More sponsorship needed before BIXI Toronto will launch

The Toronto Star and CBC Metro Morning's Matt Galloway have already announced that BIXI Toronto is a done deal: the bikes will be launching next May.

They're probably right but we mustn't forget that there is still the sponsorship milestone to complete. BIXI is still working on the sponsorships to get the $150,000 out of $600,000, after ING Direct promised $450,000 of the amount needed each year for the next three years.

If you're reading this and you pull the strings in your company, or you have the ear of a businessperson, then you may be interested in knowing that the BIXI membership is growing and that your name could end up on your own station as well as on the website (see Montreal's version).

There are two ways a business can sponsor: by sponsoring a station or by purchasing corporate memberships - much like Autoshare did last night.

We hear that sponsorship interest has increased quite a bit in the last few weeks as the 1000 milestone approached. You might want to get in while you can. Contact Sean Wheldrake at swheldra@toronto.ca.