City now looking for program sponsors
Toronto’s beleaguered Bixi bike-sharing program is flush with cash thanks to a $5 million cheque that will be cut from funds originally earmarked for public toilets.
The bathrooms-for-bikes deal was brokered by Toronto city councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who also chairs the city’s public works committee. The city now assumes ownership of the money-losing Bixi program and its assets from the Montreal-based PBSC. The program will now be run by the Toronto Parking Authority, which will seek out a private company to operate the system.
The $5 million comes from funds originally intended for 20 self-cleaning public toilets as part of Astral Out-of-Home’s 20-year contract to supply the city with street furniture.
Astral, a Bell Media company, has currently installed two of the toilets – one in the Ashbridge’s Bay area and the other in the vicinity of the Rogers Centre. As part of the new deal struck with the City, the out-of-home company will now build only nine of the public toilets – which cost an estimated $450,000 each – with the remaining funds diverted to the bike-sharing program.
Ron Hutchinson, senior vice-president, real estate for Astral, said that finding space to install the toilets has proven difficult because of their large footprint (each unit measures approximately 80 square feet). “They’re difficult to locate because it’s like building a house with them,” said Hutchinson. “The city can’t find many public places to put them.”
Hutchinson told Marketing there is a clause in the street furniture program that gives the city the right to convert furniture it is not going to use in year 10 of the contract. While the program just started its seventh year, the two sides struck a deal to allow some leeway, said Hutchinson.
Minnan-Wong has been quoted in press reports as saying the city is seeking a sponsor to cut “a very large cheque” for naming rights, which will help sustain the program.
Hutchinson said that Astral is “very happy” with how the seven-year-old street furniture contract is progressing, with revenues having effectively doubled over the life of the contract. Hutchinson attributed the revenue growth to an increase in advertising faces, better maintenance and different ways of selling its products.
Earlier this year, Astral lobbied the city to permit digital advertising on its transit shelters in the city’s commercial district. City staff will report back to council with its recommendations.
