I was listening to my coworkers talking today about how many bicycles are stolen every day in Vancouver, and how it is often homeless people or street people, and how the police don't bother to do much about it because if they take the bike back, the thief will just steal another one.

So, I got to thinking, why not have free bikes downtown, in various locations that ANYONE could use any time of the day? There is a program like this somewhere in Europe that apparrently works very well. I think it would be a great anti-theft initiative because then the people who need a bike can borrow one, and just use it, instead of taking transit, or resorting to theft. Of course, there would be some loss through attrition, but what business or program doesn't have loss, but I think most people would respect the program and use it appropriately.