Paris and Washington, D.C. - a tale of two bike-sharing cities

As Bogart remarked in Casablanca, "we'll always have Paris." Well, it appears, we can now add Washington, D.C. to the list of cities that we have - the international list of cities offering advanced bicycle sharing programs. How do these two systems compare? More importantly for us, how can Atlanta become part of this growing movement and increase transportation options for its residents and visitors?

Unlike Dickens' assessment during the Reign of Terror, now may be the best of times for Paris - it certainly is as far as bicycle sharing goes. The already famous Vélib’ system - short for "vélo liberté" or "bicycle freedom" - celebrates its first anniversary in July. This week our nation's capital entered the fray with the kick-off of SmartBike DC.

Commercial bicycle rental operations have existed for decades and their business has been making bicycles available to their customers for occasional - mostly recreational - use. The idea behind bike sharing systems is this and more. Their goal is to provide a pool of for-hire bicycles, stationed over an extended geographical area in order to create new options to help people to get from here to there. Another way of saying this is that, whereas bicycle rental is about getting people onto bicycles, bicycle sharing is about getting people out of cars and getting them onto bicycles.

The reason bike sharing programs are a hot news item is simple - our automobile chickens have come home to roost, bringing with them the sprawl, congestion, fossil fuel dependency and polluted air they have been incubating for years. Bike sharing is now understood to be a part of a cost-effective remedy for these automobile-induced problems.

Admittedly a side-by-side comparison of the Paris and the D.C. programs is lopsided, but informative, nonetheless. Vélib’, with its 20,000 bicycles and 1,450 bike stations - never more than 100 yards away from any point in central Paris - is a bicycle sharing system dream come true. SmartBike DC makes its debut with 120 bikes and 10 stations, located for maximum effect near stops on the D.C. Metro. Vélib’ may be the Versailles of bicycle sharing, but SmartBike DC is the starter home that American cities can afford today.

As far as Atlanta goes, Bike Emory is leading the way with its campus-based free bike program. The Atlanta Bicycle Campaign, begining last fall with its Visualize Vélib’ Atlanta blog, has initiated the process of developing a plan for a large-scale shared bicycle program here with a public design forum - a charrette - to be held this summer. In this regard Vélib’ might be our architectural inspiration, but SmartBike DC could well be a draft set of honest-to-god working drawings. Our hope is, of course, that one way or another, the tale of two cities, will soon become a tale of three, with Atlanta contributing the newest chapters to the unfolding bicycle sharing story.