Three years ago, Mayor Gregor Robertson and his merry band of ideologues in Vision Vancouver were careening Vancouver toward an expensive bike share program with Bixi. But we saw the flaws in the plan and tried to alert taxpayers through this op/ed and various media interviews: 

It seems like a no-brainer in a city with three thriving car-share companies and a massive taxpayer investment in new bike lanes that a bicycle share program would be a huge success. But still city hall has offered to subsidize this Bixi system because no entrepreneur, knowing Vancouver's helmet laws, Bixi's dodgy software issues and Montreal's multimillion dollar bike-share bailout, would take a risk on funding the project themselves.

Vision Vancouver has offered up taxpayers to give Bixi an advantage none of the three Vancouver car share programs got -- millions in corporate welfare. Vancouver City Hall has pledged $1.9 million per year for the next 10 years for the bike-share program, plus untold expenses for advertising, free rental space and other incidentals.

Why are taxpayers paying for bikes when the car shares have proven transportation co-ops and businesses can be started and sustained without taxpayer dollars?...

Bixi is a business -- and not a profitable one. It was bailed out by Montreal taxpayers in 2011, when that city hall pumped $108 million into it, despite a scathing report from the Montreal auditor general. That money is to be paid back to the city by Bixi pulling other cities into the system, meaning Vancouver dollars will go to remedying Montreal's bad decision.

You get the point. Robertson and Vision were so excited to get a bike share program they refused to see the warning signs about Bixi.

Fast forward three years - you may notice there is still no bike share program in Vancouver. Looks like we were right. From The Province:

Launching Vancouver’s rental-bike program has been a top goal of Robertson’s for more than five years — but problem after problem has punctured his plans.

The wheels started to wobble when the city’s equipment provider Bixi struggled financially and finally went bankrupt in January 2014.

Bixi received tens of millions in public bailouts from the city of Montreal, and reportedly owed about $50 million to creditors internationally.

It's time for Robertson and Vision to take off their bike-colored glasses and find a corporate sponsor (or preferably a business) to run the bike share without taxpayer subsidy. Until then, stay out of that business.