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Bike sharing is back, but what’s different this time?
Text by Adam Hawkins
Cycling in Toronto is taking a big leap forward today as the launch of Bixi Toronto brings the bike sharing revolution to our doorstep. But this isn’t Toronto’s first bike sharing scheme.
In 2001 the grassroots BikeShare program offered cyclists an opportunity to borrow a bike when they needed it for just $50 a season. Members could sign out a bike for up to three days from one of 16 “hubs” run pro bono by helpful community centres and local businesses. In spring 2007 however, BikeShare shut down in the face of a budget shortfall.
In fact, BikeShare was just the latest well-meaning but flawed bike sharing program to fold. Since Amsterdam’s White Bicycle experiment in the 1960s, countless schemes around the world had fallen prey to rampant theft, widespread vandalism and limited scope. And yet, just a few years after BikeShare’s bright yellow bikes disappeared, bike sharing is back in Toronto.
What’s different this time? Beyond the basics, Bixi Toronto bears little resemblance to BikeShare’s low-tech, grassroots approach. Instead, it follows a formula pioneered in Lyon, France that went for big scale and high tech to succeed where so many other bike sharing systems had failed. In 2005, Lyon and its private sector partner blanketed the city in automated rental kiosks so that there was always a station close to where you started and another to where you were going. Lyon subsidized its operation with ads on the specially built bikes, which featured a sturdy and distinctive design that discouraged theft. And, critically, they charged extra for trips over 30 minutes, encouraging members to return bikes promptly so that each bike could be used many times each day.
Soon after, Paris took notice and introduced its own system, Vélib. Before long it was a vital part of the city’s transportation system and it remains the world’s largest. Inspired by the French cities’ success, Barcelona, Washington D.C., Montreal, London, Melbourne and many others have embraced bike sharing, expanding cycling culture and thus reducing carbon footprints.
Now Toronto will join the party, courtesy of Montreal’s Bixi. So what’s Bixi Toronto all about? And can it flourish under a Mayor that invited mockery of cyclists at his inaugural council meeting? Check back tomorrow for Urban Toronto’s coverage of the launch and some thoughts on Bixi Toronto’s future.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Toronto Bixi Bikeshare
