login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Bicycle Rental System Takes Knock From Vandals, But Paris Authorities Vow To Persist
The Velib, inspired by concerns over climate change, is hailed worldwide. Paris residents can rent a sturdy bicycle from hundreds of public stations and pedal to their destinations, an inexpensive, healthy and low-carbon alternative to motorized transport.
Daily use averages 50,000 to 150,000 trips, depending on the season, and the bicycles have proved to be a hit with tourists, who help power the economy.
But the programme could also be held to ransom by anti-social elements. Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and northern Africa. Many others are being spirited away for urban joy rides, then ditched by roadsides, their wheels bent and tires stripped, report Steven Erlanger and Maia De La Baume for New York Times.
In 2008, the number of infractions related to Vélib’ vandalism rose 54 percent, according to the Paris police.
It is commonplace now to see the bikes at docking stations in Paris with flat tires, punctured wheels or missing baskets. Some Vélib’s have been found hanging from lampposts, dumped in the Seine, used on the streets of Bucharest or resting in shipping containers on their way to North Africa. Some are simply appropriated and repainted.
At least 8,000 bikes have been stolen and 8,000 damaged so badly that they had to be replaced — nearly 80 percent of the initial stock, revealed Albert Asséraf, director of strategy, research and marketing at JCDecaux, the outdoor-advertising company that is a major financer and organizer of the project.
|
|
|
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
- News Quick Links
 | News Central | | Health Watch | |
| Latest Health News | | Health In Focus | |
| News Category (500+) | | Breaking Health News | |
| Popular News | | Celebrating Life | |
| Health News and Press Release | | Medindia - Exclusive | |
| News Photo Gallery | | India Special | |
| News Video Gallery | | Lifestyle and Wellness | |
| News From Other Resources | |||
| News Categories: |
| » | Michelle Obama: Name of Olive Tree in Italy |
| » | Beyonce: Most Beautiful Women in the World |
| » | Robin Gibb Recovers from Coma Wakes Up to Cancer |
| » | Botox and Vitamin Jabs Maintain Simon Cowell’s Young Looks |
| » | Victoria Beckham Hoping to Launch Lifestyle Website |
| More Celebrity News | |
|
Lifestyle Related News |
||||||||
| » | Rock Music at Concerts may Lead to Hearing Problems | » | Construction Of 'Intelligent' Robot That Designs Tools on Its Own | |||||
| » | Social Media Helping in Sharing of Information Post Disasters | » | 88,000 Racism Incidents Reported in UK Schools Between 2007-2011 | |||||
| » | Expenditure Of 118 Million To Improve Water Quality: Beijing | » | Fighting South East Asian Sex Trade: Controversial Activist | |||||
| » | 5-Year-Old Eats Almost Anything Due to Rare Condition | » | Checking Emails May Harm Your Heart | |||||
| Read More >> | ||||||||
