Vélo\' v

Vélo' v indicates a system of hiring of Vélo S set up in the Urban community of Lyon and managed by the company JCDecaux. It is the name under which JCDecaux exploits its system Cyclocity ® with Lyon and Villeurbanne. The system is also exploited with Vienna (Austria), Gijón and Córdoba (Spain) and since 2006 with Brussels under the name of Cyclocity. Its establishment began in June with Aix-en-Provence (V' hello), the July 15th 2007 with Paris under the name of Vélib', on October 12th, 2007 with Marseilles (the Bicycle) and on November 16th, 2007 with Toulouse under the name of (VélôToulouse). A project is also in hand with Melbourne, like with Seville.

Clear Chanel Communications developed a rival system available to Rennes and Barcelona (Bicing) like EFFIA in Orleans (Vélo+).

Principle

Operation

Approximately: 4000 bicycles equipped with hubs at integrated speeds (3 speeds, neither shifting track, nor pinions) available, are 24 hours a day and 7 days a week distributed in 254 stations disseminated in the towns of Lyon and Villeurbanne (340 stations at the beginning of 2008). In each station, a terminal makes it possible to acquire a chart (short duration) payable by Bank card. A guarantee of 150 € is retained in the event of nonrestitution of the bicycle (i.e. if the bicycle is not returned in the 24 hours once rented) or in the event of large deterioration of the bicycle by the user.

The chart of short duration costs 1 € and is valid 1 week. The chart of long life, which can be coupled with the chart Técély (subscription TCL), costs 5 € and is valid one year. With each hiring, the first 30 minutes are free with the 2 charts. It is even the first hour which is free with the Técély chart. Then the hiring costs 1 € per hour (only 0,50 € the first hour), which encourages to return the bicycle quickly. In spite of shuttles of recovery guided by a computing system, the users complain to find stations empty or on the contrary full, which prevents the restitution of the bicycle and obliges to seek another station where places are available.

The procedure to rent a bicycle proceeds as follows:

To present the chart on a terminal Vélo' v
To choose a bicycle among those proposed
To carry out its way
Once the way carried out, to return the bicycle by engaging it in one of the free bornettes of a station Vélo' v

Who uses it?

: 60000 subscribers (June 2007).

86% lives Lyon or Villeurbanne,
55,1% has less than 30 years,
59,4% are men,
34,4% are executives or liberal profession,
32% are students,

to do with them all: 60000 kilometers per day with 64% of ways residence-work.

The October 12th 2006, the device established a record with: 30126 hirings for close to: 3000 Vélo' v available. Public transport was partially burdens this day with it.

According to Lyon Citizen of February 2007, there is: 60000 subscribers and the service is on average used: 30000 times per day. In addition, this publication stresses that a bicycle on four in the streets of Lyon is a vélo' v. In term of displacements, the official site estimates that vélo' v represents a third of displacements with bicycle on Lyon and Villeurbanne.

Very requested material

The bicycles in circulation make approximately thirty kilometers per day and are subjected to a very hard use, in particular the jump of pavement and the transport of people on the basket (what is prohibited). In addition, they are also the target of acts of vandalism. In the middle of the year 2006, a more solid and simpler version of use of the theft protection device (the small red key) is produced.

The bicycles are designed by the company inhabitant of Saint-Etienne Cycles Draper and by the Portuguese manufacturer Órbita - Bicicletas Portuguesas, Lda.

An unequal development

If the plan of establishment envisaged a station every approximately 300 meters, certain offset districts of the town of Villeurbanne such as the Brushes or the Midsummer's Day city are not equipped with such installations, although that is envisaged in a rather near future. In September, two stations will open with Caluire.

Advertizing display

In a thirteen year old contract, the JCDecaux company obtained to install 160 Mupi (unrolling lollipops of postings with three advertisers) additional and half of the 300 new bus shelters are equipped with advertizing display.

Video game

For the Festival of the lights 2006, part of the town of Lyon was modelled for a video game, Velo' v racing in Lyon , created by B2B Games on request of the municipality. There the passers by could play free the evenings from December 7th to 10th and the play was projected on screens installed place of the Republic. Success gave desire to the Town of Lyon for proposing the online game. As at the time of the festival of the lights, four players can clash at the time of a race of which the goal is quite simply to be able the first in order to gain candle ends.

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

Official site
Page of Large Lyon on the subject

Video game:

Page of presentation of the play on the site of the town of Lyon

References

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