Toronto's Bixi Bike system is in trouble; will New York's Citibike suffer from the same problems? : TreeHugger

Here we go Austin!  Screw bike sharing!  Create more bike lanes!  

There is a lot of interest in bike sharing right now, as New York readies for the launch of its new Citibike program. The big question is, have they studied and learned the lessons from other cities that have bike sharing systems, some of which are having serious problems?
In Toronto, the BIXI bike rental program is in trouble; politicians are shocked, shocked to find that it doesn't make enough money from subscriptions and bike rentals to cover its costs and servicing its $4.8 million loan that is guaranteed by the City. The head of the Public Works Committee tells the National Post:

“I think it’s an important lesson in giving loan guarantees, that it can come and bite you in the behind later on,” he said Tuesday, noting one option could be to enlist the private sector to “rescue” the two-year-old BIXI Toronto program.

One would think that with a $ 300 million annual transportation budget that this would be a drop in the bucket, but this is Toronto, where the Mayor calls building bike parking and showers at City Hall "the gravy train. That is reckless spending — to put showers here at City Hall at $1.2 million. It’s disgusting."
The fact of the matter is, the Toronto Bixi system was almost designed to fail. Three years ago I wrote that it was too small to work.


Toronto's Bixi Bike system is in trouble; will New York's Citibike suffer from the same problems? : TreeHugger