BIXI Montréal shines at the Annual Conference of the North American Bikeshare Association and introduces a new kind of intelligent station Français
MONTREAL, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, BIXI Montréal welcomed participants attending the 4th Annual Conference of the North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA), which is taking place in Montreal, to a tour of its facilities. The purpose of the tour was to showcase the intelligence of BIXI's operating system, developed over the last nine years. BIXI Montréal also unveiled the brand new smart station that makes it possible to double the number of bicycles, along with the new two-stage trailer that will be used to transport bikes between stations more smoothly and efficiently.
On the eve of its 10th anniversary, and as the third-largest bike-sharing service in North America, BIXI Montréal was very proud to host representatives from some 50 organizations, cities and suppliers, all members of NABSA. Several NABSA members remarked on BIXI Montréal's outstanding expertise and were impressed by the quality of operations and the growth in ridership achieved in Montreal since 2014. As Aref Salem, the City of Montreal's Executive Committee member responsible for transportation said during a speech this week at the NABSA conference, "BIXI quickly became the international benchmark for self-service bicycles and is clearly one of the movements' leaders in North America."
Christian Vermette, General Manager of BIXI Montréal, noted that "In recent years, BIXI Montréal has become one of the world's most efficient managers of bike-sharing systems, both operationally and logistically. Our expertise has been an inspiration to a number of operators from other cities in the implementation of their own bike-sharing service."
To date, in 2017, BIXI Montréal has posted exceptional figures for number of trips, kilometres traveled and number of different customers. This is primarily due to putting 1000 new bikes into circulation and the various promotional campaigns: free Sundays courtesy of Manulife, and the 375 bicycles specially painted for the 375th anniversary of the City of Montreal –which have been wildly successful.
New features in 2017-2018
The new bike station introduced to NABSA members during today's tour will be deployed on the streets of Montreal next summer. The unique features of this station, developed jointly with the firm PBSC, include double the anchor points of the current stations, new BIXI signage, and the latest payment technology (the OPUS card, which is also used by the public transit system). The first of these new stations will be installed next spring at locations where demand is particularly strong, nearby some metro stations.
NABSA members were also shown the new double-capacity trailer, which holds 80 bikes instead of 40. This will speed up the daily transfer of bicycles from one station to another by BIXI Montréal's teams, and reduce travel and turnaround times. This trailer has recently been put into service on the streets of Montreal. It is also used at major events in Montreal or for promotional activities. The new trailer, which was specially created for the needs of
BIXI Montréal, was designed by the Beauce company Precisions Provençal.
About BIXI Montréal
BIXI-Montréal is a non-profit organization created by the Ville de Montréal to manage the bike-sharing system in Montreal. The network has 6,250 bikes and 540 stations in Montreal, Longueuil and Westmount.
About Manulife, BIXI Montréal's main partner
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. It operates as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. The Corporation provides financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2016, it had approximately 35,000 employees, 70,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving more than 22 million customers. As of June 30, 2017, Manulife Financial had over $1 trillion (US$780 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months it made $26.7 billion in payments to its customers. Its principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where the company has served customers for more than 100 years. With global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.
About NABSA
The North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA) brings together the most knowledgeable and experienced individuals and organizations in the industry to support, promote and enhance bikeshare across North America. NABSA is the bikeshare industry's only membership organization with representation from system owners, operators, host cities, equipment manufacturers and technology providers.
The North American Bikeshare Association, NABSA, was incorporated as a Non-Profit Corporation on April 15, 2014. The specific purposes and objectives of the Corporation include, but are not limited to: (a) providing support and representation for the community of public and nonprofit owners/operators of bike sharing systems; (b) accelerating the inclusion and growth of bike-sharing systems in transportation networks and enhancing their performance across North America; (c) benefitting the common good through bike-sharing systems that improve public health, quality of life, place-building, economic vitality, the local environment and the global climate; and (d) creating a forum for the public sector, nonprofit sector and private sector to collaborate to grow participation and improve bike-sharing service.
SOURCE Bixi Montréal
Pierre Parent, BIXI, 514-865-8207
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