BIXI Montréal
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of Montreal |
| Locale | Montreal, Quebec |
| Transit type | Bicycle sharing system |
| Number of stations | 452 (June 2016) |
| Annual ridership | 3,214,867 (2014) |
| Website | https://montreal.bixi.com |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 2009 |
| Number of vehicles | 5,220 (June 2016) |
BIXI Montréal is a public bicycle sharing system serving Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Launched in May 2009 by Public Bike System Company (PBSC), it is North America's first large-scale bike sharing system and the original BIXI brand of systems. PBSC filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of 2014 as the company started experiencing financial difficulties in late 2013. The city of Montreal then bought PBSC's assets for $11.9 million in February 2014 and created BIXI Montréal, a non-profit entity to run the bike sharing operations. Following the purchase of the company's international division by Bruno Rodi in April 2014, it was renamed PBSC Urban Solutions. After buying a large number of Rodi’s shares, Luc Sabbatini became PBSC’s majority stockholder and current CEO.
BIXI is a hybrid between "Bicycle" and "Taxi" to underline the concept of being able to use a bicycle just like a taxi. The name was coined by Michel Gourdeau who won a public competition to find the best name for the service when it was first introduced in Montreal. The prize for the winner was a BIXI pass for life.
A complete station is made up of a pay station, bikes, and bike docks (where the bikes are kept), which are fitted into modular platforms that are powered by solar panels. These platforms are the base and electronic ports for pay stations and bike docks. Bike stations can be created, expanded, configured and removed in about half an hour, monitored by a real-time management system. Excavation or preparatory work is not required, allowing the installation of a bike station as an addition to on-street parking.
Bike docks are used to store and lock bikes. These modular docking stations are formed by a combination of groups of four docks. The bike dock's modularity allows a pay station to be used in the place of a single dock. Maintenance and repair of the system is simple because of a removable module present in every docking station which contains the locking system and all necessary parts that allow the system to function. In case of repairs, this module can be replaced with an identical one immediately, reducing the down-time of the system. The locking system is based on an energy efficient motor used in the medical sector. The principal inventor of these systems is Charles Khairallah, president of Robotics Design, with co-inventor Michel Dallaire, president of Michel Dallaire Industrial Design.
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