BIXI bike program needs 1,000 memberships before starting up

Toronto is gearing up to start a service that would bring another travel option to downtown, the BIXI bicycle.

The Montreal company behind BIXI wants pledges for 1,000 memberships by Nov. 30 before ordering bicycles and installing 80 electronic docking stations for a launch next year.

A Wednesday, July 28, night showcase for BIXI at the Gladstone Hotel enticed more than 100 cyclists to sign up.

"We're more than a tenth of the way there in one day," said Daniel Egan, the city's pedestrian and cycling infrastructure manager.

City councillors earlier this year approved financing for 1,000 bicycles - the minimum thought needed for a successful launch. Montreal started with 2,400 BIXI bikes and now has twice that number on its roads.

But unlike Montreal, which has colder, snowier winters, Toronto would have a BIXI service running all year. Its docking stations would not be more than 300 metres apart, Egan said.

"It has to be incredibly convenient to be effective."

Those tempted by a BIXI could choose between the $95 membership or a $5 credit charge for each use, but the service is meant for trips of 30 minutes or less. There are extra charges after a half-hour and Egan said anyone who wants a bicycle for half a day should rent it from a store.

The Gladstone on Queen Street West was a convenient place for a party Wednesday but it's beyond the short downtown range BIXI would have - south of Bloor Street between Spadina Road and Jarvis Street - until it finds the money to expand.

Though Torontonians may remember BikeShare, another service which at one time had 400 members, 150 bikes and a network of hubs, Egan said BikeShare (which sold memberships from 2001 until 2006 for $30 to $75, or in some cases, hours of community service) was a social equity project to make bicycles affordable, while BIXI "is more of a public transit system."

BIXI stations know where and when a bike is returned and can signal when a bike needs repairs, said Egan, adding the sturdy bicycle's pedal-powered lights are always on and "every component is designed to be vandal-proof."