Velib' bikes have been around in France for almost a decade and they are ever expanding. The bike sharing company has begun adding children's bikes to their stock. While the bikes were initially meant for ages 14 and above, they are now reaching into the younger demographic.
The Velib' System, having been named by combining vélo (bicycle) and liberté (freedom), is a large scale bicycle sharing system set up throughout Paris. Since 2007 the system has been placing Velib' stations all over the city and becoming the third largest bike sharing system in the world, falling behind two cities in China. The way the system works is the client purchases a one day ticket or a seven day ticket, either online or at the kiosk. This allows them to grab a bike from whatever station they are closest and ride on. Once their time is up or they have finished riding along they may return it to any available Velib' station.
What Velib' has started to do now is make these bikes available for children as well as adults. They have added 300 bikes made for children in several pedestrian and park areas. Not only are these bikes made to accommodate the smaller size of the riders, but they also have training wheels or balance bikes so that even if they haven't learned how to ride they can still have fun. Not only will this decision help families to travel together through the city, but it will also familiarize these children with the idea of using bikes to get around the city.
With gas prices at the level that they are and the growing desire for people to become accountable for the pollution in the world, the idea to get children interested in riding bikes through cities will hopefully have a positive influence on the world.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
