Bixi: A Great Way to Get Around And a Great City to Get Around In

But sometimes a bike is just a bike

Montreal's Bixi bicycle sharing system is in its second year, no less a harbinger of spring than daffodils or crocuses, available 24 hours a day until the first threats of snow.

The Bixis, and Montreal's growing network of bicycle paths, are part of Mayor Gerald Tremblay's bid to make Montreal a bicycle-friendly city. Montreal cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians don't always get along, though; we're still learning how to share the space. The bicycle paths are a source of consternation to motorists and merchants alike because of the space they take up, but bikes, the paths, and Bixi, are here to stay, provided the powers-that-be that run the system can agree on how to sustain it.

Bixi was born here in Montreal, but has since expanded to Ottawa, the U.S., Europe, and Australia. It's a fine ride, 3 speeds, flashing lights in front and back, and a dinky, little bell meant to alert slowpokes or oblivious pedestrians to your presence. The Bixi bell doesn't go brrrring brrrring, though, it goes ding ding (and if that sentence isn't silly enough, try reading it out loud).

Bixi is simple to use. There are currently 5000 Bixi bikes at several docking stations around Montreal, from the downtown core into the city's east end, north end, and off-island parks to the south (Conspiracy theorists can be forgiven for believing that Bixi serves first and foremost Francophone parts of town; similar criticism was levelled at the city's Metro system when it was first implemented in 1967). The docking stations are solar-powered, with several bikes and a pay station. All you need is a credit card (Visa or Mastercard), and your own helmet (one of Bixi's flaws; it's foolhardy to ride without a helmet, but if you don't have your own bike, why would you carry your own helmet?).

The program is run, ironically enough, by Montreal's parking authority; like the bike paths, Bixi stations were criticized for taking up parking spaces. Other criticisms: some argued that anyone who gets around by bike either already has one, or would do better to just buy one rather than rent. And tourists would find it inconvenient since the system is meant for short-term use. I don't agree. It's a really a great way to see the city; pick up a Bixi at one location for as little as 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours, cycle around town seeing the sites, shopping, stopping in at any one of Montreal's parks, restaurants, bars, or cafes, and return it at a whole other location. And it's not as expensive as its detractors said it would be. Just over a year later criticism seems to have died down. In fact, there's a Bixi anthem, by a Montreal band called Da Gryptions (the video might be a great representation of Bixi, but not so much of Montreal; we're not as urban, and we're a lot more European, which is why Bixi fits in so well).

Dan Laxer is an announcer at Montreal's CJAD Radio, a budding stand-up comedian, and a writer. He is Citeeze's entertainment writer.

* Photo Credit: Cedric Sam