Recently, I read, What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers.
According to Botsman and Rogers, BIXI, a bike-sharing system, which launched in Montreal in 2009, is one of a small group of companies focusing on alternative commuting solutions in large urban areas.
The BIXI system, now under the auspices of PBSC Urban Solutions, has expanded to other large cities around the world. The New York Times ran a short article about PBSC Urban Solutions in the Business section of its Sunday, 1/11/15, edition. According to this article, Bruno Rodi, a Canadian real estate developer, saved PBSC Urban Solutions from bankruptcy court and will take the company out of operating bike-share systems and will focus on selling hardware and software. Rodi is quoted in the Times article as saying, “We’re going back to our core business [emphasis added], which was to build this machine. I don’t need to worry about how many workers are on this street or in that city. It’s not my job.” Huh? Don’t understand this one.