I took the Bixi plunge last night and my experience wasn't quite was I hoping for. Overall, I think the Bixi concept is awesome, a city-wide, public bike system. Walking around Old Montreal, I see stations and bikes everywhere and so I logically assumed that there would be plenty of stations the further west I ventured....

My "logical" assumption and first Bixi adventure, unfortunately, went something like this:

1. Running late for a dinner date about 15 blocks away (a bit too far to walk but close enough to feel guilty taking a cab).

2. See a Bixi station on the first corner I pass - PERFECT!

3. Whip out credit card and try and rent a bike. Wow, touch screen on the Bixi stations needs some work. I finally luck my way through the steps and I select my bike. 

4. Smooth sailing....

5. Pass two other Bixi stations shortly after picking up my bike, surely there will be an empty slot when I reach my destination....

6. Arrive on time for my date! Hooray for Bixi!

7. Look for Bixi "docking" station. Hmmm, not where I thought it might be. Not a problem though, iPhone to the rescue...

8. Load up the "optimized for your mobile browser"  station map on my phone and wait forever for it to load. Try and move the map around to find the nearest station. Wait another few minutes for the map to load. Become late for my date. Finally realize that there really isn't a station nearby. Argh!

9. Decide to double back and leave the Bixi at one of the stations I passed along the way. Arrive at the first station - which now has no empty slots. On to the next...

10. Full as well. On to the next....

11. Back at my original location, but now really, really late.

12. Dock the Bixi and hop into a cab...

All in all, it was actually a pretty amusing situation. The bikes are really comfortable and are a great alternative to get around the city. I'll just be sure to do my station research before my next departure! It really is a shame that the powers that be at Bixi decided to play hardball with the team that wrote a free iPhone Bixi app. A station locator app that would leverage the built-in location services in the iPhone to display the nearest Bixi station would be a really boost to the program. That and a touch screen on the station that actually works!

In the end it comes down to details (doesn't it always). I wonder how many customer service calls they are fielding right now, I can only guess that it's A LOT. A printed map on the stations and more intuitive, reactive touch screen would go a long way in rounding out the experience. 

I'd love to hear about your first Bixi experience, be it positive or negative.

[UPDATE]

I tried out the new iBixi iPhone app and it worked great. I was able to quickly locate the nearest Bixi station. It even gave me turn-by-turn directions to get there. A version 2 of the app is pending Apple's approval and should be released soon. I also received my Bixi-KEY in the mail and I no longer have to deal with the hit or miss touch screens (some work great, others simply refuse to acknowledge inputs). The Bixi-KEY + iBixi combination now have me pretty much hooked on the service!

Bryan Mahoney - Bryan is Dynamo's Director of Technology, continually breaking new ground evaluating, developing and guiding our sites and webapps, & a pillar in Dynamo's client service front. Co-author of 2 early books on the integration of ColdFusion and Flash, he is an expert in database driven content management and design. Bryan now principally rides Ruby on Rails.