From 1er Next March, cyclists who use Bixi in the greater Montreal area will have to pay more to use this bike-sharing service.
The season pass, which allows you to borrow bicycles from April 15 to November 15, will therefore increase from $99 to $107. From 1er as of April 15, 2024, it will however be possible to obtain it for $96 thanks to a preseason promotion.
In a press release, the non-profit organization supports increasing its prices “in order to guarantee the service appreciated by citizens, maintain equipment maintenance, and continue to increase the supply of regular and electrically assisted bicycles.”
Thus, the monthly subscription will cost $22, compared to $20 in 2023.
After the first 45 minutes of use, which is included for each ordinary bicycle trip a subscriber makes, a rate of 17¢ per minute will be added. It was 11¢ last year. For the electrically assisted bicycle, the rate of 17¢ per minute will apply upon rental of the two-wheeler, explains the organization.
As for occasional users of the service who take a one-way ticket, the price to unlock a Bixi will increase to $1.35, compared to $1.25 previously, and the price for use will increase from 15¢ to 20¢ per minute for a ordinary bike and 30¢ to 35¢ for an electric bike.
Deploy the network
Bixi Montréal also justifies this increase in prices by emphasizing that it must gradually renew its fleet. “Some equipment has now been used for 15 years,” he emphasizes.
The organization also indicates that it must continue to deploy its network in order to meet “the sustained and growing demand for its services”. “The addition of new stations and [de] electric bikes is planned for Montreal in the spring, with the aim of promoting an effective measure to reduce road congestion and contribute to sustainable mobility. »
This season, the network will have more than 11,000 bicycles in total, including 2,620 which will be electrically assisted. They will be distributed in 934 stations in Montreal as well as Westmount, Mont-Royal, Montreal-East, Longueuil, Laval, Boucherville and Terrebonne.
In 2023, approximately 576,000 users used Bixi, which represents an increase of 31% compared to 2022. In total, more than 11.7 million trips were made last year by cyclists.