Vélib'
Bicycle sharing system in Paris, France / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vélib' Métropole is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. The system encompasses more than 16,000 bikes and 1,400 stations.[4] The name Vélib' is a portmanteau of the French words vélo ("bicycle") and liberté ("freedom").[5]
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Vélib' | |
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Overview | |
Owner | Somupi and the city of Paris |
Locale | Paris, France, and surrounding cities |
Transit type | Bicycle sharing system |
Number of stations | 1,465[1] |
Daily ridership | 390,000 annual subscribers (2022)[2] |
Operation | |
Began operation | 15 July 2007 |
Operator(s) | JCDecaux (2007–2017) Smovengo (since 2017) |
Number of vehicles | 18,200[3] |
Vélib' was operated originally as a concession by the French advertising corporation JCDecaux.[6] Launched on 15 July 2007, the system encompassed around 14,500 bicycles and 1,400 bicycle stations,[3][7] located across Paris and in some surrounding municipalities, with an average daily ridership of 85,811 in 2011.[8] As of 2014[update], Vélib' was the world's 12th-largest bikesharing program by the number of bicycles in circulation; the rest of the top 18 are in Chinese cities.[9] As of July 2013[update], Velib' had the highest market penetration with 1 bike per 97 inhabitants, followed by Vélo'v in Lyon with 1 bike per 121 residents, and Hangzhou in China with 1 per 145.[10] From 2011 to 2018, Vélib' was complemented by Autolib', an electric car sharing scheme operating on similar principles.[11][12]
As of 2018, Velib' has been rebranded as Vélib' Métropole, and is now operated by Smovengo.[13] It has since been expanded to 55 cities around Paris.