Bixi faces deficit in a low summer
Even though reports suggest more people have been walking and cycling this summer from a wish to avoid public transit, Bixi is facing a deficit because people have fewer places they need to go, and there have been no tourists.
steph 10:19 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
Is Bixi cleaning all the bikes between usage?
Kate 11:30 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
Going by this page it looks like they’re depending on users to sanitize them. To be fair, I don’t think they can be expected to place someone at every Bixi station to clean the returned bikes.
DeWolf 12:24 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
I have seen Bixi workers scrubbing the stations clean on several occasions, which I had never seen before this summer. But the risk of infection from a shared bike that lives outdoors seems infinitesimally low.
My bike has been in the shop for a month now (Covid production/shipping delays mean specialized parts are hard to get) so I’ve been using Bixi every day. I wash my hands with sanitizer after every ride and don’t really worry about it otherwise.
Ian 12:48 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
Between people working from home and there being no tourists I’m not surprised nobody’s renting bikes. The vast majority of people that ride bikes regularly have one.
Kate 13:23 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
Ian, I know someone who rides regularly, and always a Bixi. If she ever gets aboard a regular bike weighing half what a Bixi does, she will have a surprise.
Blork 15:56 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
Ian, not necessarily. In theory, the beauty of Bixi is that it lets you ride around and do your commute and basic shopping by bike but you don’t have the bother of needing a place to store your own bike or of having to lug it up and down two flights of steps every time you go for a ride.
That said, cycling enthusiasts will have their own bikes for sure, but if you live near a Bixi station and work near a Bixi station, and otherwise don’t care about biking, it frees you from all that. Also, you don’t need to have a place to lock your bike at work, and you never end up having to deal with your bike when your plans change, such as when you decide to go out for drinks after work instead of going straight home.
DeWolf 17:19 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
Exactly. I own two bikes but I still use Bixi all the time because I like the freedom of being able to mix cycling with walking – or even driving, thanks to Communauto.
DeWolf 17:21 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
I would have added metro/bus but I haven’t taken public transit since March, although I’d be more comfortable with it now that masks are required. In the “before days” there were times when I’d take four different methods of transport (Bixi, walking, metro, Communauto) in a single day.
Dhomas 19:02 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
When I used to use Bixi more often, the most useful use case to me was that I was not obliged to take a Bixi home if I took one to work and vice versa. If throughout my workday, it began to rain, for example, I didn’t have to bike back home in the rain. I could just take the metro home.
Ian 19:50 on 2020-08-09 Permalink
I did say the vast majority – of course there are always edge cases. That said I admit that when I used to work at Square Victoria I noticed that a lot of people that biked in did take Bixis, mostly because there was nowhere they could lock their bikes up. Also, it is kind of awesome being able to ride a Bixi downhill all the way and not have to bike back up.