While New York City pushes to expand Citi Bike, Paris remains one of the pioneers of the bike sharing movement and even has an electric car sharing program, the Autolib. As proof of the city’s commitment to the car share, they’ve created an adorable icon that goes on the road where the Autolib parking spots are located. The icon is the shape of the Autolib car, with an electric plug on the end.
Paris also has other fun symbols you might come across on the street, including this outdated one of a dog. We spotted one in the 16th Arrondissement recently, and discovered via Invisible Paris that it’s an outdated sign to encourage dog owners to relieve their dogs in the street gutters instead of the sidewalk.
However, it’s been a law since 2002 that owners have to clean up the mess (at the risk of a 35 euro fine) so these signs may eventually disappear. This is good news for Velib riders, as a lot of the gutter space has been converted into bike lanes anyway, but we’re still seeing a lot of dog poop on sidewalks in Paris…
Get in touch with the author @untappedmich. Read our op-ed on how Citi Bike can (and should) more effectively serve low-income New Yorkers.
