Originally published August 3, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified August 3, 2007 at 2:02 AM
Paris bike program pedals toward big success
This year's Tour de France bike race may have been ruined by doping scandals, but a new city bicycle program has made two-wheeled transport...
PARIS — This year's Tour de France bike race may have been ruined by doping scandals, but a new city bicycle program has made two-wheeled transport very popular in Paris for residents and tourists.
The Velib' — short for "free bike" — program launched in Paris in July has been a runaway success for Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, enabling thousands of Parisians and visitors to pedal to work, shops and sights.
Similar systems exist in other European countries, as city administrations struggle to ease both traffic gridlock and air pollution, but the French capital has the most ambitious program.
Some 616,000 users have signed up to be able to pick up (and drop off) bikes at more than 750 points in Paris for daily subscriptions of 1 euro.
About 10,000 bikes are already in place, and Velib' is to double in size by the end of the year with around 20,000 of the sturdy, gray-green bikes and 1,450 pick-up points.
The first half-hour is free, which organizers believe will cover most users, though longer journeys are possible on a mounting scale of charges. For sign-ups and information, see www.velib.paris.fr/ (in French only).
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
Way down upon Australia's Murray River
Big deals Down Under, where summer is winter
Reader postcard from Nara, Japan

2009 fireworks time lapse
With strict parking rules enforced at this year's July 4th celebration on Wallingford Ave North, less cars and more spectators filled the streets.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Sunday, Jul. 5th
- REI Summer Sale and Clearance
- Jaxx Boutik Summer Sale
- Seattle Premium Outlets July 4th Summ...
- Kibbn Storewide Summer Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Russell Branyan, Mariners fight off the Red Sox
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Palin takes to Web for hints of political future
- Fourth of July festivals and fireworks in Seattle, the suburbs and beyond
- Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
- The Blotter | Man pistol-whipped after argument at nightclub
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Palin resigning as Alaska governor
782 - Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/05 game thread
247 - Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
160 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
120 - Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
110 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
110 - Property taxes: Appeals shoot up is King, Snohomish Counties
100 - Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
85 - Anti-tax rally in Olympia attracts about 1,500
57 - Man found dead in King County Jail was on trial for rape
39
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Close-up | Prison guards intercept carrier pigeon with a cellphone
- Pre-grill drill: marinate steaks
- Amtrak cleared for 2nd daily train to Vancouver, B.C.
- Concert Review | Green Day blasts off 4th weekend with KeyArena show
- Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
