SYNOPSIS: 80 percent of Velib's original bicycle stock has been damaged or stolen.
PARIS -- Just as Le Corbusier’s white cruciform towers once excited visions of the industrial-age city of the future, so Vélib’, Paris’s bicycle rental system, inspired a new urban ethos for the era of climate change.
Residents here can rent a sturdy bicycle from hundreds of public stations and pedal to their destinations, an inexpensive, healthy and low-carbon alternative to hopping in a car or bus.
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Question to ponder: How would you invest a sense of personal ownership in something like Velib or MIT's proposed SmartCar system? How do you get people to care about something they don't directly own, but is clearly there for the public good?
Just as Fun Theory got people to recycle bottles, throw away trash and take the stairs instead of the escalator, there must be innovative ways to get even the disaffected of Paris to care.
Your thoughts and suggestions welcome.
Posted by: Bill Moore
03-Nov-2009
94205
The answer is simple: round up the human trash and ship it back from whence it came. Native Parisians do not deface their city. Europe's immigration policies will be it's undoing.
"Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and northern Africa."
"He said he believed there was social revolt behind Vélib’ vandalism, especially for suburban residents, many of them poor immigrants who feel excluded from the glamorous side of Paris."
Posted by: Alexander Bugrov
04-Nov-2009
94677
Technology should come to the rescue on this issue. At $3500 a pop, installing GPS transponders, alarms (possibly silent), and perhaps an armored --loud-- music player that generates the French equivalent of the ice-cream truck song (so uncool) whenever the bike goes out of bounds may help a bit. Probably cheaper than all those repairs anyway.
On a social level, I'd advertise something that would bruise the ego of vandals. Something like, "It takes a tough guy to pick on an easy target," or perhaps, show a picture of a big-game hunter holding a Vélib trophy-style, and say, "Show the world what a man you are."
Of course, I've made the assumption that all the scum are guys.
Posted by: J Smith
