This would be yet another excuse for me not to own a bike. Sounds like this is years away from happening, if it all, given the cost and the fact that many people here already own their own bikes. - Chris

It would definitely be different than the D.C. system, but I'm guessing Paris had high bike ownership rates pre-Vélib' (I'm not going on any solid info here... just guessing), so maybe that part of it won't matter. And paying for it with advertising is a trade-off, but one that I would back if I were a Portlander. The sad thing is, even if it didn't cost taxpayers anything, many anti-bike types would believe that it does. The amount of information that some of those people are able to selectively ignore is amazing. I would personally be for a plan like Barcelona's where they pay for it by taxing parking and registration more heavily (thereby theoretically getting more people out of cars), but I think that would be politically unpalatable in most American cities. People already bitch about how drivers pay for bike infrastructure and can't use it and bikers don't pay for anything. Imagine their righteous anger if those statements actually were true! - Etymology Freak