I work near the Avenue Road and Bloor intersection in
downtown Toronto. Many tourists visit that area. The Royal Ontario Museum and
'5th Avenue of Toronto' are located there, as well as the University of Toronto
and the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Nearby is a BIXI Bicycle Station with 20 bicycle slots. On a
daily basis I see tourists and others gravitating to the BIXI bikes. Obviously,
they see it as an easy way to take in the sights. The University campus
especially lends itself to bicycle tourism, as does the Kensington Market and
Queen St. West.
BIXI is an incredible idea. 'Bi' from bicycle and the 'xi'
of taxi is the etymology of the work. You can go anywhere in the Toronto core
from one BIXI station to another: get on at one point and leave the bicycle at
another, like a taxi (with exercise). It offers one great alternative to the
automobile and transit.
Established in 2011, BIXI has now become a part of Toronto's
downtown life and culture. It will be a sad day, if BIXI has to leave the city.
I, for one, don't want that to happen. We all benefit from having BIXI. Still
small in scale compared to other cities, it will take a while to build up the
momentum to become self-supporting. Until then and until more BIXI bikes are on
around the city, we need to lend them a hand. Get a BIXI key, it is the key to
the city.
We, as cyclists, all want to see the city benefit from the
real joy of riding a bicycle. Supporting BIXI is one great way to do this. To
express your support write to your councillor asking her or him to support BIXI
and bicycling in Toronto. Find where you live on this map and get in touch with your councillor.
Some additional information on public bike share programs
can be found here at the Bike-sharing world map. (impressive how it is taking
off around the world!)
Cheers!
Jack Howard
