Bixi’s winter bike pilot project in Montreal has made people happy. Despite the limited number of stations and some technical problems, such as difficulties with anchor points due to ice and snow, Bixi has recorded several days of more than 4,000 trips since the beginning of December.
After a record year with more than 576,000 users for the normal 2023 season, Bixi decided to make 1,500 bicycles available during the winter season as part of a pilot project in seven Montreal boroughs. The machines have been adapted to face winter, with the addition of studded tires and non-slip toe clips.
Ridership data reveals that 95,020 trips were made in December, compared to 54,548 in January and 70,274 in February. On several occasions, Bixi recorded more than 4,000 trips per day, notably on February 27 with 4,416 trips, when a heat record was recorded with the mercury reaching 15°C in the metropolis. On March 5, the good weather brought out the bixists, who made 4,848 trips.
Unsurprisingly, these data are much lower than in the summer season. For comparison, Bixi recorded more than 1.8 million trips in July and August 2023, and more than 1.9 million in September. But in its forecasts for the winter season, the organization predicted that 4,000 users per day would ride a Bixi.
Bixi did not want to comment on the progress of the pilot project or grant an interview on this subject, preferring to wait for the official end of the project, in mid-April, before taking stock of this first experience.
A success “
The CEO of Vélo Québec, Jean-François Rheault, however, believes that the experience has been an “all-round success” so far. “I think that, for a pilot project, these are really interesting figures. There were several days with more than 4,000 trips. This made it possible to extend the season for many users. »
He believes that Bixi was wise to limit the number of stations and bicycles in circulation in order to be able to test the behavior of the bicycles and manage problems related to snow removal. “People have wanted a pilot project for a long time, but, in my opinion, the results are really good,” he adds. They didn’t have it easy with the big storms at the start of winter, but afterward, things settled down and the winter was very mild. I believe demand has exceeded supply. We heard many people say that they would have used the Bixi, but that there weren’t enough stations at their destination. »
This is also the main criticism of Martin Baron, a cyclist I met on the rue Rachel cycle path riding a Bixi. “Sometimes we had to move around a lot to find a station where to leave the Bixi. I hope that next year there will be more,” he said, while describing this first experience as positive.
At the start of winter, users complained about the accumulation of snow at the base of the terminals, which made it difficult to return the bicycles to the anchor points. Jean-François Rheault believes, however, that these problems were subsequently corrected, with the milder temperatures doing the rest. “But using a car in winter is more complicated than in summer. It’s a bit the same for self-service bikes. »
Other cyclists with whom The duty interviewed found that studded tires generally provided good grip. One of them indicated that he had to favor cycle paths for safety reasons. “Snow removal made traveling on the streets less safe,” said Thomas, who used Bixi daily. Some also mentioned the difficulty of adjusting the height of bicycle seats, the cold tending to make this operation laborious.
Bixi’s normal season will begin on April 15. On Wednesday, the City of Montreal announced the addition of 1,300 bicycles to its fleet and the purchase of 32 additional stations.