velib' in Africa and Australia

inaperfectworld

I have been reading that Paris 'velibs bicyles have turned up in Africa and even Australia. You have to ask why would anyone want to do it and imagine the logistics of getting one to Australia; how would you do it? Well you can't ride it there; I can only think you would put it in a car/van off the Paris street and take it to a shipping agent and then pay transport costs!!!
And you can't take a velib' without using a credit card which takes a deposit and the system seems foolproof so may be they are using a fraudulent card.
There are people with very strange motivations, they can't be doing it to make a profit.

spen666

inaperfectworld wrote:

I have been reading that Paris 'velibs bicyles have turned up in Africa and even Australia. You have to ask why would anyone want to do it and imagine the logistics of getting one to Australia; how would you do it? Well you can't ride it there; I can only think you would put it in a car/van off the Paris street and take it to a shipping agent and then pay transport costs!!!
And you can't take a velib' without using a credit card which takes a deposit and the system seems foolproof so may be they are using a fraudulent card.
There are people with very strange motivations, they can't be doing it to make a profit.

clearly not

simple_salmon

Maybe they're bikes that have been removed from the scheme for whatever reason - come to the end of their life (damaged) then reconditioned and given to charity?

inaperfectworld

I read about it in a French newspaper: the scheme was supposed to be funded entirely by JC Decaux, but iin the event of it being loss making then JC Decaux was indemnified by Paris council if losses reached a certain level. Apparently this level was breached, the losses attributed to the high rate of damage, vandalism and theft. The report says that the bikes are seen as rather trendy and middle class and are attacked/vandalised by the underpriveliged who reject what they stand for.
I don't know hoe schemes in other towns have fared, but imagine the London scheme might meet similar problems.