Photo: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, 2008.
The pooling of vehicles for short-term rent is an option that is increasingly being considered and applied. The above photo shows the “Velib” (Velo Libre) initiative in Paris, France, where bicycles are offered for rental for less than 24 hours, and ideally for less than 2 hours. As of 2016, the system was composed of 1400 bicycle rental stations that had an average separation of 300 meters with a pool of 18,200 bicycles. It turned out to be a very popular pooling system but also had some problems, notably a high level of vandalism and the need to reposition bicycles between stations every night because of commuting patterns.