MONTREAL -- Bixi reported a new record for usage during its 2019 season, with more than 5.8 million trips made using the bike-sharing service, up eight per cent from the previous record set last year.
The increase continues an upward trend in Bixi usage; the service reports an 80-per-cent increase in usage over the past five years.
Bixi Montreal credits several developments for the spike in usage this season:
- the launch of E-Bixi, the electric Bixi bike
- 60 new Bixi stations
- 1,000 new Bixi bikes
- 2,625 new docking stations
- service expanded to six new boroughs (Anjou, Lachine, Montreal-Nord, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Saint-Laurent and Saint-Leonard)
Bixi is expecting even more growth in 2020, with new E-Bixis coming and newly signed agreements to provide the bike-sharing service in the cities of Laval and Town of Mount Royal).
The increase in Bixi usage in 2019 came despite increased competition from new ride-sharing services available in the city, including Uber's Jump bikes, Lime scooters and Bird scooters.
The service is also inviting people who want to get a jump on next season to sign up anytime in November for an early-bird rate: a one-year membership, with unlimited trips of 45 minutes or less, for $84.
