Paris To Become More Bicycle Friendly

The Washington Post reported about an interesting development for the city of light, the title is linked to the full story. Some important notes are that Paris is working on what residents know to be a pollution problem and quality of life issue. It takes a socialist mayor to make it happen, but concept is not a left wing conspiracy, it makes good sense for all dense urban areas.

Paris for visitors is still Paris, beautiful, and something everyone must see. But, as a former resident myself, I know first hand the problem of actually going about day to day in this city with the problem of vehicle exhaust, and when necessary to drive the "go nowhere" fast peripherique.

There have been lots of attempts at bike programs in the past, mostly ones that relied on the honesty of patrons to use and leave in good condition a bike for others to use. Those programs mostly failed and usually bikes were always stolen within days. The City of Lyon tried it, but then has moved to a new system that shows much more promise. Here is the link to the website of the program in Lyon, its all in French: http://www.velov.grandlyon.com/