Like all big cities, Paris has a traffic problem: lots of cars, lots of traffic jams (阻塞)and lots of pollution from exhaust fumes (废气).So the city began a scheme (计划)to improve the situation.
Under the Velib scheme ("Velib" comes from velo liberte, or" bicycle freedom" ) people can take a bicycle, use it for as long as they want, and then leave it at the same or another bicycle station. The first half-hour on the bike is free, but if you do not return it after 30 minutes, you have to pay. it's only €1 a day or €29 a year! The bicycles are heavy (25 kg) , and they are all grey and have baskets. There are about 20,000 of them in the city, and around 1,450 bicycle stations. So there are a lot more Velib stations than the 298 subway stations!
Paris is not the first city to have a scheme like this. But not everybody thinks it is a great idea. One Parisian said, "These bicycles are only for short journeys. If people want to travel across the city, they won't use a bicycle - they'll still use their cars."
A city spokesman said, "The bicycle scheme will not settle all our traffic problems, of course. But it might help reduce air pollution. Traffic, together with factory fumes, is a big problem. There are not any simple answers to traffic problems and pollution in cities. But unless we do something now, there will be more traffic jams and temperatures will continue to rise, so the problems in our environment will get worse. The bikes might help people to lead a healthier life, too."
