Peter Kun Frary, Professor of Music • University of Hawaii, Leeward
Peter Kun Frary, Professor of Music • University of Hawaii, Leeward
Photo by Peter Kun Frary • Canon EOS 40D and EF-s 17-55 2.8 IS USM • Next Image
La Ville-lumière is becoming a city of bikes. How cool is that? Currently there are 20,600 public bikes at 1,450 stations, about one station every 250 meters across the entire city. Buy a bike pass for 10 Euros annually ($16) and hit the road (the card unlocks the bike). I saw bike stations everywhere in Paris but they were mostly empty during the day. So 20,000 bikes out and about Paris daily! It was raining when I shot this image so I had a rare daylight glimpse of bikes at dock.
The Parisian government claims, according to recent studies, city trips with a car, bike, taxi and walking found bikes the fastest. Traffic sucks in Paris so I believe them. I noticed bikes zipping around cars and buses like they were standing still. For 10 years I biked a couple miles to work here in Honolulu. Biking took about 15 minutes during rush hour versus 30 or more minutes via car. Of course I could zip around gridlock traffic, cut across parking lots, jump over stairs and park inside my studio. If I drove my car, it was not unusual for me to waste an additional 10 or 15 minutes searching for parking.
I was in Paris a year after the bike program began and it's still going strong. I'd love to see similar programs in American cities, but I don't think it will work as well. I recall a community bike program in Portland, Oregon, a few years ago, and it died a slow death as all the bikes were stolen or trashed.
Want to know more?
Galleria Europa Home ©Copyright 2008 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights Reserved
