When Gérald Tremblay, the mayor of Montreal, inaugurated North America's first large-scale bicycle-sharing system on Tuesday, an uncooperative microphone forced him to shout to the crowd in front of city hall.
Fortunately, the computer-chip based, solar-powered, WiFi-enabled base station that's the heart of the Bixi system worked flawlessly when Mr. Tremblay set off on a ceremonial first ride.
As explained at the Web site of the city's parking authority, which oversees the program, it works like this:
Bixi is nothing if not ambitious. The service is starting out with 3,000 of the specially designed bicycles distributed among 300 closely-spaced stations in its downtown core. But while it was directly inspired by Vélib, the service that started in Lyon, France, before moving to Paris, Bixi differs in many respects.
Chief among them was a decision by the city to run the system itself, rather than use an outside operator, and to fund it with fees from users rather than relying on advertising. André Lavallée, the municipal politician who championed the Bixi, said that the advertising opportunities are more limited in Montreal, while city ownership allowed greater coordination with the city's bus and subway system.
It was at Mr. Lavallée's suggestion that the development and operation of Bixi be turned over to the city's parking authority. While that seems an unlikely choice, he reasoned that it already has the real estate and the infrastructure needed for a bicycle-sharing system. And while no politician mentioned it, others involved in developing Bixi said that the semi-autonomous parking authority, Stationnement de Montreal, is also less bureaucratic than other city departments.
Michel Dallaire, the industrial designer whose firm developed both the bicycles and the base stations, chose solar power primarily for logistical, rather than environmental, reasons. Because the base stations do not need any electrical connections, they can be dropped anywhere without any preparatory work.
That will allow the city to easily remove them each fall when Bixi goes into winter hibernation. And as demand patterns become more apparent, the city can easily adjust the size and location of base stations.
European systems, Mr. Dallaire noted, usually rely on clamping the bicycles by their front forks. That can lead to wheel damage. In contrast, Bixi bicycles slot and lock into their stations through a triangular tab at the front.
Users release them in one of two ways. An annual subscription for 78 Canadian dollars — half price for transit-pass holders — buys a chip-encoded plastic fob. Day users can pay 5 Canadian dollars (a little over $4) by credit card at the base station for a day pass. Like a rental car company, the base station puts a 250 Canadian dollar security hold (roughly $216) on day users' credit cards.
The fees charged after that are intended to encourage rapid turnover. The first half hour is free. The second half hour is 1.50 Canadian dollars ($1.30). After two hours, the 30-minute rate soars to 6.00 Canadian dollars ($5.18).
While the frames are aluminum (and they are sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan, a major aluminum maker), they are mainly designed to minimize damage from vandals, to thwart parts thieves and to keep rolling with the minimum of maintenance rather than for lightness or speed.
That being said, the bikes are quite well equipped and include fenders (complete with a skirt guard), a chain guard to keep pants separated from the chain, LED headlights and taillights (powered by a front hub dynamo), a three-speed hub gear, effective drum brakes, a sturdy kickstand and a bell.
"We needed it to be physically robust and visually robust so people would have confidence," said. Mr. Dallaire.
Most of the drive train is stock Shimano Nexus equipment. Mr. Dallaire added a chain tensioner after learning that slack chains are a major cause of breakdowns in Paris.
On a test ride, I found the bike to be stable and comfortable. The three gears, while widely spaced, included one low enough for climbing roads running up the extinct volcano which forms the island of Montreal.
My only complaint was the relative smallness of the front carrier. But Mr. Dallaire said that anything larger would only encourage some riders to abuse it by carrying a passenger.
Montreal spent 15 million Canadian dollars (about $13 million) to develop and start the system, although it is budgeted to ultimately become financially self-sufficient. But Montreal has received seven patents for Bixi and Mr. Lavallée hopes to sell it to other North American cities.
"We developed this product for Montreal," he said. "But we were very convinced that it's good for any city."
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