BIXI, a public bike-rental system, was launched in Montreal in May, 2009, with more than 3,000 bicycles available at 300 stations across the city.CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/Reuters
You work at Spadina and Bloor. Your meeting is in 15 minutes at King and Bay - barely a dozen traffic-choked blocks away.
You could take a cab. Or the subway.
Or, starting in May, 2011, you could swipe your credit card and borrow a bike.
After more than a year of discussion, Toronto is preparing to roll out a bike-sharing program that would put 1,000 two-wheeled public steeds on downtown streets.
An agreement going before the city's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee next week would see the city partner with the Public Bike System Co., the outfit behind Montreal's popular Bixi program, which has put 5,000 public bikes at the disposal of more than 10,000 users.
The idea has taken off in cities across Europe and North America after being popularized by Paris's Vélib program, which began in 2007, copied from a similar program in the tiny city of La Rochelle dating back to the 1970s.
In Toronto's case, the bikes will be specially designed to withstand abuse and suit riders of all sizes and styles - from briefcase-toting business types to tourists in skirts or shorts.
"You can't buy anything like this in the store," said cycling infrastructure and programs manager Daniel Egan. "It's designed to withstand any kind of abuse. It's got to be as little maintenance as possible. You could ride these in a dress if you wanted."
Although the city made clear its intention to start a bike-sharing program last year, the original start date of this summer had to be pushed back because the city wanted an arrangement with Public Bike System that didn't involve cash-strapped Toronto putting forward any funds itself: The current arrangement makes Toronto the company's guarantor. The company is also responsible for lining up $600,000 in sponsorships and signing up members in advance of next year's launch.
In other cases, such as Montreal and London, the city put up at least part of the funds to purchase the bikes.
"We're starting it in baby steps and … we want to make sure it stays no cost to taxpayers," said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker.
Yvonne Bambrick, executive director of the Toronto Cyclists Union, said this is one small step forward for a city trying to sell itself as both green and global.
"The idea of having a very accessible public biking system at least in downtown Toronto is a really important step in the right direction," she said, adding that she wishes the first stages of the project were more ambitious: The city had originally wanted to roll out 3,000 bikes at 300 stations, but opted for a more modest start.
Ms. Bambrick, who braves Queen Street streetcar tracks and utility cuts during her daily commute, hopes popularizing downtown cycling will also give the city added impetus to fix its bike infrastructure.
"Right now the east-west routes are pretty bad," she said. ".… Our roadways are not in great repair - they're not good for cyclists or drivers."