15/06/2008
Vélib’ displayed in the Tokyo Science Museum 

Vélib’, the self-service bicycle hire scheme adopted by the City of Paris and invented by JCDecaux, was recently included as an exhibit in the Tokyo Science Museum.

Vélib' was chosen as the “bicycle of the year” by the Bicycle Promotion Association of Japan (BPAJ) for the Tokyo Science Museum. Vélib' is exhibited alongside 2 bicycles offered to Emperor Akihito and his wife on their wedding day!

This new exhibit was officially inaugurated on June 10 in the presence of Kiichiro Abe, BPAJ President, Louis-Michel Morris, Minister and Adviser at the French Embassy in Toyo, and representatives from government ministries, municipalities and Japanese universities.

Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and co-CEO of JCDecaux made the following statement: “Following the exhibition devoted to Vélib' in the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Arts & Crafts Museum) in Paris, it is a great honour for JCDecaux to see its invention, Vélib’ exhibited in the Tokyo Science Museum. This decision underlines the international recognition enjoyed by self-service bicycle hire schemes in general, and by Vélib’ in particular. The self-service bicycle hire service provided by JCDecaux represents a total of more than 30,000 bicycles on the roads in 16 different cities in France and Europe, and more than 35 million individual rentals since the schemes were first launched. JCDecaux is the number No.1 worldwide for self-service bicycle hire.”

To know more about bicycles in Japan:

With the increase in fuel prices and the availability of cheaper bicycles imported from China, more and more Japanese people living in urban areas are using bicycles as their everyday means of transport.