1,000 MEMBERS FOR THE TORONTO BIXI PROJECT! - ING Direct Canada and AutoShare
support the project

TORONTO, Oct. 19 /CNW Telbec/ - The 1,000-member objective required to implement a BIXI bike share system in Toronto in the spring of 2011, namely thanks to ING DIRECT Canada's support and to AutoShare, the first corporate citizen to acquire some one hundred annual subscriptions, was officially confirmed last night by Mr. Gian-Carlo Crivello, BIXI's business development director, during the 1, 000 Members' Celebration Event.

This objective was one of the prerequisites in implementing a system in the City of Toronto in May 2011, which will include 80 stations and 1,000 bikes. 'We're pleased to witness the strong interest of Torontonians for this ecological and affordable mode of transportation. Reaching our goal of 1,000 members less than three months following the start of the subscription campaign leads us to believe that Toronto will soon join the group of large metropolitan cities which have already opted for this solution, such as Washington, D.C. and London, England, as well as Australia's second largest city, Melbourne,' states Roger Plamondon, chairman of the board at BIXI.

Toronto organizations which support the project

BIXI is happy to rely on the support of Toronto organizations to help achieve this project, such as ING DIRECT Canada, BIXI-Toronto's partner. 'Public bike systems like BIXI can significantly reduce the cost of commuting and make a healthy impact on our cities and our lives', said Peter Aceto, President and CEO of ING DIRECT Canada. 'We are always excited to help Canadians save their money so being a part of bringing BIXI to the Toronto community is a great fit for ING DIRECT. '

AutoShare, Toronto's favourite alternative to owning a car, also purchased 100 annual subscriptions that pushed the program past its required launch number, and will be used to promote BIXI's service to its members. 'AutoShare is committed to building a more efficient and flexible transportation system in Toronto, so our support for BIXI is a natural fit. We hope to set an example for the business community, and we're proud to have contributed toward their 1,000-member goal by purchasing one hundred BIXI subscriptions,' declared Kevin McLaughlin, president of AutoShare.

Information
For further information on subscriptions, the program and the way in which your company can contribute to the project, visit toronto.bixi.com and access the 'Subscription' or 'Sponsorship' sections.

About BIXI Toronto
The BIXI service allows residents to take a bike from any station, ride it away and return it to any other station in the network. The bicycles are intended to be used for one-way trips of less than 30 minutes and can be picked up or dropped off at any station, 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. When the program begins, Torontonians and visitors will have access to 1,000 bicycles via 80 fully automated and conveniently located BIXI stations in the downtown area during the first year of operation. There will be potential to expand the system to other areas in the future. The program operates as an extension of the public transit system.

About BIXI
Other cities that have a BIXI public bicycle system include London (UK), Melbourne (Australia), Washington (D.C), Minneapolis (Minnesota), as well as a private campus. The first system was launched in Montreal, and since the BIXI public bike system opened in May 2009, it has been able to triple its membership numbers in a year's time.

- Honored with numerous awards
Last November, the management team behind the BIXI project earned gold at the Canadian Public Sector Leadership Awards and received the same honor from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. The system had already won considerable renown on the international stage, including placing 19^th in Time magazine's list of the best inventions of 2008, a Gold Edison New Products Award in the Energy and Sustainable Development category, along with a bronze from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in the Transportation category.

About ING DIRECT
ING DIRECT is Canada's leading DIRECT bank with over 1.7 million Clients and more than $29 billion in total assets. ING DIRECT gives the power of saving to all Canadians by offering high-value, simple products such as high interest savings accounts with no fees or service charges, and low rates on mortgages. Low cost, index based mutual funds are sold through ING DIRECT Funds Limited. ING DIRECT has been operating in Canada since 1997, and paid more than $4.5 billion in interest to Clients. ING DIRECT is open for banking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at ingdirect.ca, on mobile devices at m.ingdirect.ca or by calling 1-800 ING DIRECT (1-800-464-3473)

About AutoShare
Since 1998, AutoShare has provided 24/7 self-serve access to the greenest rental fleet in the city, and now serves over 10,000 individuals, families and businesses. For more information, please contact Kevin McLaughlin, President, 416.816.3037

For further information:

Source: Public Bike System Company

Bérengère Thériault
Public Bike System Company
Telephone: [phone] #2032
Cell: 514 497-9380