Belgium

Yesterday I completed my quick tour of duty in the USA. I must say, it's good to be back in the city of Belgium, here in Eastern Europe. Well, close enough anyway, right?

Seriously though, I honestly have the feeling that I've been isolated from the world. Despite what they think over there, the concept of World News doesn't really exist in the USA, so I didn't know about the murders in the Marolles, nor the bikie violence in Melbourne. I've been under a rock, and yet the rest of the world heard about the firefighters who died in Charleston.

In May 2005, JCDecaux launched Vélo'v, an award winning automated bicycle rental system in Lyon. The concept was simple: One simply picks up a bike from one of the automated stations (or bike ranks), and then once they're done they return it to any station they wish.

The project was a success, and now boasts over 2,000 bikes available in Lyon available at more than 175 bike ranks. Cyclocity is now available in Vienna, Córdoba, Gijón, and finally Brussels (Cyclocity) last year. There are plans for expansion into several other European countries (Paris comes on-line in mid-July), but also plans as far as Australia! Such a system would work perfectly in Melbourne.

Brussels is now being used to demonstrate this environmentally friendly transportation alternative to other cities, using it to supplement existing public transport with strategic locations for bike ranks initially within the pentagon (city centre).

John's marathon effort last week has made me feel guilty, so I thought I'd give it a try.