Alta Bikeshare partners with Bixi’s ex

Bike share company Alta has partnered with 8D Technologies to develop a new generation of bike share programs, starting in Vancouver.

8D used to handle the technology that made the Bixi system work. After the two companies split, tensions rose so high that in 2012, 8D sued Bixi for infringement of intellectual property.

Bixi has now declared bankruptcy, leaving many cities in the lurch in terms of what comes next for their bike share programs.

Unlike Toronto and Montreal, Vancouver was unwilling to guarantee loans to Bixi, and implementation of the system has been routinely delayed.

The hope is that the combination of 8D and Alta will lead to finally having a viable bikeshare system in Vancouver. Both 8D and Alta are confident the system could be in place later this year.

However, Jerry Dobrovolny suggested that 2015 would be more realistic.