Montreal launched North America's most ambitious bikesharing project to-date on May 12. It's called Bixi. According to the New York Times (Montreal Inaugurates Continent's Most Ambitious Bike-Sharing Program, by Ian Austen, May 13, 2009) the $13 million project was inspired by Velibe in Paris, has 3,000 bikes and 300 closely-spaced stations. This dwarfs anything yet tried on this side of the pond.
The Times says there are a couple of big differences between this system and most of their European counterparts. That includes the City's decision to operate the system itself and to fund it with user fees rather than advertising. From the Times "André Lavallée, the municipal politician who championed the Bixi, said that the advertising opportunities are more limited in Montreal, while city ownership allowed greater coordination with the city’s bus and subway system."
Local International bike-sharing expert Paul DeMaio, also did a post on Bixi (Bixi - The First Large Scale BikeSharing Program In North America, May 11, 2009). Paul reports that you can join for $5 a day (great for tourists), $28 a month or $78 a year. Whichever plan you choose the first 30 minutes of your ride are always free. For sure you'll want to check out this video about Bixi that Paul found too. Montreal is one of my favorite cities and now I have another excuse to go back.
Chris Hamilton is the Commuter ServicesChief for Arlington County in the Transportation Division of the Department of Environmental Services, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.
Jealous!
Posted by: BeyondDC | May 20, 2009 at 04:17 PM
Yeah, that looks like a great system they've setup. Made me want to visit Montreal!
Posted by: Dave Reid | May 20, 2009 at 03:55 PM
Before Bixi, Montreal was already an amazingly bike-centric city -- you even see a few people riding in the snow. If Bixi takes off, it will be a cycling paradise. It will be interesting to see when or if any city in the US will make such a commitment to cycling.
Posted by: Jim | May 19, 2009 at 03:43 PM