Bixi Battle

Attempts to force release of details pertaining to the Bixi financing plan were blocked for the third time Monday afternoon. Anie Samson of Vision Montreal placed three separate resolutions before the municipal council to gather information about the Bixi financing, all of which ultimately failed.

All three resolutions were denied the unanimous consent needed by Marvin Rotrand of Union Montreal.

Samson’s first resolution would have forced details on the Bixi financing plan to be released. Her second would have sent the Bixi plan to a special city committee that handles contracts over $10 million. Her third would have brought representatives of Public Bike System Co. the operator of the Bixi bikes, before the council for questioning. None of them succeeded.

The Bixi plan includes a $37 million loan from the city of Montreal. This cash is used to cover the costs to develop the Bixi service.

Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay’s administration is also set to provide guarantees of $71 million in credit to Public Bike to allow it to expand internationally.

Tempers flared while discussing the heated topic with Tremblay saying Richard Begeron, leader of Projet Montreal, has “demonstrated his stupidity” by calculating the costs of each Bixi bike.

Bergeron said the cost of each Bixi bike in operation is $7,400

The debate over the Bixi financing plan is expected to continue Tuesday afternoon.