Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CYCLING

Firm behind Paris bike hire chaos slapped with million-euro bill

Paris's public cycle hire company said Friday it would hit its contractor with a one-million-euro bill for a chaotic rollout of new bikes that has infuriated cyclists.

Published: 19 January 2018 17:06 CET
Firm behind Paris bike hire chaos slapped with million-euro bill
Photo: AFP
The grey Velib bikes — usually ubiquitous across the French capital — have been virtually absent for weeks because of the botched handover from previous contractor JCDecaux to Franco-Spanish firm Smovengo.
   
Autolib' Velib' Metropole, the public-private consortium that runs the scheme, pronounced itself “dissatisfied” and said it would penalise Smovengo a million euros ($1.22 million) as set out in its contract.
 
   
Velib will also refund its roughly 300,000 subscribers for the month of January as a “gesture of compensation” for the delays, the consortium's chief Catherine Baratti-Elbaz said.
 
READ ALSO:

The CEO of Smovengo which operates the Velib bicycle-sharing service talks to the press at a Velib station still under construction in Paris. Photo: AFP

Further discounts may be offered if the problems are not fixed next month, she added.
 
In October, Paris city hall announced a snazzy redesign of the bikes that would result in a third of them going electric, with the grand re-launch taking place on January 1.
   
But as of Friday, only 113 of the bike system's docking stations were working — well short of the 600 that had been promised by the New Year, with 1,400 supposed to be working by the end of March.
   
The disruption began before Christmas and the delays have enraged cyclists, many of whom rely on the hire bikes for their commute.

PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

SHOW COMMENTS