Since the spring, Bixi users in several central neighborhoods have come up against empty stations, a source of much frustration. Bixi Montréal admits that the record traffic this year and the difficulty of recruiting labor make it difficult for it to replenish the stations during the day.
At this time last year, Bixi had 37,725 active members. This number climbed to 64,000 in 2022. Bixi now regularly exceeds 50,000 trips per day, which corresponds to an increase of 92% for the month of May and 66% for June compared to the previous year, says Christian Vermette, General Manager of Bixi Montreal. He also believes that the milestone of 60,000 daily trips could be reached shortly. The traffic even exceeds that of the pre-pandemic period.
“Until 2019, we had a fairly stable growth of 10% that we were able to predict and absorb quite easily,” explains Mr. Vermette. “It’s a beautiful problem. We expected a return to normal, but not in such a brutal way. We try to adjust. »
On the ground, this enthusiasm has the effect of emptying the stations at the start of the day in central neighborhoods such as Le Plateau-Mont-Royal and Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, which forces users to look for other stations. Hoping to find bikes available there. And in many cases, that’s just e-bikes, which are more expensive and require helmets, which aren’t suitable for all riders.
Increase the pace
According to Christian Vermette, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, which represents 30% of trips, is particularly problematic, and the imbalance is inevitable. “People think we don’t bring the bikes back, but we still have a dozen trucks emptying the city center and bringing the bikes back to the Plateau. But, immediately after, the stations are stormed, and there are no more bikes. It’s like trying to drain water from your basement during a flood, only to have so much water coming in. »
Currently, Bixi has the capacity to return between 400 and 500 bikes per hour in empty stations, but Mr. Vermette recognizes that this rate may not be sufficient.
Conversely, full stations when users arrive at their destination – in the city center in particular – also arouse user frustration.
Bixi Montreal also says it has to face a problem recruiting drivers in the context of a labor shortage. Christian Vermette specifies that the organization must call on experienced drivers capable of maneuvering vehicles equipped with trailers in the streets of the city.
Purchasing vehicles is also a challenge. In recent years, Bixi has acquired smaller vehicles, but they are difficult to find and they are expensive. “Buying trucks right now takes a year and a half,” says Mr. Vermette.
He recognizes that despite the hiring of patrollers to return bicycles to empty stations and the addition of 87 new stations on the territory, the problems cannot be resolved overnight. But the organization is working on it, he assures us: “We must not be discouraged”.
The e-bike challenge
The lack of bicycles at the stations is symbolic of the enthusiasm for the bicycle and its usefulness as a mobility tool, believes the CEO of Vélo Québec, Jean-François Rheault. However, he fears that in the medium term, these problems will affect the enthusiasm of users. “We saw it in Paris, after the change of operator, they had two years of misery. They did not manage to find the traffic of before, ”he relates. “It really is a situation that needs to be closely monitored. »
He points out that the deployment of e-bikes brings additional operational challenges for Bixi. “We have to make sure that electrification is not done at the expense of service quality. According to him, Bixi will be able to remedy the problems by putting the necessary resources into it. However, he recognizes that with the resumption of activities, Bixi finds itself in the same situation as many other organizations that have slowed down their activities over the past two years.