Tomi oladipo biography books

When this idea was first put forward, I envisaged Paris would be somewhere near the bottom of our gridlocked table. Most so-called Parisians live outside the historic inner city, in a patchwork of communes and communities that lie beyond the outer ring road. Each morning immense commuter traffic flows towards the centre.

Many of the streets are narrow, and Parisians suffer from this one infuriating habit. They will sit in box junctions, at busy crossroads, oblivious to the traffic cutting across them. It makes for some extraordinary, life-sapping, traffic jams.

Our particular experiment coincided with the first day of the Paris sales. Brave, you might say. And yet, once we were past the inevitable log-jam on the Peripherique, traffic in the city moved relatively freely. Perhaps that speaks more of the economic crisis in France today than it does of City Hall's attempts to tame the car.

But Paris has made some huge strides to ease the stress for its commuters. They were the first European capital to introduce velib, which means "bike freedom". And today, for a modest outlay of a euro you can find a bike at almost any of the 1, automated stations around the capital.

The public-transport system is one that most capital cities can only dream of. The Metro is fast, efficient and cheap. It is also dense in the centre. If there is one criticism, it is the gaps in the suburban rail network which perhaps explains why many still prefer the comfort - and the warmth right now - of the family car.

In the end, km was a triumph. And I have to say, for the record, I am slightly peeved to have lost out to Los Angeles. Perhaps it is my local knowledge - or lack of it.

Or perhaps it is the BBC's LA correspondent Alistair Leithead's expertise of the back-street short-cuts that is seemingly unparalleled.