IN BRIEF
For Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Paris on Saturday 26 September 2026, Vélib’ Métropole is setting up two giant, temporary stations with a total capacity of 800 spaces. Each has 400 spaces, and they are located on Place de la Madeleine and at the corner of Quai d’Orsay and Pont des Invalides. They will be open from 9h to 18h, with staff on site to speed up bike drop-off and pick-up. For Dan Lert, president of Agemob, major events must provide bike parking.
Vélib’ Métropole expects very large crowds in the capital for the Pope’s visit on 26 September. In a press release dated 23 September, the bike-sharing service announced two temporary stations to absorb the influx of cyclists. According to Sortir à Paris, many Vélib’ stations near the security perimeters are also temporarily closed, notably on the Champs-Élysées, at Les Invalides and at Notre-Dame.
Two giant Vélib’ stations at the Madeleine and Quai d’Orsay
The two stations each offer 400 spaces. According to the press release, they are located on Place de la Madeleine and at the corner of Quai d’Orsay and Pont des Invalides. Dressed in the service’s colours, they will be open from 9h to 18h on Saturday 26 September. Bikes are dropped off and picked up in the same way as at a standard station, and Vélib’ Métropole staff will be on hand to assist users and speed things up.
Their location appears on the station map in the Vélib’ app, which also shows their opening hours. For people without a subscription, the press release highlights the Ticket-V: a single 45-minute trip, on a mechanical or electric bike, for €3.
Bike parking, a requirement for major events
Dan Lert, president of Agemob, the metropolitan agency that oversees the service, links the scheme to decarbonising major events. “Decarbonising major events is a decisive challenge, as transport remains the largest source of emissions,” he explains in the press release. “5,000 events are organised every year in the capital: for large-scale ones, bike parking solutions must be provided by the organisers,” he adds (quotes translated from the French).
Vélib’ Métropole has 21,000 bikes spread across nearly 1,530 stations. The service, operated by Smovengo under a public contract running from 2018 to 2032, was used by 935,000 people in 2025.
