Vélib'

Vélib' Métropole (French: [velib metʁɔpɔl]) is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. The system encompasses more than 16,000 bikes and 1,400 stations. The name Vélib' is a portmanteau of the French words vélo ("bicycle") and liberté ("freedom"). Vélib' was operated originally as a concession by the French advertising corporation JCDecaux (under the company Somupi). Launched on 15 July 2007, the system encompassed around 14,500 bicycles and 1,400 bicycle stations, located across Paris and in some surrounding municipalities, with an average daily ridership of 85,811 in 2011. As of 2014, Vélib' was the world's 12th-largest bikesharing program by the number of bicycles in circulation; the rest of the top 18 are in Chinese cities. As of July 2013, Velib' had the highest market penetration with 1 bike per 97 inhabitants, followed by Vélo'v in Lyon with 1 bike per 121 residents, and Hangzhou in China with 1 per 145. From 2011 to 2018, Vélib' was complemented by Autolib', an electric car sharing scheme operating on similar principles. As of 2018, Vélib' has been rebranded as Vélib' Métropole, and is now operated by Smovengo. It has since been expanded to 55 cities around Paris.