BIXI

The BIXI system was created entirely in Québec, starting from a clean sheet to respond to the needs and specific challenges posed by Montréal and its four seasons. After having traveled the globe to study the largest systems currently in service, a multidisciplinary team of experts from Montréal and the Saguenay managed to set up the first “fourth-generation” bike system in less than 18 months. A system on the cutting edge of technology, and the most flexible and environmentally-friendly one in the world.

Public bike systems…before BIXI

What characterizes third-generation systems in service elsewhere in the world is the fact that they are automated, able to accept payment by credit cards or subscriber passes, and their operations can be monitored and managed from a distance. Most, like Vélib' in Paris, require major excavation and other preparatory work for the site, permanently damage the urban landscape, disrupt people’s lives and create pollution during construction.

BIXI: the new generation

Montréal is the first city in the Americas to set up a large-scale public bike system. It’s also the first in the world with such a harsh winter to do so. To make this possible, BIXI’s designers had to invent an exceptionally sturdy system that was totally portable and required no permanent infrastructures. In addition to allowing system components to be removed during winter months without damaging the landscape, stations can be dropped off and

functioning in a matter of minutes. Which means, among other things, significant savings in terms of cost, time and resources.

The system incorporates the latest technologies and innovative features designed to reduce environmental impact to a minimum:

it was developed from a clean sheet
it is powered by solar energy to avoid emitting greenhouse gases and eliminate the need for non-renewable energy sources
it uses wireless RFID communications
it is completely modular, meaning that its components were designed to fit easily into one another (plug and play)
it requires no excavation or preparatory work.

Unequalled flexibility

The system is based on technical platforms that can be linked together. Electric and electronic circuits pass through them. All that needs to be done is to drop them off at a location, and slot pay terminals and bike docking points into them.

A single station take up approximately as much space as a parking spot, but the solar panels above the pay terminals are capable of providing energy to a station of virtually unlimited size in a variety of configurations – straight line, L-shaped, U-shaped or even circular – according to need.

The modularity and portability of the system make it easy to adjust the placement and size of stations according to usage patterns and even to set up temporary stations for special events.

The docking points come equipped with a BIXI-key reader, which allows subscribers to bypass the pay terminal and go directly to a docking point to take a bike. This means that multiple users can be serviced at the same time during rush hours without having to stand in line.

A remarkable design

BIXI was created from a clean sheet with the intention of marrying the practical with the aesthetic. World-renowned industrial designer Michel Dallaire was entrusted with the design of the physical components. Bike design elements are carried over to the technical platforms, bike docks and pay stations, with the intention of fitting in harmoniously with their urban environment. In cooperation with Saguenay-based manufacturer Cycles Devinci, the bikes were created to be easy to handle, with clean lines and a sleek look that in no way compromises their sturdiness and safety.

In addition to its aesthetic qualities, the unique design of the bike and a number of its components make it an unattractive target for thieves. What’s more, bikes and docking points are equipped with an exclusive anti-theft mechanism for which a patent is being sought.

A made-in-Montréal technology that has already proved its worth

The operating system software was developed by 8D Technologies based on the one that was created to support the Pay and Go parking system in Montréal. This system boasts a 99.7% success rate and won a major award from the International Parking Institute. Moreover, BIXI pay terminals will eventually be able to manage both bike and parking space rental.

Through BIXI’s wireless communications network, system managers can obtain real-time data on:

The number of docking points and bikes at a given station
The functional status of each bike, of all the solar panels and electronic components of the system
Traffic and usage patterns of stations and bikes
The location of every station and bikes in docking points throughout the system

BIXI distinguishes itself

Even before the system came into service, TIME magazine had already ranked BIXI 19^th on its list of the Best 50 Inventions of 2008, just behind the NASA’s Mars Mission Rover.

BIXI also won a coveted Gold Edison New Products Awards in the Energy & Sustainability category. This gold award placed it alongside noteworthy products and undertakings such as the MacBook Air, the iPhone, the WiiFit console, the Speedo competition swimsuit and Barack Obama’s election campaign.

No fewer than 7 patents were obtained during the development process: