Montreal BIXI Season Is Officially Over — Here's When You Can Ride Again
Time to renew your STM pass 🚇
A person riding a BIXI bike on rue Rachel. Right: BIXI bikes.
November 16 marked the first day of the post-BIXI Montreal season, as well as the first snowfall in Montreal. You might be wondering when your beloved bike-sharing system will be back, and why the city is taking it away from you in the first place — Here's everything you need to know.
When did the BIXI Montreal season end exactly?
It ended on November 15 at 23.59 p.m. BIXI posted about their successful season on socials, sharing that they reached over 50 million rides in 2022, as well as their partnership with MURAL festival street artists.
Why did it end now?
On Instagram, one Montrealer pointed to the fact that Toronto's bike-sharing system operates year-round, asking for the potential extension of BIXI season, especially ahead of a possible warmer-than-usual November.
The BIXI social media team replied that this "unfortunately" wasn't a possibility in 2022. "Station removal operations take several weeks and must be completed before the snow arrives," BIXI added.
Will BIXI be available in winter?
It's not impossible that we'll be gifted with a continuous bike-sharing system at some point in the future. Though it doesn't seem like there are firm plans so far.
Thériault told MTL Blog that while the expansion of the electric bike fleet has been the focus recently, "the possibility of offering the service 12 months a year is [...] one of the priority issues, and is part of the desire of the city and BIXI to offer an ever more accessible service for citizens."
When can you ride again?
You'll have to wait until April 15, 2023 (or a few days earlier, "weather permitting") for their return.
If you've been using the bike-sharing system to get around the city over the summer, you may now be resorting to your monthly STM pass. Waiting in bus lines outside in the cold? Ugh.
