The Mayor of Paris is about to launch another novel scheme for fighting congestion and pollution: self-service cars. Bertrand Delanöe aims to start with 2,000 electric-powered vehicles that subscribers can drive off without booking at dozens of sites 24 hours a day and then leave anywhere in the city.
The so-called Automobiles-en-Libre-Service would greatly expand on similar small-scale services that exist in Europe and America. It is intended to complement the Vélib, the highly successful bicycle scheme that Mr Delanöe opened last July with 5,000 rental stations around the city.
The non-polluting cars, which will cost a few euros per hour to use, depending on mileage, will enable Parisians to carry passengers and loads on short trips without the bother and expense of hiring or running their own vehicles, says the mayor. They will offer an alternative to a congestion charge, which Mr Delanöe, a Socialist who is running for reelection next spring, has rejected for Paris.
Just as the bicycle scheme was greeted with scepticism, doubts are being sounded over the viability of the Voiturelib’ – free car – as it is being dubbed. Denis Baupin, the Green Party deputy to Mr Delanöe, is worried that Parisians could drop their new-found cycling habit. “Vélib users shouldn’t be encouraged to take a car instead of a bike,” he said. Some experts are also questioning whether the cars, which would be many times more expensive to operate than bicycles, could be subsidised through advertising space, like the Vélib. Mr Delanöe’s team calculates that one car will replace between five and ten private vehicles. Only 43 per cent of Paris households have vehicles and 95 per cent of them are parked at any moment.
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http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/news/article3118755.ece
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