The sudden craze on the part of the suburbs of Montreal and Quebec for self-service bicycles is an opportunity to seize for the Montreal operator Bixi. The latter wants to extend its network well beyond Montreal neighborhoods. A situation that does not suit at least one Quebec manufacturer of self-service bicycles.
The problem: Bixi responds to calls for tenders in partnership with PBSC Urban Solutions. PBSC is a Longueuil-based company that split from Bixi in 2014 to distinguish the manufacture of bicycles and the equipment needed to operate a network of self-service bicycles from Bixi, the operator responsible for the service offered to the public. Montrealers.
However, according to Martijn Kentie, development director of the Bewegen company, this is doubly annoying. According to him, not only Bixi, an NPO, should not compete with the equipment manufacturers to whom these calls for tenders are generally addressed, but PBSC is no longer Quebec-owned. US shared mobility giant Lyft acquired PBSC in April 2022.
Bewegen cites recent calls for tenders made by the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) and the City of Longueuil where Bixi won the contract. In both cases, Martijn Kentie deplores what he says are only “notices of intent where PBSC had already been identified as a supplier”.
Established in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce by PBSC alumni, Bewegen specializes in self-service electric bicycle services. Its bikes are assembled by Rocky Mountain, a company also from Beauce.
An operator who thinks big
“Bixi is an operator, he manages the system, he shouldn’t bid,” he told the Duty. “And there, in the provincial subsidies to go to the development of self-service bicycles throughout Quebec, we see that the vast majority of the financial assistance goes to Bixi. That’s a problem. »
The Financial Assistance Program for the Development of Self-Service Bicycles (OVLIS), however, seeks to stimulate competition in the active transportation sector. Calls for projects take place until 1er may. The maximum assistance granted is $2 million per project, up to 50% of total costs. Eligible organizations are both municipalities and operators such as Bixi, or even Exo, which handles public transit in the northern and southern crowns of the greater Montreal region.
Bixi claims to be a victim of its own success in a way. “All the cities that want self-service bicycles contact us,” says the Duty Bixi’s general manager, Christian Vermette. “We show them our business model, our equipment and how we operate. It is then up to them to decide how they intend to structure their service. »
Bixi has always done business with PBSC Solutions. It also has a close relationship with Lyft. In 2018, it bought the American company Motivate which, a year earlier, had merged with the Montreal company 8D Technologies which developed the Bixi computer platform.
For the operator, all this acquisition movement benefits Quebec. “Our teams in Montreal are recognized, they attract jobs here,” says Christian Vermette. In fact, he would see Bixi becoming the operator of all shared bike services in the province. A brief to this effect was submitted to the Ministry of Transport just before the pandemic. The ministry did not respond to Duty on this point.
“We proposed a single key for all services in Quebec. It’s simple: in Montreal, Sherbrooke or elsewhere, your key is good everywhere. »
Regarding his relationship with PBSC Urban Solutions, Christian Vermette says he is open to welcoming other manufacturers. “As an operator, you can manage any system. There would be no problem working with Bewegen. »
The precariousness of Lyft
It is quite slowly that Lyft has become an important player in Quebec self-service bikes. PBSC Urban Solutions sells bicycles manufactured by its partner Cycles Devinci, based in Saguenay, on all continents. This is obviously what attracted Lyft, which has tried in recent years to consolidate the North American shared mobility market.
The operation is not a success. Eternal number two behind Uber, Lyft has lost 76% of its stock market value over the past year. In response, 13% of employees were fired and a new CEO — former Amazon executive David Risher — was appointed to right the ship. He plans to continue cutting costs. Its objective: to make Lyft more attractive for its customers… or for a potential buyer.
None of this worries PBSC Urban Solutions. “The PBSC entity remains”, assures its marketing director, Nathalie Doré. “We respond to calls for tenders, all our employees are in Longueuil, we are still growing, it’s as lively as it was before. It’s just a different owner. Otherwise, everything is as before. »
If Lyft had to cut its self-service bicycle activities, the effect would perhaps be felt as far away as Quebec. This would allow other players to emerge, at a time when the demand for active transportation seems stronger throughout the province.