significant part of the French culture since the first Tour de France departed from Paris in 1903. But with the advent of the automobile, the streets of Paris have seen a steady decline of everyday cyclists, to the point where the activity might even be considered virtually extinct.

But a funny thing happened two years ago with the introduction of the bike sharing program known as Vélib', or roughly translated "free bikes," that caused author Jay Walljaspar to remark that "the City of Lights has become the City of Bikes."

Walljaspar would go on to write about the system,

"Few spots in Paris are more than a five minute stroll from one of the 1,451 Vélib' sidewalk stations...The idea is to encourage short trips - running errands, meeting friends at a cafe, pedaling to a metro stop - so there are plenty of bikes available for everyone to use....Users can buy a daily ($1.40), weekly ($7) or yearly ($40) pass at any bike station with a credit card, from which a deposit will be taken in case the bike never returns."

None to surprisingly, there was upsurge of bicycle use with its launch in July of 2007, making the once seemingly arduous activity "fashionable" and placing auto users on the defensive.

Although there has been a recent spike in bicycle thefts, which has brought into question whether the demise of the system is impending, Vélib' has converted the city that host the most famous bicycle race from one that watches people ride bicycles to one that actually uses them.

Numerous cities in the United States, such as Washington, DC, have successfully employed similar bike sharing programs, but none are as extensive as those found in Europe.