There’s big change coming to bike rentals in Paris, with the Velib system getting a new operator and equipment, and a competitor taking to the streets ahead of the change-over.
Long-time Velib operator JC Decaux will be replaced by Smoovengo, run by a consortium that operates in other cities as well. The transition between the companies will take place over the next few months, finishing in January.
Smoove’s plans include adding 20% of bikes with electric capability, an integrated locking cable that will simplify docking stations, and a likely price increase. The electric bikes may help ease a long-term problem: empty stations in hilly parts of the city, such as Montmartre because many users would rather ride downhill and few want to ride up.
Competitor Gobee’s green bikes have their own differences, and the biggest is that there are no docking stations, allowing the company to enter the market without government money. Paris and suburbs pay €10,000 per docking station for installation, and other costs add up to €15 million per year for the city.
Gobee’s bikes are electronically locked and can be left anywhere. Users who have a Gobee subscription can find the GPS-enable bikes with an app, and get an electronic unlock code to take the bike. It’s new in Paris this week, but debuted in the northern city of Lille a few weeks ago.
I was in Washington DC last week and hoofed it 15 miles around the city while others on the Capital Bikeshare (my photo below) bikes whizzed by me. I was envious. These bikes use those docking stations and since I didn’t know where the stations were all located, I continued to pound my shoes on the pavement. I have seen that D.C. is adding a dockless bike system with Mobike and you can ID a bike’s location with an app on your phone. The downside for me is that I am one of the few who don’t own a mobile smartphone and it will probably take me longer to get one than it did for me to give up my film camera and go to digital. Hey, I’m old and stubborn and my feet hurt, but I sure would have liked to ride a bike in D.C.