The second season of Montreal’s public bike sharing program is officially around the corner. Last week, the city announced it has begun installing Bixi stations across the island.
The service will be up and running by May 1 at the latest 8212; weather and street cleaning permitting, Bixi spokesperson Bérengère Thériault said.
The popular public bike system was launched in May 2009 and allows for anybody on the island to pick up a bike from one station, travel wherever they like, then return the bike to another station.
Last year, Stationnement de Montreal, the department that runs the program, began installing the stations May 1, and launched the system May 12 with 3,000 bikes available at 300 stations.
This year’s expanded network will see 400 stations installed in eight boroughs, with 5,000 bikes available 8212; similar numbers to what had been reached by the end of last season.
The public system was hugely popular last year, bringing in over 10,000 members and over 1 million rides.
Though no stations have been installed yet, there will be nine located in and around Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus.
But any students hoping to ride their Bixis to Loyola will be out of luck; the westernmost station will be located in Westmount on Sherbrooke St. West, between Victoria and Grosvenor Aves. Thériault hasn’t announced the pricing scheme for the 2010 season, but said the prices will not increase from last year, when a season pass cost $78, a month-long pass cost $28, and a day-long pass cost $5.
