Nothing more practical and economical to get around the city! Blue bikes are now part of the identity of the capital of the Riviera. A brief overview of their use and practical tips.

Blue bike : practical and pleasant under the southern sun

Blue bike Nice French Riviera France

A bicycle intended for public use [out of service]

In the same color as the famous blue chairs, the blue bikes are beefy and provided with a basket, very useful, in the front. Three speeds make it possible to adapt one's effort to the slope, to the wind or to one's energy of the moment. A light system lights up at night. The chain that hangs up the bike at its station also allows to attach it elsewhere and at will.

Rates adapted to all uses

Different formulas allow users to use at really low prices. Pricing is based on a variable term subscription, plus a rental cost from 30 minutes of use. Except for really taking your time, most journeys last less than half an hour, for example to go from one end to the other of the Promenade des Anglais. The price of subscriptions starts at one euro fifty a day, up to 25 euros a year. There is no family subscription at preferential rate. The 175 resorts between Nice, Saint Laurent du Var and Cagnes sur Mer accommodate over 1700 bikes in total.

Usage tips :

  • Take the time before picking up your bike to choose it. Some machines may be less efficient than others. It is necessary to check the pressure of the tires but also the good functioning of the pedals. Also check that the wheels rotate freely and smoothly.
  • Bikes whose series starts with 6xxx or 7xxx are newer and less prone to malfunctions.
  • Take care to check during the restitution that the hook is well fixed to the station, at the risk that the bike is not considered as really returned.

A mesh dictated by the topography

As everyone knows, the city of Nice sees the Alps literally plunge into the big blue. Several hills thus occupy the places, one is here far from the flat Dutch country. Getting off the city from the bike stations far from the sea is easier than the other way around. Bikes are logically much less often available on the heights especially in the middle and end of the day. Some high-altitude areas are not equipped at all with bike stations like Cimiez, Fabron or Mont Boron.

For a better rendering : choose the maximum definition by clicking on the small gear serrated .
https://youtu.be/9ZAcdlWGqJg

Bike paths under development

velos bleus 5 mA number of kilometers from the city center has bike lanes either in the bus lanes or next to the cars. Two zones are ideally dedicated to two-wheeled journeys with solid borders ensuring good safety and limiting the untimely parking of other vehicles. The first runs along the green flow between the Théâtre de Verdure and the Musée d'Art Moderne. The second, beautiful, borders the Bay of Angels from the port to the airport. Many projects aim to set up other cycling areas, for example in the eco-valley of the Var plain or along the East West tramway. It should be noted that the municipality subsidizes the purchase of electric bicycles and spends half a million euros for the use of the bicycle. Enthusiasts dream of bike paths, wide and bordered, more numerous going for example from Cannes to Menton by the seaside as well as one or more true north-south axes reserved for bicycles only.

A brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of this environmentally friendly means of transport

Positive :

  • No stress of arriving late because of traffic jams. We creep everywhere, cautiously.
  • No worries to park unless the docking station is full at your destination. Saving time and money !
  • The weather often sunny on the Côte d'Azur will allow you to enjoy the azure sky. Dolce Vita atmosphere on the Riviera!
  • Sport is good for health and regular use, even a few tens of minutes a day will participate in your good form.

Improvable :

  • Inevitably, the bike park is not always in perfect condition. It is sometimes necessary to change gear because, most often, transmission problem (chain, ball bearings). Is it a lack of user precaution, outdated machines or design problems? Users return the saddle to signal out-of-service bicycles to other users and to maintenance services. We note, even if this is subjective, a small improvement (June 2020) concerning the crankset.
  • It lacks a truly operational and effective official app available in english language,running Android and IOS. Two third-party applications provide an overview of availability. An official app "Allo Mairie Nice" is new (june 2019) but only in french language !
  • The long-obsolete website, recently redone, is finally suitable for mobile terminals such as tablets and smartphones. Incredibly, this redesign was not used to offer a multilingual version ... in a city as touristy and international as Nice! The French-only blue bike website therefore deserves to be translated at least into English, which is the case with bicycle docking stations. If you want information concerning the creation and ergonomics of website we invite you to take a look at our website for web services here.

Velos Bleus 8
Velos Bleus 3
Velos Bleus 7
Velos Bleus 2

In the end, we advise you as well for your leisure as for your regular displacements the use of the bike in Nice. Driving by the sea, for example in the early morning on the Promenade des Anglais, is always magical. A community of cycling enthusiasts activates online (see links below) Often very militant of the cause of the two wheels you will find for example thanks to the hashtag #velotaf associated with the hashtag # Nice06 on the social network Twitter.
Many shops also offer bike rentals, lighter and pleasant to use.
Cars, scooters and soon electric scooters complete the so-called alternative transport offer. Nevertheless, the automobile remains indispensable for easily carrying heavy loads, many young children or for more peripheral journeys.

Suggestion, smartcity, urban mobility and blue bike

Faced with the "not negligible" number of malfunctions, among other things, at the level of the transmission or even the terminals, a small suggestion for the services of the Metropolis Nice Côte d'Azur and Transdev which manages the park Blue bikes: Why not simply create an account on the social network Twitter that would allow users to report to the maintenance service the defective bikes otherwise than by returning the saddle. It would be enough to create a #hashtag of the type #pannevelobleu, to give the number of the bike or the station in question and to describe in a few words the nature of the dysfunction. For example: "#pannevelobleu # 6853 station 020 faulty transmission". This would allow an improvement of the service for almost no cost, besides taking into account the Tweets, to answer them and to intervene. This very smartcity, participative and collaborative approach would involve users in a very probably very effective way!

Links