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Free Rider Problem

The BBC reports on the bumpy road for Paris’ Velib bike-sharing program.

The company which runs the scheme, JCDecaux, says it can no longer afford to operate the city-wide network.

Championed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, the bikes were part of an attempt to “green” the capital.

Parisians took to them enthusiastically. But the bikes have suffered more than anticipated, company officials have said.

Hung from lamp posts, dumped in the River Seine, torched and broken into pieces, maintaining the network is proving expensive. Some have turned up in eastern Europe and Africa, according to press reports. \

The video below reveals the sort of users who were probably not part of the intended target audience.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 11:08 am and is filed under Bicycles, Cities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Free Rider Problem”

  1. John S. Allen Says:
    February 10th, 2009 at 9:44 pm

    Wow, I thought this business model was going to succeed, with the credit-card swipe that could hold the customer responsible for the full price of the bicycle. But I hadn’t counted on abuse of the bicycles as shown in the video, or credit-card fraud, or theft of the bicycle from the legitimate renter.

    Economics 101: the advantages of private ownership and stewardship of property — I own, maintain and ride bicycles I’ve had for 25 years or more…

  2. J B Bell Says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    This report has been shown to be a PR job by JCDecaux; they are over-stating their case to try to squeeze Paris for more money.

    Reports of Velib’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated

  3. spiderleggreen Says:
    July 13th, 2009 at 11:16 am

    JCD… is just pulling their chain for more cash.

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Traffic Tom Vanderbilt

How We Drive is the companion blog to Tom Vanderbilt’s New York Times bestselling book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. and Canada, Penguin in the U.K, and in languages other than English by a number of other fine publishers worldwide.

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