Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Quai aux Fleurs - Autolib




There has been much written in the press (and blogs) since Autolibs appeared in Paris on December 1, 2011.  I saw my first of these in January on the way to a party with friends.  


The concept is fascinating: 
You jump in the car, ride to another location, and walk away. 
I hope that they do not lose any of them!


Quai aux Fleurs
Île de la Cité
75004, Paris



23 comments:

cath carbone said...

Bonjour Genie, j'aime beaucoup tes reportages, car tu as une vision tout autre de ma Capitale qu'est PARIS. j'avoue que ton regard est très intéressant, l'oeil est averti car tes photos sont bien saisies...bravo!
bises
cath.

French Girl in Seattle said...

Interesting concept indeed. I hope they will not get suffer as much material damage as the Velib fleet that is costing the city of Paris an arm and a leg! Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

Malyss said...

Not so simple!The registration is a little complicated, made by cell phone,you must give a lot of information, you must find an other place to leave the car.. But no risk to lose the car, there's a GPS inside.

Palomasea said...

Interesting indeed! Are these electric?
I hope you are having a splendid week, chere Genie!
Bises,
- Irina

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello Genie:
We love the idea which gives new meaning to motoring and something which we had not come across until now.

Shell Sherree said...

Neat idea! I hope people play nicely with it.

Andy said...

I had to Google Autolib to find out more. Thanks to you Genie I learned a lot today

Janey and Co. said...

Wonderful idea. Reading up on it...it seems they are trying to work out the bugs. The car rental companies seem to be up in arms about it!

Birdman said...

... not in my rural area of Maine yet. hahaha

Anonymous said...

The French are always on the cutting edge of anything new! This reminds me of a relay race. HA :)

Melissa said...

Is it like zipcar? Why is the car tied up like that though? It reminds me of a bike lock.

Lisa Farmer Designs said...

Very interesting Genie. My son just
happened to be sitting here and thought this was a cool idea. Thanks for sharing. Lisa

Vagabonde said...

This is a great idea but to make sure that your readers don’t think they can go to Paris and jump in a car just like that they need to know that a subscription is needed. You can subscribe for a year of use, month, week, etc. There is a site in French for the Paris Autolib and another one in English, the European site : http://www.autolib.eu/ where people can find accurate information.

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Definitely cutting edge and clever logo. Is the objective to reduce the number of private cars in the city? Seems to me the metro does the trick already. They may have to go the London Plan and charge a fee for driving within the perimeter of the city. Apparently that has noticeably reduced street traffic. Bonne chance to this initiative.

Starman said...

I love this idea and hope, one day, to experience it.

Alexa said...

Good for rainy days when you don't want to take the bike. It's one of the things I love about the French—they're not afraid to try things!

Lisa Graham said...

I heard about those! I wonder how it is working out. Doesn't France do that with bikes also?

Clueless in Boston said...

I think it would be better to limit cars in major cities, or better yet, just declare cities no-car zones. Pedestrians would be safer and less noisy, and think of all the extra space for cafes, they wouldn't be limited to sidewalks!!

Jack said...

This is a great idea, Genie. I hope it works.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Irina, yes, these are electric and "green"

Vagabond is correct in her comments. If you will click on the link "Autolib" it will take you to an article about the cars.

I think that the jury is still out on the cars. Certainly, it is difficult to be qualified to actually rent one of these. It is difficult enough for an American to rent a Velib as we do not have the same type of credit cards.

Lisa, the Velibs are abundant but as Veronique has pointed out, they cost the city dearly.

Oh, the tether here is for the electricity charge. It reminds me a bit of a horse tied up at the corral. Hummmm, I think I've seen too many Westerns - hah!

Bises,
Genie

Vreni said...

In Vienna we have a similar thing, "car2go", but those cars are not green.

Mary said...

Wow, that IS a fascinating concept. Would it work in American cities, i wonder? :D

Sketchbook Wandering said...

I would say European culture is more used to sharing & to public transportation than American culture...so would it work in US? it seems to be a great idea...