rent a ride

in paris

 where this was taken

 there are many many velib 'stations'

 you rent a bike

 use it for 30 minutes

 drop it off 

at any of the 1,800 velib stations in the city

 and

 pick up another

 you can do this as many times a day as you like

 but

 you only get to use each bike for 30 minutes

 thats not a bad deal

 for the sum of 1.70 Euros for the day

 or

 you can buy a weekly pass for 8.00 Euros

read all about it here

here in nyc

 a similar a similar program 

began recently

 its called citibike

 here

 there's a 45 min limit per bike 

but 

again 

you can drop off/pick up

another 

as many times a day as you like for

 $9.95

 for 

24 hours

 and

 $25 

for

 a 

7 day pass

you can read about it here

of course 

here in nyc

 there's a lot of controversy

 people are whining

 about the bike stations

 being intrusive, 

taking up parking spaces, 

people who really dont know how to ride a bike in traffic 

and 

one thing 

i agree with

 there's no 'rule'

 that one must wear a bike helmet 

 seriously?

 people who have no clue how to ride in traffic

 are out there

 without helmets

 i predict a lot of head injuries 

just sayin'