What do you get when you cross a taxi with a bike? A Bixi of course! Having already become an enormous success in Paris and Montreal, the wildly popular Bixi bike sharing program is finally coming to the States early next summer in Boston. Why Boston? The Bixi program was initially developed to cut down on city traffic congestion. If you’ve ever been to and driven in Boston, then you probably are already aware that it is one of most tightly packed and congested cities in the country. So it seems only natural that it be chosen as the trial city for the U.S.
Bikes As A Viable Hassle-Free Transportation Alternative
The Boston program, and its accompanying infrastructure, will closely resemble the Paris and Montreal programs which allow riders to pick up a bike from one of over 280 installed bike stations using a credit card or a Bixi-key (which is essentially a membership card). Similar to how Zipcar works (only with a bike instead of a car), riders can ride their borrowed bikes anywhere they like and then simply return them to a station closest to their final destination. The stations require no locks or locking done on the part of the rider and are designed for ease of use both in the borrowing and returning phase of the rental process.
The program is currently slated to be only in Boston proper at the moment, but there is talk of expanding the program to neighboring Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline in the near future. No firm numbers yet as to how much it will cost riders to use the bikes, but currently in the Montreal program people can pay either a $78 yearly fee for unlimited use or $5 per day. Both prices are extremely cheap when compared to how much it costs to operate and own a car; or even ride public transit.
The Good: A very successful, popular, and inexpensive public transit program that has zero-emissions and improves riders health.
The Bad: The program is only in Boston at the moment with no talks of expanding to other cities. Americans are not known for the propensity for exercise. Many Bostonians are upset that a Canadian company was selected to oversee and operate the program when there are many local bicycle manufacturers.
The Bottom-Line: Though the U.S. program is only in its fledging stage, Bixi could turn out to be a great alternative to single car driving, public transit and an ever increasing waistline.
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