With nothing but pedal power needed, biking is the greenest
mode of transportation in big cities.
But what if you are only visiting the city center? Bike rentals have
been around for years, but recently, rentals are addressing the need for short,
intermittent bike trips. One of the leaders in this movement is BIXI.
Strategically placed throughout various major cities are
bike racks with a dozen or so bikes, locked in place. Using cash, credit cards
or your Bixi key, you can obtain a rental code that will unlock a bike waiting
near you.
When you are done riding, simply return the bike to the same or
another BIXI bike rack and your rental is complete. Need it later in the day to
get back to your hotel? Just repeat the
procedure and peddle back.
Watch the video to get a better idea of the system in
operation.
Presently, you’ll find BIXI bikes in Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa,
London, Minneapolis and Washington, DC. Many more cities are on the drawing board. The
bikes are available 24/7 from May to November. To make them even more
convenient for the users, there are a couple apps that will allow you to check
bikes before you even leave your door.
BIXOU and it’s little brother BIXOU LITE are indispensable
for hunting down a bike and figuring how long it will take to get you there.
Some of BIXOU’s features include:
- Real time information on the
status of all BIXI™ stations, including number of bikes and spaces.
- Distance and estimated
walk/cycle-time to any station, based on your current location.
- Integrated mapping: See
yourself and all surrounding stations on the map.
- View options: Visualize
stations in either Classic or Scaled mode
- Search function: Finds stations
by name and intersection.
- Favorites tab: Keeps your
bookmarked stations close at hand.
- iPod Touch compatibility: Get
real-time data over WiFi. Plus station data is saved locally so it can be
viewed later, even offline.
You can contact the app’s software developer at bixou.info@gmail.com or find the apps on
the Internet at the iTunes store. Contact Public Bike System at http://www.bixisystem.com/home for
more information on the Bixi system.
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