May 16, 2011 (Montreal, QC) – There had been a steady stream of good news items coming from BIXI, Montreal’s popular public bike rental program that has now expanded to Toronto after first arriving in Boston, MA, London, England, Washington, DC and Melbourne Australia. The system also arrives this year in Quebec City and returns to Ottawa (where it was briefly introduced in 2009). There have been numerous accolades for BIXI, including Time Magazine which rated the high tech “Made in Canada” bike rental program as the 19th best invention of 2008.

Montreal was just celebrating its third season with BIXI now that 5,000 of the rental bikes are being pedalled around town when rumours began circulating that all was not well in BIXI land. First there were complaints about blaring ads on this year’s crop of BIXIs (and questions about why BIXI was so desperate to please its sponsors), then layoffs at the BIXI head office (Public Bike) in the Montreal borough of Lachine. Now it’s been revealed that BIXI had a near death experience last week and was only saved after Montreal agreed to inject $108 million.

BIXI seems to be a victim both of its own rapid expansion and of the scandals and controversies dogging Montreal City Hall. The not-for-profit business with some $33 million in annual revenues (2010) is overseen by Montreal’s Executive Committee. BIXI generates revenues in Montreal from users, sponsors (who advertise on the bikes in Montreal) and from the sale of the concept to other cities (a dozen foreign sites have signed on to date according to Wikipedia).

Some $108 million was needed to maintain BIXI’s liquidity including some $60 million needed to finance BIXI’s rapid expansion to locations outside of Montreal according to The Gazette. While Montreal’s Executive Committee agreed to the expenditure in January, approval was needed from Quebec’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs. And it was here that Montreal’s controversies and scandals caught up with it.

Montreal’s auditor general, Jacques Bergeron, had been probing the secretive BIXI program when it was revealed that Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay told senior bureaucrats to spy on Bergeron’s activities. While the Ministry has now approved the financing for BIXI, this first involved Bergeron preparing an advance audit report of BIXI’s murky operations. Tremblay revealed last Thursday that a copy of the report was burned after being read by the Ministry official.

Complaints about the secrecy of Montreal’s BIXI program are not new. In April 2010, François Cardinal of  Montreal’s daily La Presse joked about journalists were finally able to find out certain details about the financing of the BIXI program, but only after telephoning bureaucrats in Toronto (where the program expanded to in May, 2011).

Meanwhile, London (England) Mayor Boris Johnson offered a one-of-a-kind BIXI as a wedding gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton according to a recent BIXI release.

”It is a tandem version of the traditional BIXI bicycle developed jointly by Michel Dallaire and Devinci Cycles which we delivered at the request of our London partner, Serco,” declared Roger Plamondon, Chairman of the board at Public Bike System Company. That release continues, “the regal tandem maintains the distinguished silhouette, visual signature, and qualities of robustness and comfort which are staples of the traditional BIXI. It contains an oversized downtube to ensure the bike’s rigidity, seven speeds, an adapted braking system, a greater wheelbase (1,800 mm vs 1,111 mm) and two bells. The unique design of the tandem’s pedal and gear mechanism will make it such that the lovebirds will ride together in harmony.”

We are continuing to monitor the BIXI situation.

Montreal Gazette.

Cyberpresse.

Toronto Bixi.