[p2p-research] bikesharing in paris, not so bad at all

Sun Feb 15 04:14:59 CET 2009

Thanks for the comments Herve, and for the kudo's at the end. Hell, I can't
even follow myself, so that you are using one or two articles a day is
indeed more than I expect from the average reader ...

Martin also has an interesting contribution on the Velib case, here at
http://camorra.org/swann/?p=205

Michel

On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 9:53 PM, Hervé Le Crosnier <herve at info.unicaen.fr>wrote:

>
>
>        Hello Michel,
>
>        As a parisian user of Velib, i endorse
>        this article : The Decaux company, which
>        inherit from the contract, try to espace its
>        duties by lowering maintenance, and pressuring
>        maintenance workers. I suppose we soon have a strike by
>        those really hard pressed workers,... which will
>        have significant impact on the use of the Velib system.
>
>        There's no special vandalism now. There's always have
>        maintenance problems, not directed with vandalism, but
>        simply with a lack of tour to exchange used cycle with
>        new ones. vandalism exists, and sure will exist with
>        evry collective and public system... but as mentionned
>        in the article, we can lowered it : when a system is
>        clean, usable, less people try to vandalize it. Once
>        you open the dorr by poor maintenance, things gets
>        worst...
>
>        But we have to clearly look at the message : "at no
>        taxpayer expens" : is it a good thing ?
>        Changing transportation habits is not only a "bobo"
>        ("bourgeois boheme") problem, but a fondamental rebuilding
>        of the city, with more space for cycles and busses...
>        and less for cars. So, using tax for this shift may
>        have a more profound impact on the rebuilding of the
>        city.
>
>        The same can be said about new transportation infrastructures,
>        which needs to be built before they can acheive financial
>        equilibirum, and even sometimes if they never will  (think
>        of late night train transport, which are needed if we want
>        to avoid user coming to tonw with tehir cars if they have to
>        go back to their suburbs late, but that sure won't be
>        self-financing...).
>
>        Yours,
>
> Hervé Le Crosnier
>
> PS : I haven't thank you enough for maintaining the p2p list,
> and though I can't follow such a productivity, I pick up one or two
> article a day, and that's awesome.
>
>
>
>
> Michel Bauwens a écrit :
> > an update on the velib bikesharing story, which sheds a different light,
> > from http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009425.html
> >
> > If you've read this BBC story
> > <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7881079.stm> currently making the
> > rounds, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Vélib
> > <http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/07/15/happy-birthday-velib/>, Paris's
> > wildly popular bike-share system, has suddenly been afflicted by an
> > epidemic of theft and vandalism that threatens its very existence. Vélib
> > bikes have been "torched," strung up from lamp-posts, and smuggled
> > across borders, the Beeb reports in alarmist tones. A spokesman for
> > JCDecaux <http://www.jcdecaux.com/content/jcdecaux_en/accueil/>, the
> > outdoor advertising firm that operates Vélib, calls its contract with
> > the city of Paris "unsustainable," and the whole system is referred to
> > in the past tense.
> >
> > So is Vélib destined to burn brightly only to flare out after a short
> > time? Hardly. Vélib is here to stay, according to officials and
> > transportation experts familiar with the details of its operations. The
> > BBC's portrayal of a mortal threat, they say, is best understood as a
> > negotiating ploy on the part of JCDecaux. (Note that the JCDecaux
> > representative is the only source quoted in that story.)
> >
> > "Decaux is using media sensationalism in order to obtain more money from
> > the city of Paris," said Denis Baupin
> > <http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/22/business/wbspot24.1-411196.php>,
> > who as Deputy Mayor for Transportation oversaw the Vélib launch in the
> > summer of 2007.
> >
> > The basic structure of the Vélib contract works like this. JCDecaux runs
> > the whole system in exchange for the rights to 1,600 outdoor displays,
> > turning its profit from selling that ad space. The city of Paris keeps
> > the revenue from Vélib user fees, so it can claim to provide the service
> > at no taxpayer expense. Now, with the full Paris network of 20,600
> > bicycles and 1,451 stations completed, penalties for inadequate
> > maintenance are in the process of taking effect. Hence the hue and cry
> > from JCDecaux.
> >
> > "It's in large part a PR issue," says Luc Nadal of the Institute for
> > Transportation and Development Policy <http://www.itdp.org/>. Some
> > aspects of the Vélib contract are still in flux, and the sky-is-falling
> > press coverage gives JCDecaux a stronger hand in those negotiations.
> > "Their bargaining position depends on the public's perception."
> >
> > Not that bicycle abuse is a phantom problem. It exacts a real toll, but
> > much of that cost has been anticipated and accounted for. Last July, the
> > city of Paris agreed to pay JCDecaux 400 euros for every bike stolen in
> > excess of four percent of the total fleet each year. Given the enormous
> > popularity of Vélib -- users have taken 42 million rides since its debut
> > -- the cost of those payments is minimal. Using the BBC's figure of
> > 7,800 missing bikes, the pricetag for the city comes to less than 2
> > million euros annually, out of 20 million euros in user fees.
> >
> > "It averages out to about 15 stolen per day, out of 80,000 daily users,"
> > says Eric Britton, founder of the Paris-based New Mobility Agenda
> > <http://www.messages.newmobility.org/>. "It's like skinning your knee."
> >
> > Not only does the city already pick up a big part of the tab, but
> > JCDecaux reportedly hauls in about 80 million euros per year from its
> > outdoor displays, according to estimates cited by Britton. It's
> > difficult to know the exact figure -- and how much is profit -- because
> > JCDecaux guards the data like a nuclear secret. Even the precise cost of
> > replacing one Vélib bicycle remains unknown to the public. Inquiries we
> > sent to JCDecaux's headquarters in Paris have not been returned.
> >
> > Public support for Vélib remains unflagging. "Vélib has been totally
> > embraced by Mayor Bertrand Delanoe himself," said Nadal. What politician
> > wouldn't jump at the chance to be identified with a program that enjoys
> > 94 percent satisfaction
> > <
> http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/05/08/how-happy-are-parisians-with-velib/>
> > among constituents?
> >
> > This is largely a testament to JCDecaux's success in operating the
> > system. According to Baupin's office, however, Vélib maintenance workers
> > report that management has let upkeep slide in order to amplify the
> > perception of vandalism.
> >
> > JCDecaux's media gamesmanship "is short-sighted," said Baupin, in a
> > statement translated from the French. "One should not lose sight of the
> > remarkable success of this transportation mode due to a slightly
> > underestimated rate of
> > vandalism."
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
> > http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
> > http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
> >
> > Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
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> > http://p2pfoundation.ning.com
> >
> > Monitor updates at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens
> >
> > The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
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> >
> >
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-- 
Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
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