Paris, 11 January 2007 - JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and the number two worldwide is the world number one for self-service bicycles. After Vélo’V®’s first full year of operation in Lyon and Villeurbanne, JCDecaux has concluded that in 2006 this innovative self-service bicycle system definitively established itself as a truly individual means of public transport.
- With almost 12 million kms covered by cyclists during 2006, i.e. approximately 5,000 kms per bicycle, the residents of Lyon have demonstrated that the issues relating to new mobility and sustainable development as well as the need to promote environmentally-friendly forms of travel have become part of their daily lives. Vélo’V® achieved 5.5 million rentals during the year, an average of 15,000 rentals per day with peaks that exceeded 30,000 during exceptional events such as the Festival of Music.
- The Cyclocity concept was designed and developed by JCDecaux and launched by Greater Lyon under the name Vélo’v®. Since then, Cyclocity has been selected by Marseille, Aix en-Provence and Brussels and is increasingly being considered by cities when developing new urban travel policies.
- While JCDecaux has won 4 awards* for this innovation, which has no equivalent on the same scale anywhere in the world, it is the public that has welcomed the Cyclocity concept, which opens up new ways of considering the city’s public spaces thanks to its permanent availability, ease of use and respect for the environment.
- According to a BVA study carried out in May 2006, more than 9 out of 10 people questioned in Lyon and Villeurbanne considered Vélo’v® to be a very good initiative. This highly positive opinion benefits both the city’s image and the improved perception of its quality of life and enjoys a number of associated positive effects: a more pleasant city, less pollution, health benefits…
- For Bruno Marzloff, a sociologist specializing in mobility: “In an urban environment in which citizens claim a “right to mobility”, cities face a double challenge: they must make themselves accessible to all while maintaining their fluidity or seamlessness A flexible yet rigorous response must be found to this dual requirement. The radical innovation of the “public bicycle” contributes to both these demands and to both these constraints thanks to its versatility, its universal appeal and its efficiency.”
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- * 2005 Bicycle Trophy, 2005 Usine Nouvelle award, 2006 Janus de l’Industrie, 2006 Enterprise et Environment award