There’s a whole lot of complaining going on in this city right now, and one certainly wouldn’t be in the wrong if they were to add their voice to the mix. Between potholes that could swallow vehicles whole, bridges that seem to be held together with glue and wishful thinking, the Berger Blanc debacle that has made Tremblay persona non grata with animal lovers in this town, one wonders whether anyone is taking care of business at City Hall or are they all simply too busy intercepting each other’s emails.
Add to that, the latest news that the City of Montreal was recently forced to “bail out” the BIXI program, and Tremblay has some ‘splaining to do.
But before taxpayers pick up their pitchforks and torches and start walking up that hill (or in this case, Old Montreal), intent on burning things down in outraged indignation, let’s get the facts straight.
The City of Montreal did NOT bail out the BIXI program. BIXI experienced a liquidity problem as a direct result of a five-month wait for the approval by the Municipal Affairs Minister of its agreement with Montreal. The City is NOT giving the BIXI program $108 million. An amount of $37 million is a loan to BIXI, repayable with interest. The remaining $71 million, guaranteed by the City of Montreal, is comprised of a financing package, allowing BIXI the necessary liquidity to pay their suppliers while waiting for the cities with which they do business to effect payment of their invoices.
Yes, BIXI is not profitable. The business plan clearly indicated that no profits would be derived in the first few years of operation. The plan also indicated that operational costs would be covered once BIXI reached 50,000 members and with the involvement of sponsorship. Montreal’s BIXI program is well on its way to reaching that number.
The impression that Montreal is somehow financing the export of the BIXI system to other markets is also false. The contrary is, in fact, true. According to information provided by the chairman of the BIXI board of directors, Roger Plamandon, it was in fact the successes of the sales of BIXI ($8.5 million) on the international scale that covered the operational deficit of Montreal ($7 million).
Personally, I don’t believe that the program needs to be profitable; it was designed as a service; not a money-making venture. -
Yes, lots can be improved on. Yes, BIXI in many ways is “Too Hip to Fail” as Dan Delmar, host of Delmar@Night on CJAD perfectly summarized on Twitter last week, but it’s still also all kinds of awesome.
The bicycle-sharing system is a wonderfully innovative concept; eco-friendly and extremely efficient. With a little more vigilance, things should turn around and BIXI will be able to cover its operational costs. Personally, I don’t believe that the program needs to be profitable; it was designed as a service; not a money-making venture.
A quick side note: to those complaining about the “unsightly” sponsorship ads, I would urge them to be realistic. I’d rather the money come from sponsors, than from taxpayers.
And, while the STM hasn’t proven to me that they know how to run things any better, I do tend to agree with Westmount Municipal Association member, Paul Marriott, who believes that the BIXI program should be handled by the Montreal Transit Corporation, since this is more of a public transit program and not a bike-rental service.
In terms of usage, BIXI is a true success story. Its popularity has spread across Montreal boroughs (and around the world) quickly and membership is only increasing. While it irks me that some public funds have been allocated here, for a private company that is not required to publicize its financial accounts, let’s get all our facts straight before riding this thing off the road.
