In May 2009, a new sharing bike system has been put in place in Montreal. This network of bike rental provides currently around 3000 bicycles and 300 pay stations located around downtown Montreal (as of July 2009). Already it has been announced that a lot more space will be covered and with more bikes for rent : NDG, Snowdown for example will have soon BIXI rental station.
BIXI by the way is a combination of the words BIcyle and taXI. So far it’s a big success, and Montreal shows great initiative with this system which reminds the Paris’s system Velib. Time Magazine even rated the BIXI system as the 19th best invention of 2008. With the BIXI system and Communauto, living in Montreal without a car is getting very very feasible.
The system is easy to use. A subscription (per day, month or year) allows for unlimited number of rentals. Then each half-hour is priced. For details : http://montreal.bixi.com/subscription-and-fees/online.
BIXI website : http://montreal.bixi.com/home
The stations : http://montreal.bixi.com/the-stations
Read more about the Bixi System : http://www.bixisystem.com/home/
