bikesharing

BIXI Toronto is 300 short of the 1000 subscription target (getting there!) A bit more work needs to be done. A little bit more promotion can do some good, but we noticed there aren't a whole lot of videos showing the best of BIXI Toronto.

In order to encourage some better videos I Bike T.O. will give a $100 gift certificate (for a popular store still to be announced) to the person who makes the best video showing the best features of BIXI Toronto. The deadline is Wednesday, October 13 when we will decide the winner. Send links to your submissions through the contact form.

We will feature all videos on the site as they come in. We prefer that they be uploaded to Youtube, Vimeo, Blip.tv or similar services.

You might need to know where the next BIXI demos are going to be located. The demo locations and dates are listed on the BIXI Toronto page in Facebook as well as on BikeEvents.TO

Note that this is not an official BIXI Toronto contest, but just this blog's attempt to get better video.

Here's what's out there right now. Someone just posted this video that explains a bit of how BIXI works. I would have liked to see someone take the bike out and ride it and leave out all the bizarre transitions. Not bad, could be better.

Stencil and photo by Janet Bikegirl.

You have probably heard this already (especially on this blog): BIXI, the wildly popular bikesharing system (now in London, UK and Washington DC!), is coming to Toronto but only if 1000 people sign up for the year membership by the end of November. So far almost 600 people have signed up. Come out to this inaugural meeting for the "Help Promote BIXI Toronto Working Group", hosted by the Toronto Cyclists Union and myself. Show up with your thinking cap to the fourth floor of the Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Ave.

If you find bikesharing important for Toronto and looking for a way to help promote it, come out to the Help Promote BIXI Toronto Working Group. This is a citizens group that hopes to help the city promote membership.

In order to meet the goal, we (Toronto Cyclists Union members) feel the community will need to find a way to help promote it to their friends, family and colleagues. We will explore ways to get the message out and the best strategies for encouraging individuals and businesses to sign up.

BIXI Toronto memberships have reached 500 as of September 1st! This is a reason to celebrate! Why? Despite news reports suggesting this is a "lukewarm response", we are still nine months before the launch date and 3 months before the requirement to get 1000 memberships. They've also made the threshold high by only selling yearly memberships - the monthly memberships would have allowed many more people to dip their toes in the water before diving in.

City Hall made it quite difficult for bikesharing to get off the ground: they're providing no money to get it started, and even to get a loan guarantee (which only allows BIXI to get a better interest rate from private banks) City Hall made a number of harsh requirements. BIXI Toronto has reached the half-way mark after only one month out of 4 months.

With a bit perspective we can see that this is in fact remarkable that BIXI Toronto already has 500 members and over 1300 fans on the Facebook page. It's clearly popular. What other company selling a product requires that people purchase the product a year before it comes out? Only Apple fans would be crazy enough to do that.

ING Direct Canada's lion will appear on the BIXI Toronto bikes next spring, as they've signed on as the primary sponsor of the bikesharing program. Mayor Miller and Public Bike System Company reps announced ING this morning.

“Public bike systems like BIXI can significantly reduce the cost of commuting and make a healthy impact on our cities and our lives,” said Peter Aceto, President and CEO of ING DIRECT Canada. “We are always excited to help Canadians save their money so being a part of bringing BIXI to the Toronto community is a great fit for ING DIRECT.”

No word on what percentage of the sponsorship needed is being provided by ING, though I was assured it was a substantial proportion. BIXI Toronto is required to raise $600,000 for each of the next three years.

In related news, ING Direct has also sponsored the custom painted, Toronto Cyclists Union bike giveaway. Is it a coincidence that this Dutch company is supporting cycling in a big way?

From the Open FIle, here are seven things Torontonians need to know about BIXI and how it works in Montreal:

1. It's about frequent short trips, hence the pricing. Toronto fees are expected to be the same or similar to Montreal's, where subscriptions cost $78 for one year, $28 for one month and $5 for one day. After that, there are usage fees to consider. The first 30 minutes of every ride is free. After that, the next 30 minutes cost $1.50. The following half hour costs $3. And every subsequent half hour sets you back $6. But very few users ever reach that point. Bixi is not for sightseeing. It's for getting from Point A to Point B. A survey shows half of Montreal users jump on Bixis to get to and from work or school. Some are taking lunchtime jaunts or using Bixi to meet friends across town or as an alternative to the bus when they get off the subway.
2. You might not be able to return your bike at the first self-serve docking station you visit. It might be full. Don't panic. You'll be given 15 minutes of free time to reach another one. And stations are on average only 300 metres apart. A smart phone will help; you can check bike-dock availability online. In Montreal, this summer, some stations are filling up so quickly on weekday mornings that three "depot stations" were opened where commuters can hand bikes over to Bixi employees without the need to bother with a docking station.

Photo frrom lodoe-laura.

Pedestrian and blogTO writer, Annia, took the BIXI bikes for a spin last night at the BIXI Bash at Gladstone Hotel. As a person who doesn't cycle her perspective is interesting, because she is a representative user in the demographic that BIXI is targeting: those who don't bike but will start biking more regularly when it is dead simple.

My BIXI bike and I got off to a shaky start, which is a testament to how long it's been since I've mounted one of these things and not to the build quality of the bike itself, which I admit is rather sturdy. I bungee-strapped my bag onto the front rack, adjusted the seat to my desired (and very short) height and once I pushed off the curb, it all came back to me - just like... riding a bicycle. For someone who isn't familiar with the ins and outs of cycling, I can attest to how well the bike handled on the flooded potholes of Gladstone Avenue.

The word is that a lot of people feel the same about BIXI; over 100 people signed up for the membership just on the launch day. We're 1/10th of the way to meeting City Council's target.

“(City) council gave us the citizens a challenge: can we have 1,000 people subscribe by November?” said Sean Wheldrake, bicycle promotions coordinator at the City of Toronto.

Mayor Miller gave a congratulations to Michael Barry for reaching the Tour de France via a video on Veloo Media. (Congrats Michael! It's not often a Torontonian makes le Tour. Listen to his interview on CBC Radio)

And in a smooth segue (or at least as smooth Miller can do it) he pulls out his own competitive "touring" bike, the blue Bixi Toronto: a slick, aluminum, 3 speed bike with balloon, puncture-resistant tires, easy-adjust seat, bell and basket. What more could you want or need for $5 a day? And it's hopefully coming here in 2010.

Bixi has changed Montreal, according to the Gazette. Can it change Toronto?

And there is something about the Bixi - something that has captured the imagination, the hearts and the civic pride of Montrealers. And made the Bixi popular enough that it garnered more than one million rides in its first season and, within months of its launch, had been sold to at least four cities on three continents. Clearly, more cities are in the offing: the solar-powered, wireless modular Bixi system, with its stations that can be installed and removed relatively simply, just might be Montreal's best-known export these days.

"The Bixi was an instant success," said Manon Barbe, the city of Montreal executive committee member responsible for transportation. "There was the fact that it was developed here in Quebec, that the design was a Quebec design and that it used materials from here. That it created jobs here. ... It is an extraordinary Quebec success story. And the people who made it a success are the cyclists themselves."