I don't understand. I'm sure there are tradeoffs (as with all things) but what do the bikes have to do with it? Was the Véli program funded by billboards?
In fact, we even get a quantification of the potential 'value' of the billboards (to the advertisers, at least) :
JCDecaux paid the scheme's start-up costs, totalling about $140 million, and employs around 285 people full-time to operate the system and repair the bikes on a ten-year contract. The city receives all revenue from the programme, as well as a fee of about $4.3 million a year. In return, JCDecaux receives exclusive control over 1,628 city-owned billboards; the city receives about half of that advertising space at no charge for public-interest advertising
