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Vancouver bike-share program in jeopardy

The city of Vancouver’s approval to spend $6 million to start up a bike-share program could be placed on hold because Public Bike System (PBSC) and its Bixi could be facing financial difficulty.

The Montreal-based PBSC owns Bixi, a public bike-share system that has gained popularity in cities around the world such as Montreal, Boston, London, Melbourne, Ottawa and Toronto, among others.

Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. runs the Bixi program in many of the U.S. cities and was about to be the operator of the proposed bike-share system in Vancouver. The city agreed to providing $6 million to start the project and an additional $14 million to help it grow over a 10-year term. The goal was to provide 1,500 bikes and 125 stations in targeted locations around the city. Bixi’s financial struggle, however, might put a hold on city funding for the bike-share program in Vancouver.

The Province reported that Bixi and PBSC are in financial difficulty and facing “imminent” insolvency based on information the news outlet received from a confidential City of Toronto memo and from Montreal’s auditor general. The memo states that revenue generated from the Toronto Bixi program have not been sufficient enough to cover its $4.5 million startup loan.

“I discovered enough convincing evidence to cast serious doubts on the capacity of PBSC and Bixi Toronto to continue their operations,” Auditor general Jacques Bergeron said in a letter to the Montreal city council.

If Bixi can’t continue to make payments on its loan then the City of Toronto could be responsible for the remaining $3.9 million owed.

“We won’t issue any money (to Alta) unless we are confident (bicycles and a sound business plan) are provided,” said the City of Vancouver’s transportation manager, Jerry Dobrovolny.

“ … They need to complete a bunch of stuff to make the deal happen, and I’m still hopeful that it will happen.”

 

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