Bikes everywhere. This is like Amsterdam, Paris, or Copenhagen. In the city there are bikeways, I'll call them, paralleling the portion of the street allowing motorized vehicles, which I'll call motorways (not to be confused with the British use of that term). The bikeways are separated by physical barrier from the motorways, except at intersectons, where all ways (Pedestrian, Bike, Motor) blend to negotiate the individual needs of the traveller. The intersections are well designed and the users educated, so that conflicts of direction and purpose arise rarely and resolve quickly. (See "delayed turn" below.) There is general respect among the user categories (walkers, bikers, drivers). Motorists typically accept they are dangerous to the other participants and yield accordingly. And bikers in turn show deference and respect to the walkers. But nobody has patience for the slow and confused tourist - they are on business, what do these gawkers think happens in a city on a weekday? I was passed abruptly and somewhat rudely only by other cyclists, likely showing disdain for the tourist clogging their bikeway for a purpose less worthy than their work-a-day transportation. I didn't mind. I knew they were right and entitled to be proud of their city.
My impression of motorists: resigned tolerance. Not even Pepe' LePew could fail to preceive that if these bikers were all in cars, nobody would be getting anywhere. The motorist is forced by simple and un-ignorable logic to be thankful for so many cyclists.
Not every urban street has the seperated bikeways and pedways. Of course, bikers and walkers are allowed there too, but you are expected to be competent: silly inattention or otherwise failing to get on with business will not get you run over, but it will get you a well-deserved horn and a "come ON" look: Please, the multiuse roadway is for going somewhere efficiently.
Sightings
- Cyclist with kayak on trailer, heading for the St Lawrence.
- Group of Hasidic Jews in a rented peddle car, racing a pigeon. Though each of the seven peddled furiously, the pigeon won.
- The best-designed bike trailer I've ever seen for goods transport: very light weight, but with about 3x10 feet of flatbed load surface and considerable structural strength engineered using lightweight struts.
- About 30% helmet use - better than evident in videos of Europe, but less than in the US.
Using the Bixis
The term bixi is from bike + taxi. Three thousand bixis are in three hundred stations all around and in the city. The stations lock the bikes by the front wheel. To rent:
- Insert credit card (no cash), agree to contract, and get an unlock number (valid for 2 minutes).
- Use the unlock number to unlock a bike.
- Ride.
Cost: There is a one-time fee of $5.00 (per 24 hours), plus: first 30 minutes: free, second 30 minutes: $1.50, 3rd: $1.50, fourth or more $6.00. (This may not be quite correct, but my best interpretation of the French iconography.) But you can park the bike in any empty slot anywhere in town and the clock stops. (I'm pretty sure it starts over for the next session within that 24 hour period.) The next time within the 24 hour period, just insert the same credit card, get an unlock number, remove a bike, and go again. The $5.00 daily charge is not repeated. It appears that if you keep the sessions under 30 minutes you ride free for 24 hours, once the $5.00 is paid. I will know for sure when I get my mastercard bill.
The whole thing is designed to allow you to do about the city and not have to worry about your bike at all. When you want to take a break or walk about, just put the bike in a stand. When ready to ride again, get another one out.
All the bikes are identical, with calibrated adjustable seatposts so you can quickly set it up for your needs. The ride position is decidedly upright. There are three gears, selected with a grip-shift-like device and interval hub transmission. The low gear will get you up any of Montreal's hills with ease, and the high is good for decent speed on flats. Speaking of flats, the tires are robust and fat, but still presumably flattable. I suppose you just insert the flatted bike and get another. I don't know how to let the service crew know about it, though.
There's a staff of bike service people who maintain the bikes. (Hey, wrenches - ever dream of a bike job with health care and retirement benefits? Apply to City of Montreal.) Each bike has a GPS chip embedded in a secret location, in case you were to forget to return it. Plus, your credit card is on file. Kind of like car rental, more trouble to steal than it's worth.
The bixi is quite rideable for business or tourism activity. Beats the hell out of walking or driving.Delayed Turn
One innovation in traffic engineering is the delayed turn for motorists. First of all, there's no turn on red, period. And there is a delay in permitted turns, controlled by a forward-only green arrow that becomes open green after about 5 seconds. This is a very subtle innovation. It gives the bikers and walkers a jump on the green before anyone is allowed to turn into their path. It really works well, and goes a long way toward preventing the right-turning motorist x straight-ahead cyclist/pedestrian conflict.
