Montreal launches bike sharing: Part bicycle, part taxi -- meet the Bixi

[MetroMPG]

The vehicles turning heads on Montreal streets these days aren't Ferraris or Porsches but solid, sensible bicycles that Mary Poppins would have been comfortable riding.

They're called Bixis, and as of this week they are marking the city's emergence as the North American pioneer in a bike-sharing movement that originated in Europe.

Read more: Part bicycle, part taxi -- meet the Bixi

[aerohead]

Glad to see "vision" somewhere.Wish we had some down here! Perhaps we'll see the self-administered head-slap one day,as the "light come on." Thanks Darin.

[trebuchet03]

I'm glad they're making you pay... Past programs (with a few exceptions) have failed when they were free.... When there's no money involved, people don't have a concept of ownership and become abusive.

I'm not saying it's the "right" price (look at rental cars :/) - but it's a start.

[MetroMPG]

I believe you can still use the bike for free for up to half an hour, but you have to put down collateral first: swipe a credit card before the bike will unlock for you.

That seems more sustainable than the "yellow bike" type programs where they were simply there for the taking. (And they were taken.)

[UfoTofU]

When I was in fifth grade, I was in a programme called Future Problem Solving so I see problems with sharing bikes in general