Mara Gordon | It is easy being green

Picture it:

It's Friday night, almost 11 p.m. Friends wait in groups outside Allegro's and the Quad, yelling into cell phones and checking their lipgloss. Girls balance themselves on stilettos; guys check that their shirts are perfectly buttoned. They're ready for a night out in Center City.

But instead of piling into cabs, they hop onto bicycles.

Okay, we might have a bit of a problem with drunk bikers if Penn students really used bikes all the time. But if a new communal bike program that hit Europe this summer is any indication, Philly could easily become a lot greener, a lot faster.

It's called Velib, and it works almost exactly like Philly Car Share. It started in Paris - the name comes from "velo" for bicycle, and "liberte" for freedom. You can rent one of thousands of bikes from stations around the city, then return it at any other. The best part is the price: The bikes cost less than $2 a day. Using them for a week is under $10.

According to a New York Times article, it's the latest in a series of "greening" efforts for cities around Europe. It's designed to reduce the number of cars and give people cheap, easy methods of earth-friendly transportation. You can't get a much smaller "carbon footprint" than this.

"'This is about revolutionizing urban culture," Pierre Aidenbaum, a Paris city official, told the Times. "For a long time cars were associated with freedom of movement and flexibility. What we want to show people is that in many ways bicycles fulfill this role much more today."

But if an initiative like Velib came to Philadelphia, it would be about much more than greening our city. Philadelphia's urban culture needs some revolutionizing, and bikes are the perfect way to do it.

Philly Car Share has been a great business for Philadelphia, and for Penn students especially. No longer is a trip to Target or King of Prussia a daunting public transportation adventure - it's affordable and convenient. Philly Car Share-type programs in cities around the country mean fewer urban dwellers need to own cars.

While Philly Car Share makes getting out of the city easier, a program like Velib would make getting in to the city a breeze. That's just what Philly's neighborhoods need: more bikers, more pedestrians, and simply more people coming and going.

Penn students wouldn't need to worry about the hassle of having their own bike on campus. Forget lugging it upstairs to your apartment or getting your seat stolen every time you lock it up on Spruce Street. A business like Velib could turn even the most dedicated cab customers into easy environmentalists.

For those worried about battling Philadelphia drivers for space in the road, Parisian officials say the solution is even more bikes.

"The more bikes there are, the more car drivers get used to them and the more care they take," Jean-Luc Dumesnil, an advisor to Paris's city hall, told the Times.

Not everyone you might expect supports this kind of project, however. When I called Andy Dyson, the director of local bike vendor Philadelphia Bike Works, he said he thought a government-run program like Velib would waste taxpayer dollars when used bikes are so inexpensive to purchase.

"I'm reluctant to see some kind of municipal program . where people weren't accountable for how much money it made," he said.

But that's where Penn could come in.

The University is no stranger to city "beautification" projects. University President Amy Gutmann said she's looking for a "lively 24/7 edge" for West Philadelphia.

Bikes may not make the nightlife any cooler, but they could definitely improve University City days. If Penn has an incentive to attract Stephen Starr and American Apparel to this side of the Schuylkill, Penn definitely has an incentive to get people biking here too.

The Velib project in Paris was paid for by an outdoor advertising agency. They front the money for the bikes and in exchange they get exclusive use of city-owned billboards.

Penn could easily cut a similar deal. Penn pays for the bikes; Philly gives us ad space, parking spots, whatever. What's good for Philadelphia is good for Penn, and bikes are certainly good for both.

Mara Gordon is a College senior from Washington, D.C. Her e-mail address is gordon@dailypennsylvanian.com. Flash Gordon appears on Thursdays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.