BIXI Montréal is kicking off a record-breaking 2022 season and is thrilled to be celebrating street art by partnering with the MURAL Festival, the 10th edition of which will be taking place from June 9to 19! For the occasion, BIXI will be unveiling 50 bikes that have been transformed into unique works of art by 5 Montreal artists to celebrate the 50 million BIXI trips taken since 2009. In total, that’s over 125 million kilometers that have been ridden on a BIXI over the course of the first 13 seasons.
Five of these collector BIXI bikes will be on display during the MURAL Festival, at the corner of Prince-Arthur and Saint-Laurent Streets. As for the other 45 unique collector bikes, they can be ridden in the city throughout the season, and BIXISTs will even be able to use them for the trips proposed by MURAL that highlight local art and culture. All the details are available on the BIXI Montréal website.
“BIXI Montréal is so excited to be participating in this colourful festival by encouraging local talent to share the excitement throughout the city streets! We would like to invite all Montrealers and visitors to come admire the exceptional work of five artists who have transformed 50 of our bikes, an initiative that shows that BIXI has an undeniable place in our hearts for the 14th year in a row,” said Pierre-Luc Marier, Integrated Marketing and Sales Manager at BIXI Montréal.
“BIXI Montréal has more than one reason to celebrate, as the milestone of 50 million BIXI trips has been surpassed. We are currently having an extraordinary kick off to the season with several new records being hit, in terms of both the number of monthly and daily trips being taken and the number of active members. We would like to invite the public to come celebrate with us at the MURAL Festival, where superb BIXI works of art will be on display, or to borrow one of these beautifully creative bikes designed by local talent during the 2022 season,” added Christian Vermette, CEO of BIXI Montréal.
THE BEGINNING OF A RECORD-BREAKING SEASON: A SPECTACULAR MONTH OF MAY!
BIXI Montréal had several record-breaking numbers at the beginning of the season this year, which are a testament to the immense success of the bike-sharing service. In May 2022, BIXI reached a new record number of monthly trips, nearly 1.3 million, which is a phenomenal increase of 92% compared to May last year.
Additionally, BIXI surpassed 50,000 trips a day for the first time ever and has already had two days with over 50,000 trips, as of May 31, 2022. A new record was hit in May, with over 53,180 trips in one single day.
As of May 31, 2022, the average number of daily BIXI trips has almost doubled, when compared to the same month in 2021. The average number of daily trips is 41,000, compared to 21,000 on the same date in 2021. The number of active members is over 56,000 for the month of May 2022, another sharp increase compared to 36,870 in May 2021.
IMPRESSIVE WORKS OF ART TO CELEBRATE THESE ACHIEVEMENTS
In 2008, the design of the BIXI bikes was the fruit of large-scale artistic labour. The designer, Michel Dallaire, imagined them in such a way that they would fit perfectly into the rest of the urban landscape, as objects of contemporary art. Wanting to put down even more roots in the city and place Montrealers at the heart of its initiatives, BIXI decided to partner with the MURAL Festival.
“We are extremely proud to be celebrating our 10th year with a partner like BIXI Montréal. With an emphasis on the international contemporary street art movement in the city, the MURAL Festival will be a unique opportunity this year for visitors and the international art community to discover BIXI’s major contribution to the Montreal landscape and the vitality of the city,” added Pierre-Alain Benoit, general manager of the MURAL Festival.
Among the 50 bikes celebrating 50 million BIXI trips, 5 have become true masterpieces. All the parts, from the pedals to the bell, contribute to giving the work of art life. While BIXISTs won’t be able to use them for their daily bike trips, they will forever represent Montreal’s connection to its artistic community. After being on display at the MURAL Festival, these bikes will be available to be loaned to galleries interested in featuring them.
It is worth mentioning that the 5 artists invited to transform 10 BIXI bikes each were chosen by BIXI Montréal and Mural completely neutrally and anonymously (without knowing who was behind each piece in advance). They were selected for the complementarity of their work in order to create a complete, accomplished, enhanced artistic offering.
THE 5 TALENTED ARTISTS BEHIND THESE COLLECTOR BIXI BIKES
Here are the 5 Montreal artists who were invited by both BIXI Montréal and the MURAL Festival to unleash their artistic genius onto the BIXI bikes. Each one was given the mission to design a collection of 10 bikes, including one masterpiece.
- Mono sourcil is a Montreal muralist. Other than street art, she also does painting, sculptures, installations and performing arts. She is known for her imaginary characters that decorate Montreal city streets.
- Chien Champion is a Montreal illustrator specialized in the creation of colourful universes. His imagination leads him to create fantasy-inspired living scenes. He describes himself as a spontaneous, curious artist that’s always on the move.
- Zephyr is a painter and designer originally from Toronto. His art reflects the urban environment around him. He uses techniques inspired by street art, such as airbrushing and the use of industrial materials.
- La Charbonne is a Montreal muralist, illustrator and designer. Inspired by the 90s, she creates a colourful visual universe with funky motifs and bubbly shapes. She shares her happy view of the world through her art.
- Aless MC is a multidisciplinary visual artist who does both murals and illustrations. She creates visual works of art by combining shapes, symbols and colours and using different creative techniques.
ABOUT BIXI MONTREAL
BIXI Montreal is a non-profit organization that was created by the City of Montreal to manage the city’s bike-sharing service. In 2022, the network will include 7,270 regular bikes and 2,395 electric bikes in Montreal, along with the cities of Westmount, Mount Royal, East Montreal, Longueuil and Laval. With 794 stations, including 184 electric stations, Montrealhas the largest fleet of electric bikes in Canada and one of the largest in North America. Electric BIXIs and mixed regular/electric BIXI stations are the product of Quebec expertise.
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