- published: 08 Oct 2009
- views: 16700
Vélib’ (a portmanteau of French: vélo [English: bicycle] and liberté [freedom]) is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. Launched on 15 July 2007, the system has expanded to encompass around 18,000 bicycles and 1,200 bicycle stations, located across Paris and in some surrounding municipalities. Since December 2011, Vélib’ has been complemented by an electric car sharing scheme operating on similar principles, dubbed Autolib'. Vélib’ is operated as a concession by the French advertising corporation JCDecaux.
The initiative was proposed by Paris mayor and French Socialist Party member Bertrand Delanoë. The system was launched on July 15, 2007, following Lyon's Vélo'v success and the pioneering 1974 scheme in La Rochelle. 7,000 bicycles were initially introduced to the city, distributed among 750 automated rental stations, with fifteen or more bicycle parking slots each. The following year, the initiative was enlarged to some 18,000 bicycles and 1,200 rental stations, with roughly one station every 300 metres (980 ft) throughout the city centre, making Vélib the most extensive system of its kind in the world.