Spring has sprung: Montreal releases its Bixis for 10th season

Montreal's popular bike-sharing service is launching its 10th season today,five days earlier than usual.

"We've had a harsh winter, to say the least but with Bixihere, we can say that spring is hereI hope,to stay, " Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante said at the launch this morning.

When Bixi first launched in 2009, the service had 3,000 bikes mainly located in the downtown core.

It's nowgrown to6,250 bikes and 540 stations spread across the city.

"Bixiis deeply rooted in the DNA of Montreal,"Plantesaid.

Free rides, new discounts this season

The Bixi model was founded in Montreal and has spread to several major metropolitan cities. It hasn't been all smooth sailing though.

Several years ago, Bixi filed for bankruptcy protection. In 2014, the city took over the service and overhauled the management structure.

More than 258,000 people used Bixisin 2017, representinga grand total of 4.8 million trips. It was a10 per cent jump over the 2016totals.The service started offering free rides on the last Sunday of the month, which contributed to those final numbers.

Free BixiSundays will return this summer, the organization confirmed, on the following dates:

• May 27.
• June 24.
• July 29.
• Aug. 26.
• Sept. 30.
• Oct. 28.

Bixi is also offering discounts to full-time students and seniors with photo Opus cards this year as well as a new10-trip package.