BIXI Bikes, Merci Montreal

Rene Levesque fought with American troops across France during the Second World War not with a weapon but with a microphone.  He was a war correspondent sending detailed reports of combat back to radio listeners in the US and his native Canada.  Levesque was one of the first North Americans to enter the Dachau concentration camp.  Following the war he returned to his native Quebec to continue his journalism career.  Later he jumped into politics and was one of the first Canadians to push for Quebec independence.  Throughout the province streets and boulevards bear his name.  In Montreal Rene Levesque Park is a top destination for locals and tourists.  It is just one of 17 urban parks in Montreal.

Rene Levesque Boulevard is considered one of the top addresses in downtown Montreal.  The grand avenue is home to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Mary--Queen of the World Cathedral, and the Central Station.  Shiny glass high-rises take to the air on the boulevard.  Rene Levesque Park is 35 acres of tranquility just off the St. Lawrence River and Lachine Canal.  It is particularly noteworthy for the 22 very large sculptures that stand throughout the park.  The sculptures are best viewed from the park's Lachine Bike Path.

Montreal was recently named one of the top ten cities in the world by the website lonelyplanet.com.  The city has also been called the happiest (2010) and hippest city (2011) in the world.  Montreal will be on the silver screen this summer as the locale for a new Stephen Spielberg movie.  Time magazine and the New York Times named Montreal one of the top bicycling cities on the globe.  Time ranked Montreal third just after San Francisco and Chicago (at 1 and 2 respectively) due in part to the 22 mile route of the St. Lawrence and Lachine Loop which takes riders past some stunning water views and all of that great sculpture and outdoor art.  

Downtown Montreal is noted for its BIXI system.  Combine the words bicycling with taxi and you get BIXI.   It is a public bicycle sharing program made popular in Paris and Lyon.  It first came to North America in 2009 with Montreal making 3,000 bikes available at 300 stations spread throughout the city.  Last year the fleet grew to 5,000 bikes and the city added another 100 stations.  The stations (pictured) are set up to be self-serve, just pay with a credit card (about $7 a day).  You are given a key to unlock your bike and an access number to keep tabs on your rental.  In most big cities with automobile congestion creating smoky crawls the quickest way from point A to point B is on a bike.  Bikes also provide an excellent mode for touring.  Montreal has an online BIXI presence with maps and real time availability of bikes at each station.  

We have a video of Toronto's new BIXI program at our website www.stickybottleteam.net.