Bixie and the long term future
With all the enthusiasm to get this bike share project going, it is worthwhile to look beyond the next 12 months.
In today's Star, an interesting article describes the story of car-sharing in TO:
Yup, the president of AutoShare, one of the pioneers of car sharing in North America, is as green as Kermit the Frog. He ventured into the industry with a mission to reduce car pollution, promote environmental consciousness and provide low-cost mobility to the masses.
In McLaughlin’s 12 years with AutoShare, however, the business has thrown him several curves. To wit: “We thought it’d be great for low-income people and immigrants, but they haven’t taken it up,” says McLaughlin, a slim, bespectacled man with a toothy grin and earnest manner. “Thirty dollars for four hours is still a luxury for them.”
The eco-pitch also didn’t stick. “It took us years to figure out that the green part is not the reason people were joining. People were joining because car sharing was convenient and saved them money.”
Most unpleasant of all, he’s found the car-sharing industry’s communitarian ethos melting away in the face of aggressive, well-funded and shrewd entrants...
with the full article at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-bus...
I can see parallels in the insufficient funding of their project just like T-Bixie, in the lessons learned in the motivation of customers to use the service, and in the outlook that if it should become a feasible business in this city, competition will spring up trying to grab the profitable aspects and competing for "resources" like parking spots.
Well, I saw the comparison too, but though I think there's no real money in bike share, I do see the city blowing a great opportunity again. Damn, Toronto blows. We don't even have the imagination to copy initiatives that other cities HAVE SHOWN WORK!
...sort of. Which means it will have to pay for itself to survive. If that is the case, someone will figure out a way how to rearrange the business to turn some sort of profit - and that could mean just focus on a subset that is making real money. It could by focusing on the tourism aspect only, e.g.
I still think we should closely look at the fate of car-share. If we don't there's the possibility to get skimmed a few years later by businesses that avoid the risk and expense of today but want to profit once it's proven to be viable...
Interesting how there aren't many bike rental companies around toronto, and the ones that do exist really only rent bikes to tourists and people from outside Toronto.
Interesting how the few bikeshare programs that have existed have fizzled out - heck, the City of Toronto's own Staff Bikeshare bikes sit dusty, unused in the underground parking at City Hall.
There are lots of retailers selling bikes, though. Forget bike shops - Zellers, Walmart, Canadian Tire all sell bikes, lots of bikes, "affordable" bikes. Lots of Toronto ppl own bikes. Even in low income neighbourhoods, there are lots of bikes. There are already lots of bikes that people could share among each other and their neighbours if they chose to. But we don't.
The "Community" has got it wrong this time, and it may bite us back. It's not about the availability of bikes - it's about the sheer will to ride bikes. Bixi Toronto is just a placebo - it's a trick to get more people riding bikes, even if they already have bikes of their own. Ask yourself - do you really need another bike?
I know little about the fate of the yellow bike system - except that it was not a "business" and relied on perpetual cash injections. Thus it died when the sponsor opted out.
Our new Bixi-based system is a business.
The market for the tourism seems viable and there is already competition. For other uses beyond tourism, there are possibilities that may or may not work out. For example, I got a Bixi subscription, because I expect to use it when heading into town from the burbs. TTC (subway) does not allow bikes during rush hour and thus my own bike can't come along at such times and I'll use a Bixi bike instead. If that should pan out, I am sure others will find the same useful. But the restricted coverage of Bixi may just kill this concept.
As a citizen of TO who makes an effort to get more bikes on the road and thus create a better city, I have expectations. And as a resident of the burbs, we got shafted already. When Bixi "loomed" on the horizon, the city decided to toss the principles of its existing bike plan overboard and focused its efforts/money on the core area only. Any remaining work in the burbs has been designated to rely on other moneys (which will dry up soon). And I expect we'll get shafted again as other interests figure out that there's money to be made.
We are already battling over street-space with the motorized users. And there's a whole gamut of other resources we need access to, bike parking facilities for example. We must ensure now that our interests will be acknowledged now and not be brushed aside in the future.