Well, well. It looks like Montreal is gradually becoming more bicycle-friendly, with a little technological help.
After years of municipal inaction, I was surprised to discover two new developments this year: safety pillars along several existing bike lanes in the West Island suburbs I grew up in (cars often park in or drive through these lanes), and a new dedicated bicycle lane that extends through the heart of downtown.
The next step appears to be the Public Bike System (PBS), a community bicycle system that will allow people to rent bikes for short trips within the city. It's similar to the city's existing Communauto and other communal-vehicle systems: rent a bike at any kiosk, and drop it off at any kiosk -- whatever's most convenient for you.
There are several problems that similar systems have faced, not the least of which is theft. The city is using technological tools to hopefully solve some of these problems.
PBS bike stations are designed to be easy to set up and largely self-maintaining. The stations are modular, providing the ability to quickly set up or disassemble a station, as well as easily expand or reduce the number of bicycles available. (In a city that has jam-packed with festivals during the summer and fall, and needs every square inch of space in the winter, this is important.) Solar panels provide power for the entire operation.
Bikes are equipped with RFID tags, so theft is (hopefully) deterred by wireless communications that allow administrators to track the location and condition of any bike at any time. This also makes it easier clients to find out how many bicycles are available at any station.
The pilot project starts this September, with 2,000 bikes expected to be rolled out by 2010. I expect there will be imperfections and growing pains, but if designing the system around RFID and solar technologies makes this system more workable than its predecessors, maybe we will be seeing more two-wheeled traffic around here.
[Thanks to Slashdot for the tip.]
