Thousands of Parisians pedalled into Sunday traffic astride stately grey bicycles yesterday after the opening of an ambitious scheme to turn the car-snarled French capital into the eco-friendly City of Bike.

In the hot midday sun, a network of 750 high-tech stations went live, releasing 10,600 bicyclettes at very low cost to anyone with a credit card.

Mayor Bertrand Delanoë’s Révolution de la Bicyclette follows similar schemes in cities such as Lyon, Barcelona and Stockholm, but it is easily the biggest self-service cycle hire in the world. Another 10,000 bikes will be added by the end of the year.

Cynical citizens, however, predicted packed casualty wards as débutant cyclists fall prey to the scooters, motorcycles and cars that rule the Paris streets.

The start of the €90 million Vélib system (short for “bike-freedom” in French) drew curious crowds around the ranks of bicycles, which had been installed at docking pods in lanes, boulevards and avenues over Bastille Day weekend. While bicycles have been gaining favour in Paris, the novelty of the Vélibs created a festive mood in keeping with Mr Delanoë’s policy of adding a funky side to the capital.

Taking one of the new bikes for a spin meant waiting for a turn at a single registration point on each rank. For one euro and with two minutes of button pressing, The Times gained a one-day rental card. After promising electronically never to leave the bike out of sight, your correspondent adjusted the seat, climbed on board the elegant retro-styled Vélib and glided down the Boulevard Péreire towards the Arc de Triomphe.

Previews had bemoaned the hefty 22kg weight of the bikes, which are provided free by an urban equipment company in return for billboard space. But a few turns of the pedal showed that the unisex machine cruises smoothly on level ground. Built to resist vandals, it has hand-gripped three-speed gears that can be changed while stationary. It also carries a basket and a flimsy antitheft cable.

A notice on the handlebars recites the bicycle code: “I will stop at red lights, I will respect one-way streets.” Such rules are a novelty to most Paris cyclists, who traditionally regard themselves as being exempt from the highway code. The incline to the Arc de Triomphe exposed the burden of the weight. The bulk, however, seemed to help while negotiating the high-speed circus of the Place de l’Etoile. Freewheeling down the Champs Elysées felt like the home straight of the Tour de France, with dozens of other Vélibs in company and spectators shouting encouragement.

Speed, though, is not what the Vélib is about. Mayor Delanoë’s aim was to supply indestructible bikes for short trips around the compact capital. The essence is availability. Bike stations, which will double in numbers by the end of the year, will be no more than 275 metres (300 yards) apart. Machines can be dropped off anywhere. If bicycles are absent, the system tells you where to find the nearest one.

The first half-hour is free, with an extra euro added for the first additional half-hour, two euros for the second and four euros for every extra half-hour from then on.

Handing a bicycle to the first customer, Mr Delanoë said that the service would “bring to lovers of Paris a little more air, a little more innovation and, as its name suggests, a lot more liberty”. In his view, Paris will regain the atmosphere of carefree 20th-century hit songs such as Yves Montand’s La Bicyclette or Joe Dassin’s À Paris à vélo. He dismissed as unfair criticism from safety experts, drivers and media, who say that with only 200 miles of bicycle lanes, Paris is not ready for such a revolution.

Le Monde said yesterday: “The risks are multiplied by throwing on to the streets waves of neophytes, especially if the Vélib users adopt the same suicidal behaviour of regular cyclists,” Le Monde said. Mr Delanoë pointed out that the bicycle safety rate had been improving in recent years.

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