Tuscani01
Senior Member
Montreal's Bixi team also opens up special drop off points when racks are full. You bring the bike to a Bixi rep, who then has the bikes redistributed.
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Toronto Bike Share
- Thread starter kettal
- Start date
Chuck
Senior Member
Interesting responses to my commuter hoarding question.
At the end of the day though, I still don't understand how it's possible for Bixi to work. Car sharing makes sense because you spend a few hundred dollars a year to save tens of thousands on the purchase price of a car, plus thousands on annual expenses. For bike sharing, you spend one or two hundred dollars a year to avoid buying a really cheap beater bike. Why not just buy the bike?
For even a light user, Bixi makes no financial sense (the security deposit alone is far more expensive than a cheap bike!!). Financially speaking, it's the equivalent of Zipcar charging a $30,000 security deposit to rent a car. The risk would be too high - what intelligent person would actually use the service?
At the end of the day though, I still don't understand how it's possible for Bixi to work. Car sharing makes sense because you spend a few hundred dollars a year to save tens of thousands on the purchase price of a car, plus thousands on annual expenses. For bike sharing, you spend one or two hundred dollars a year to avoid buying a really cheap beater bike. Why not just buy the bike?
For even a light user, Bixi makes no financial sense (the security deposit alone is far more expensive than a cheap bike!!). Financially speaking, it's the equivalent of Zipcar charging a $30,000 security deposit to rent a car. The risk would be too high - what intelligent person would actually use the service?
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taal
Senior Member
Convenience ? It's not too far fetched to spend $50 a year in maintenance on a bike. The convenience stems from the fact that you don't need to worry about the bike at all. Also, you have the option to leave it at any station and move on foot. For some people that's a big convenience, they're not longer stuck with their bike.
I don't think you have to be extereme user for it too be worth it - even a couple times a week not everyday. The key though is it must be short trips. This in no way is worth it for those who bike for fun on weekends or for long outings.
I don't think you have to be extereme user for it too be worth it - even a couple times a week not everyday. The key though is it must be short trips. This in no way is worth it for those who bike for fun on weekends or for long outings.
grey
Senior Member
Zipcar solution to crowding would be to credit your account with free riding time if you go out of your way to find an empty spot at a nearby dock. Their system is so fully stacked with incentives that it largely runs itself.
taal
Senior Member
Something similar with Biki ... it said something like add 15min if no free spots are available.
rbt
Senior Member
It certainly appears that way based on very limited observations.
I spent a couple of months last summer in the east end of Montreal. I regularly saw the pickup taking bikes east in the morning (away from downtown).
androiduk
Senior Member
Bikes are now installed in a number of downtown locations.
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.
Paris' Vélib. (Photo by Oliver Wagermann, known as Jesper2cv on Flickr. Reference http://www.flickr.com/photos/glimeend/2523379125/)
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 soon for Urban Toronto’s coverage of the launch and some thoughts on Bixi Toronto’s future.
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.
Paris' Vélib. (Photo by Oliver Wagermann, known as Jesper2cv on Flickr. Reference http://www.flickr.com/photos/glimeend/2523379125/)
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 soon for Urban Toronto’s coverage of the launch and some thoughts on Bixi Toronto’s future.
Joe
New Member
Respectfully, Toronto's old BikeShare system had little in common with the new Bixi Toronto system.
At the height, it had 150 bikes at 16 stations located at community centres and bike shops. All volunteer-driven, low-tech, and unsustainable, as it relied on grants, etc.
It wasn't practical, convenient or well-known.
At the height, it had 150 bikes at 16 stations located at community centres and bike shops. All volunteer-driven, low-tech, and unsustainable, as it relied on grants, etc.
It wasn't practical, convenient or well-known.
Joe
New Member
Here's how it makes sense, Chuck. For even a bare-bones bike - you're looking at $200 new (less if you buy a stolen or used one from Craigslist). To keep it running every year, you'd need at least one (more if you bike through winter) around $50 for a good tune-up. A couple flats a year will cost you about $15 each.
So, if you only factor in one tune-up and two flats a year - that's $80. If someone lives and works downtown (notice all those new Condos), convenient and theft-proof bikes makes it unnecessary for you to worry about someone stealing your bike, or where to keep it in your condo. All for less than the price of ONE metropass - a far easier (and at times faster) way to get around downtown.
Of course - lots of cyclists who live outside the core (like me) won't use Bixi often, as we bring our own bikes downtown - but I can see us using it occasionally - I'm planning on using Bixi to get to Salad King quickly on my lunch hour, for instance (less time getting there, more time eating... haha).
In Montreal, the Bixi system is extremely popular with tourists - I think we can also expect a lot of visitors to use the bikes using the 24 hour and 72 hour timeframes.
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reaperexpress
Senior Member
How does Bixi work in terms of helmets? Under 18s are required to wear one by law.
androiduk
Senior Member
Edward St. So far it's rained every day since these bikes have been installed. Looking forward to seeing them on the road when we finally get some sunshine.
allabootmatt
Senior Member
Interesting that the stations seem to be on sidewalks. In London and Paris they generally displace parking spaces. Sign of the times?
With allies left and right Bixi’s future looks bright
Cold, rainy weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm as Bixi Toronto brought bike sharing to Toronto on Tuesday. Bixi officials, city councillors and sponsors gathered to mark the occasion as dozens of reporters huddled under shelter to escape the rain.
Text by Adam Hawkins
Adam Hawkins
Toronto’s system works much like others around the world. You buy a membership, varying from 24 hours to a year, take a bike from a station and return it to any other station. The first half hour is free, and after that there’s a surcharge.
But with a mayor that thinks the car is king, can Bixi succeed? In fact, Bixi hasn’t received any funding from the city. Instead, the city has provided a loan guarantee and free space to build stations. Bixi Toronto will have to sustain itself on sponsorships and memberships alone.
The good news is that Bixi Toronto’s self-sustaining model means that it has a strong chance of survival in Rob Ford’s Toronto. At the launch, Ford ally Denzil Minnan-Wong spoke proudly of Bixi and predicted that it would quickly become an integral part of Toronto’s transportation system. And while many on the right don’t share Minnan-Wong’s enthusiasm for bikes, they’ll no doubt love what Bixi represents: a successful public-private partnership.
Adam Hawkins
However, because Bixi Toronto is designed to be self-sustaining it’s starting out small. While Bixi Toronto’s 1,000 bikes and 80 stations may sound impressive, Bixi Montreal launched with about triple as many in 2009. Naturally, fewer bikes and stations means a smaller service area: although there are a few stations beyond Bixi’s borders, it is largely confined to Spadina to the west, Jarvis to the east and Bloor to the north.
Google Maps / Bixi
Any extension of the service area will likely be slow and cautious. When pressed about expansion plans, Bixi officials repeatedly stressed that their focus was on making sure the existing system was sustainable. Despite a modest start, it’s hard to ignore the potential for Bixi to transform the way Torontonians get around. Bixi will bring new people into the cycling community and those people are going to demand improved cycling infrastructure. Councillor Minnan-Wong promised to pursue his plan for a network of curb-separated bike lanes so that the casual cyclists that use Bixi will feel safe on city streets.
In Toronto’s polarized political climate it’s hard to believe that a major cycling initiative can draw support from both sides of the spectrum, yet that’s exactly what Bixi’s done. Watch out, because those cute black bikes could be a powerful force for change.
Cold, rainy weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm as Bixi Toronto brought bike sharing to Toronto on Tuesday. Bixi officials, city councillors and sponsors gathered to mark the occasion as dozens of reporters huddled under shelter to escape the rain.
Text by Adam Hawkins
Adam Hawkins
Toronto’s system works much like others around the world. You buy a membership, varying from 24 hours to a year, take a bike from a station and return it to any other station. The first half hour is free, and after that there’s a surcharge.
But with a mayor that thinks the car is king, can Bixi succeed? In fact, Bixi hasn’t received any funding from the city. Instead, the city has provided a loan guarantee and free space to build stations. Bixi Toronto will have to sustain itself on sponsorships and memberships alone.
The good news is that Bixi Toronto’s self-sustaining model means that it has a strong chance of survival in Rob Ford’s Toronto. At the launch, Ford ally Denzil Minnan-Wong spoke proudly of Bixi and predicted that it would quickly become an integral part of Toronto’s transportation system. And while many on the right don’t share Minnan-Wong’s enthusiasm for bikes, they’ll no doubt love what Bixi represents: a successful public-private partnership.
Adam Hawkins
However, because Bixi Toronto is designed to be self-sustaining it’s starting out small. While Bixi Toronto’s 1,000 bikes and 80 stations may sound impressive, Bixi Montreal launched with about triple as many in 2009. Naturally, fewer bikes and stations means a smaller service area: although there are a few stations beyond Bixi’s borders, it is largely confined to Spadina to the west, Jarvis to the east and Bloor to the north.
Google Maps / Bixi
Any extension of the service area will likely be slow and cautious. When pressed about expansion plans, Bixi officials repeatedly stressed that their focus was on making sure the existing system was sustainable. Despite a modest start, it’s hard to ignore the potential for Bixi to transform the way Torontonians get around. Bixi will bring new people into the cycling community and those people are going to demand improved cycling infrastructure. Councillor Minnan-Wong promised to pursue his plan for a network of curb-separated bike lanes so that the casual cyclists that use Bixi will feel safe on city streets.
In Toronto’s polarized political climate it’s hard to believe that a major cycling initiative can draw support from both sides of the spectrum, yet that’s exactly what Bixi’s done. Watch out, because those cute black bikes could be a powerful force for change.