Wheels Of Misfortune For Taxpayers

[Anonymous]

Taxpayers all across Canada -- and America and Australia -- are on the hook for yet another enviro-boondoggle.



No, we're not talking windmills, solar panels or electric cars whose time has not yet come, none of them commercially viable but recipients of government billions.



Nope, we're talking about bike share networks.



Bixi is a private organization first concocted by the city of Montreal in 2009 to get more people commuting on two wheels.



It's a citywide system of docking stations with room for dozens of bikes placed around downtown cores. You can buy a membership or just use your credit card at one of the stops to unlock a bike for a certain amount of time, ride it to another station and leave it there.



Sounds kind of cool.



If you've walked around Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal, you'll see them in use everywhere.



One problem though. All of the host cities enter some form of financial arrangement with Bixi.



In Ottawa, they couldn't find a private operator of the franchise. So the government took it on and now loses $76,000 a year. They now want to peddle it to someone else. Good luck with that.



In Toronto, the operation can't meet payments on a $4-million loan that the city guaranteed.



In Montreal, the city gave Bixi $108 million to cover the entire network's failings.



Last year Calgary council rejected directly operating a Bixi program with a $2.5 million pricetag -- smart move. They did however order staff to look into allowing a third-party operator to do so, an option that would still see taxpayers "providing guaranteed loans and even providing start-up capital."



The trouble is these partnerships aren't based on the realistic projections of private business. They're based on fluffy optimism. Everyone should ride a bike and the polar bears will be saved!

Yes, cycling's great. It's good for your health, for gridlock, it's faster in rush hour, no pollution. But you can visit any number stores in your town, or check the classifieds, and pick up your own wheels for a modest investment.



There is no reason any city should have opened what is essentially a poorly conceived bicycle rental store. Cities must stay out of such businesses

[Anonymous]

Cycling is a good idea, but in Canada it is seasonal.

[Anonymous]

You can buy a usable second hand bike for a good price if you look. It is a bad idea for municipalities to be running money-losing bike rental stores.

[Renee]

I hear they started a bike share program in NYC recently. Personally I think it's part of Mayer Bloomberg's personal crusade against obesity. I think he figures he can get rid of us fatties by shaming us into riding bikes so we either lose weight or collapse from a heart attack while riding in traffic.    :D



BTW, I don't think he has thought this thru because I guarantee he has underestimated the traffic problems a dead American landwhale in the middle of say 8th Ave will cause.

[Anonymous]

^^Now that is classic Renee humour.