Lyon’s city bike scheme wins award

Launched in Lyon and Villeurbanne on May 19th, Vélo’v is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and has 29 000 registered users.

The scheme as 2000 digitally trackable bikes and 175 rack locations. The bikes cost one euro per hour, with the first half-hour free. 90 percent of the journeys on Vélo’v bikes last less than 30 minutes enabling hirers to speed around the city centre.

The periods of peak demands during the week are at morning and evening rush-hours and at lunchtime.

Jean-Charles Decaux, co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “With Vélo’v, JCDecaux has invented individual public transport. By complementing other means of transport, it has become a new link in the chain of mobility. As demonstrated by the figures, city-dwellers, who show greater respect for their environment, are re-thinking their individual travelling options and accepting the ‘ecological mobility’ of the future.

"I am convinced that Cyclocity [the other name for Vélo’v] will spread to the rest of France, be adopted in other countries, and offer cities and their inhabitants a new cleaner way of travelling.”