Bixi: 2012 Recap

Bixi: 2012 Recap

My New Bike

As you may recall, last spring I said that I would not renew my Bixi membership because of the hideous advertising the company chose to add to the bikes. Well, with two children to pick up at  various day camps around the city and getting to work through the traffic, I had to eat crow and continue to use our public bike system. It was just too convenient. But how did it compare with the previous two seasons?

This was another stellar year for Bixi, Montreal's public bike system, with 4,174,917 trips, a 25% increase over 2010. Other good news: there are some 40,000 yearly subscribers, which is up 24% from last year, and the operating deficit shrunk from $7.2 million to $3.2 million. Sales on the international front were fair, but not as good as expected. But never mind the sales. What was 2012 like for users? This being my third year, I have a few comments to make, both good and bad. Let`s start with the positive.

The Good
Bixi was the fastest way to get around our construction-ridden city last summer.

Our public bike was also available until November 15 this year. Next year, December 1 would be even better.

Bixi was far too convenient for me to give up, even after the cheesy advertising was added.

Compared to owning a bike, Bixi is almost hassle-free. It`s a pain to have to find a place to lock up my new bike every time I go to the store for milk.

Theft with Bixi is a non-issue. I`d also forgotten about New Bike Angst (NBA) or being too afraid to take my new bike anywhere for fear it will be stolen.

I found that motorists were more considerate or just more aware of cyclists this year; however, many cyclists travel far too fast on the Claire Morissette bike path, making it dangerous for everyone.

The novelty of Bixi has not worn off. It's still the cheapest, healthiest and most pleasant way to get around Montreal.

The Bad
Depending on the time of the year (last June being the worst), the only bikes left were broken or not roadworthy. The company still needs to inform users of the little wrench icon on the dock to report a bike in need of repair.

Expanding service to more city boroughs sounds great in theory, except that everyone is going downtown to work between 8:00 and 9:00 am. In June and July, it was very difficult to find a place to park downtown; all the stations were full. I had to either leave earlier than in the previous two years or drop the Bixi off at the first station with a free space and walk the rest of the way.

I called to report a malfunctioning station twice last summer, and it was never repaired. I know because I used it regularly. When I returned a bike, there was never a ring indicating that the bike had been properly returned. Once I was fined $30 because I had apparently not returned a bike to that very station.

The above three disadvantages are all signs of an organization that grew too fast before ironing out all of its kinks. Bixi still continued to thrive this year because of the enthusiasm of Montrealers and the people working at Bixi. But I doubt other cities will be as enthusiastic. I think they're looking for a turnkey solution with all the logistical and technical problems worked out.

Conclusion
As you can see my feelings are mixed. I still think that Bixi is a great idea, and we may only see the health benefits of the public bike system in a decade's time. But I must confess that I'm still confused about our municipal tax dollars being used to finance/fund/bail out Bixi last spring. From what I've read, it's very difficult to determine who reaps the financial benefits or even who is financially accountable for the entire public bike system. I fear that our beloved Bixi may become a boondoggle for Montreal taxpayers. We must demand clear, transparent reporting and settle for nothing less, or this may become our new Olympic stadium.

Related posts:

The Path of a Cycling Activist
Dear Bixi Chairman Roger Plamondon
Montreal Bixi v. Denver B-Cycle
Bixi: Success For All?
A Review of Montreal's Bixi

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Mile End Cycling News

Mile End Cycling News

Yesterday St-Viateur was closed to vehicles for the annual Journée des bons voisins. Merchants were in the street selling their wares alongside some activities for kids, but my favourite stand of all was that of ABC Cycle and Sports. They manned a stand to show you how to fix your bike and offered some tools and useful assistance. They were also asking people to sign a petition asking for more bicycle parking spaces on St-Viateur. Yes, not everyone rides Bixis these days, and the city is indeed in need of more parking for cyclists.

The neighbourhood has gone cycling mad! Laurier Avenue was made into a one-way street giving half of the narrow road to cyclists. This has been a win-win situation for me and my family. It has already noticeably cut down the number of speeding motorists tearing down our street, and it gives me a safer route to cycle to work. But it has caused a lot of headaches for Montreal drivers. Between all the festivals downtown, the St-Laurent street fair, the annual construction and the now strictly East-bound Laurier, many of Montreal streets have become parking lots. On Friday, we cycled from Georges Marciano's Lhotel in Old Montreal, where we saw some original paintings by Motherwell, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol, to the Mile End to meet friends on a restaurant patio, and it took us all of about 20 minutes. A friend of ours got stuck in traffic downtown for an hour and a half and then had to park five blocks from the restaurant. Bottom line--there are some pretty compelling reasons this summer to leave your car at home and get a bike.

New Laurier Avenue Cycling Path

Let's talk Bixi now. My membership will be expiring shortly, and as you know, I will not be renewing it. I still find myself using one on occasion because of the sheer convenience. Now that Bixi has expanded to four new boroughs, the ridership has increased exponentially. This means that if you haven't picked up a bike before 7:30 am for work, you will be hard pressed to find one that is road worthy. If you're lucky enough to find one, you'll probably encounter some difficulties finding a dock to return it to downtown. I made the mistake of taking a bike downtown at 9:00 am one morning, and I drove to six different stations before I was able to return it. By that point, I was a 20-minute walk from work.

I have a bike now, but I still find myself drawn to bike shops. I'm looking for the perfect comfortable ride. I've always opted for the ugly uncomfortable recycled thang, and now I want better...But we all know people who have bought a really nice bike that stays at home because they're afraid of theft. François at ABC Cycle and Sports told me that bikes are usually stolen at night, and that I shouldn't have any problems if I bring my wheels in after dark. Still deciding...


Other cycling-related posts

The Montreal Bixi v. the Denver B-Cycle
The Path of an Activist
Bixi: Success for All
Fun Way to Track Bike Use and Carbon Foot Print
3 Compelling Reason For A Bike Share Program in Your City
City Cycling: Why Renting Beats Owning
A Review of Montreal's Bixi Rental Bike



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Lucky Lance Gets His Bike Back!

Lucky Lance Gets His Bike Back!

I'm both happy for him and...envious! I had my bike stolen once, and all I heard was get over it! Now every time I see a bike I love, like a Cruiser, I think "nice," but the agony of having it stolen is just not worth it.

When it came time to buy a bike, I tried to do some thief profiling. Some just take it for a joy ride and dump it if it's not great (the petty thief). Other more industrious thieves will only steal bikes they can get a decent price for on Craigslist (the criminal in the making). I've seen a lot of Cruisers on Craigslist, but when the bike only costs $80, chances are it's hot. Hot bike...bad karma.

Two years ago, I saw a faded pink lady's bike for sale on the street. I made a call, and the "salesman" told my husband, daughter and I to come over, he had more than just the pink bike on the street. When he gave us his address, I must confess, I was confused. Not only did he live on one of Montreal's busiest streets, but he also lived in a two-bedroom third floor walk-up.

His apartment's hallway and kitchen were cluttered with bikes. They were hanging from the ceiling and stacked one on top of the other. He said he had some more on the balcony, and told us to follow him like there was actually an unobstructed path. We were running into bikes and getting jabbed by pedals and handlebars with our every step. We looked around "so to speak," and there were just too many to decide. I told him that I wanted the pink bike in the street. "Fine," he said, and we headed outside. On our way down the stairs, he told us that he had a son my daughter's age, then he confessed that he was divorced...Somehow I wasn't surprised!

I bought the faded pink beater sans crossbar so I could ride it downtown to work. Strictly from an aesthetic point of view, the bike is hideous, but that's the point. My logic was the petty thief wouldn't steal this bike without getting razzed, and the criminal in the making would see that it was worthless.

I have been told that a bike thief in Montreal will steal anything, but I've had this one for two years, and so far, so good. One day downtown I even forgot to lock it up. Miraculously, old pinkie was still there at the end of the day.

But I have to admit, I dream about, and salivate over, having a new bike. But the stress, the anguish, the fear of taking it out. Ahhhh! Then there's Lance, his one-of-a-kind $10,000 bike is stolen, and after an appeal to his fans and twitterati, someone turns it in four days later. Not only that, Sacramento PD actually "looked" for it. The ink on the police report was still wet when the bike turned up!

If I told a cop in Montreal that someone had stolen my bike, I'm not even sure he would think a crime had been committed. And if I asked him whether he was going to help me find it, I would only expect a guffaw...

A very funny video of a near naked Montrealer cycling around downtown. LOL

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Lance Armstrong Loses his Wheels

Lance Armstrong Loses his Wheels

Lance Armstrong, the victim of a bicycle thief, appealed to his fans on Sunday via Twitter with the hope of getting the skinny on his black and gold racer. His bike was apparently stolen out of the back of an unmarked van carrying his ride and three other bikes belonging to his Astana teammates early Sunday morning. What a drag! The 7-time Tour de France champion had just used the bike in the (Le?) Tour of California's Sacramento prologue on Saturday. (Why didn't they just call it the California Tour?)...Anyway,

There have been reports in the press alleging the stolen vehicle has appeared on both E-bay and Craigslist, but as of today, no leads have surfaced. This one-of-a-kind time-trial bike is reportedly worth more than $10,000.

One might wonder why extra precautions were not taken. After all, cycling fans would covet this objet de désir. And I suspect that many rabid cycling fans might think watching "the bike" being loaded into an unmarked truck and following it around part of the thrill.

But what is the thief doing now? The euphoria has probably worn off, and he realizes that this one-of-a-kind bike is too hot to get rid of by the usual channels. A fence with any intuition will sense the desperation and offer him peanuts. Although he's probably dying to tell someone, he knows he can't.

(How do I know it's a man? Well the crossbar is not skirt friendly, and there's no basket for a purse, laptop or commuter cup. Besides that looks like one uncomfortable seat!)

As the bike lays idle somewhere in someone's garage, poor Lance's only hope is that this thief is also a braggart.

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