[sustran] Re: [World Streets] Honk! Battered Bicycles in Paris

[Zvi Leve]

Hi Todd,

Interesting points you make here. Not long ago one of the neighbourhoods
here in Montreal set up a fleet of free communal
bicycles<http://www.montrealgazette.com/Point+Charles+pedals+faster+shared+bikes/1511556/story.html>,
which by definition were marketed as shared 'community' property. Sadly (but
not surprisingly) the project came to an abrupt halt this week when all of
the bikes went missing. You can here an interview with one of the people
involved here<http://cbc.ca/montreal/media/audio/daybreak/20090601DBK_BIKE_PROGRAM_650187.ram>.
There were some recent conflicts with the authorities after the group
'appropriated' an a unused private building and declared it their new
community and bicycle centre. Would not be a stretch to suggest that the
authorities removed the bikes....

It definitely requires creative efforts to create a sense of public
ownership. Given the emphasis on 'private property' throughout our recent
history, and the growth in urban populations with the associated social
atomisation that virtual communities provide (take that as you wish) it is
not clear whether this sense of 'communal propriety' can ever be created.

I believe that there were similar bicycle sharing programs in Holland
decades ago (and probably elsewhere), and they too suffered similar
fates....

Eric - any information on attitudes to 'ownership' of the Velib bikes?

Zvi

2009/6/1 Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman at greenidea.eu>

>  Hi,
>
> I would like to ask:
>
> * Does in fact the Municipality of Paris own the system ("...Velib is
> yours...")?
> * Who do people think really owns it? Paris? JCDecaux? "The people"?
> * How is destruction of the bikes tied in with attitudes about advertising
> in general, and JCDecaux in particular?
> * Is there any data on what people who damage bikes etc. think? Their
> demographic profile? Their reasons or lack thereof? Is it basically the same
> thing as destruction of collective public transport vehicles (non-functional
> damage such as tags on windows)? Does anyone suspect that the taxi or
> private car lobbies are behind it?
> * What other "steps" are being taken?
>
> Thanks,
> T
>
>
>
> The Editor wrote:
>
> [
> http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2009/02/reports-of-velibs-demise-greatly.html]
>
>
>
> Vélib, Paris's pioneering, city-transforming public bike project has had
> its fair share (actually unfair share I would say) of vandalism and theft,
> and while it does not threaten the integrity and viability of the service,
> it is part of the landscape of public bikes and needs to be understood and
> taken into account. There is, in fact, a great deal that can be done to
> reduce the magnitude of these challenges , and indeed steps are being taken
> here. That said, let's have a look at some of the examples of damage, which
> have been collected for us by vigilant Eyes on the Street Sentinel in Paris,
> Larry Langner.
>
>
> And here you have a poster placed on one of the JCDecaux street signs in
> Paris, warning that: "Breaking a bike is easy. It can't defend itself".
>
> And then: "16,000 bikes vandalised, 8000 disappeared. Velib is yours.
> Protect it.
>
> For more examples, click to http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-264472
>
> * Editor's note: Click here
> <http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2009/02/reports-of-velibs-demise-greatly.html>to
> read report on "Reports of Vélib’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated<http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2009/02/reports-of-velibs-demise-greatly.html>
> "
>
>
>
> --
> Posted By The Editor to World Streets<http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2009/06/honk-battered-bicycles-in-paris.html>at 6/01/2009 06:51:00 AM
>
> ------------------------------
>
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>
> --
> --------------------------------------------
>
> Todd Edelman
> Green Idea Factory
>
> Urbanstr. 45
> D-10967 Berlin
> Germany
>
> Skype: toddedelman
> Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
> Home/Office: ++49 030 7554 0001
> edelman at greenidea.euwww.greenidea.euwww.flickr.com/photos/edelman
>
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>
> "Fort mit der Autostadt und was Neues hingebaut!"
> - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via
> YAHOOGROUPS.
>
> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to
> join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The
> yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the
> real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you
> can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement.
>
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> (the 'Global South').
>
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