Paris Follows Lyon and Installs Bicycles to Rent

Up early again for a shift at the cafe. I read the Gazette and found an AP story that was inspiring. Paris has decided to follow the lead of Lyon and install a city-wide network of kiosks for cheap bike rentals. In the months ahead more than 20,600 bikes will be available for short term rental…and the best part is, the first half hour is free! Residents will be able to obtain a card for about $13 for a year’s worth of rentals.

“It has completely changed the landscape of Lyon–everywhere you see people on the bikes,” said Jean-Louis Touraine, the city’s deputy mayor. He added that the bicycle program was meant “not just to modify the equilibrium between the modes of transportation and reduce air pollution but also to modify the image of the city and to thave a city where humans occupy a larger space.”

I’ve often felt this way about our New England cities, that are so dominated by the road. Take downtown Northampton, for example…why do trucks and so many cars have to plow through the busy downtown just as people are all walking and trying to cross the street? Why hasn’t anyone ever tried to block the traffic, or at least closed the major part of Main St. so that people could walk and not worry about the cars? If you’ve ever traveled to Boulder, Colorado, or to Burlington Vermont, (see photo above) you’ll see what removing cars does to a downtown. It makes them much more about the people, not the steel and rubber that moves them around.