SETTLING IN - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette - page 177

It's best to wear a casque (helmet) even if not all cyclists do
so. Car drivers tend to be aggressive and impatient, although
occasionally they show courtesy to bikers, probably being
bikers themselves. Also, if a car hits a bicycle, the car driver
is usually liable. Riding bikes outside the couloirs during rush
hour can be extremely difficult. Do not ride through a red
light: not only is it dangerous, the same fines imposed on
automobiles also apply to bikes.
In 2007, the city of Paris launched a new successful bicycle
program to decrease automobile traffic in the city. The
program is called the Vélib (sort of a contraction of vélo for
bicycle and liberté , for liberty or free). Some 20,000 bicycles
for public use are docked in automatic terminals in all the
arrondissements . You register and take out a subscription,
which can be purchased for a day, week, or year. At the
docking station, your credit card is read; the first half hour
of use is free, and after that there is a small, escalating, fee
per 30-minute period (designed to give more riders more
chances at bicycles). You may pick up a bike at one station
and dock it to any other terminal, where your card is read
once again.
Note that the city has a plan to launch a similar program
of pick-up and drop-off electric cars, to be called Autolib ,
and at this writing the estimated date for launch is toward
the beginning of 2011. Just as the city has reduced traffic
somewhat with the vélib program, autolib is forecast to
diminish private car use and congestion, plus reducing
carbon dioxide emissions by 22,000 tons per year.
People with Physical Disabilities
As of this writing, only some of the public transport system
is wheelchair-accessible, but it's getting better: some 25
buses are wheelchair-accessible and the métro has some
stations with lifts. All the stations on the line 14 Météor
are wheelchair-accessible. Ask at the Tourist Office for the
Infomobi map, on which all the wheelchair-friendly métro
stations are circled and the wheelchair-friendly bus lines
listed (tel: [phone]; website:http://www.infomobi.
com or http://www.ratp.fr).