Cycle Hire scheme due May 2010, Central London. Modelled on the (un)successful Vélib scheme in Paris

The Parisian stats sound pretty bad: 20 000 bikes, 7 800 missing, 11 600 vandalised. But Eric Britton, a Parisian Ph.D. level economist, put some perspective on the matter: “The figures mean an average of around 15 thefts a day out of 80,000 daily uses. It’s like skinning a knee.”