The very popular Velib bike rental service in Paris, which has been imitated in other cities all over the world, will begin extending the service to children.

P'tit Velib, the child counterpart of the Velib bike service, was formally launched by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Wednesday.

"Because good habits begin early, the mayor of Paris wishes to familiarize children with using more environmentally friendly modes of transport, and from a young age," according to the official Velib blog.

P'tit Velib will look to build on the huge success enjoyed by Velib since its launch in July 2007. Velib has been used for 130 million bike rides in the service's first five years. It is currently the third biggest bike-sharing program in the world, behind those in the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Hanzhou.

The service offers 30 minutes of usage from its riders, with incremental charges coming into play after that time. There are over 20,000 units of Velib's bicycles that can be rented out from about 1,800 docking stations located around the city of Paris. Riders can pick up a bike for rent and return the bike to any docking station that is near their destination. Adult riders can choose to sign up for an annual unlimited rental pass for a price as low as €29.

P'tit Velib will initially rent out a total of 300 bikes for children, styled the same as the now-iconic gray bikes of Velib for adult riders. The bikes come in three kinds: a pedal-less bike for children under four years old, a bike with training wheels for children from four to eight years old, and a larger bike for children from eight to ten years old.

P'tit Velib outlets are all located adjacent to bike paths and public parks, and the bikes rented out from the service need to be returned to the same outpost from where they were picked up. The locations for the service are the Bois de Boulogne near the Porte La Muette and the Rond-Point du Jardin d'Acclimitation, the Ourcq Canal, the Bois de Vincennes and the banks of the River Seine, between the Pont des Invalides and the Pont De l'Alma. 

Rental rates for P'tit Velib start at €4, with more locations for the service to be opened later within the year. There are also plans to develop the service to more closely resemble that provided to adult bike riders, according to Joel Sick, a member of the AICV which operates the Velib station on the Seine.

"The idea now is to create a space for the youngest riders," said Sick.