Clearer directions to stations, multilingual instructions and more
It turns out that BIXI users have plenty of ideas on how the service can be improved. The researchers shared the two most common recommendations per category.
Tangibility: Users wanted clearer usage-time notifications during their rides and more information on nearby stations, including directions on getting there.
Reliability: There were concerns about the bike locks and available spaces at docking stations.
Responsiveness: The BIXI baskets could be bigger and closable from the top. Bike stations should also be in appropriate locations.
Assurance: Customers expected staff to respond to complaints immediately and be competent in their work.
Empathy: Customers would like to have personalized service and multilingual operating instructions.
Other suggestions included cup and phone holders, GPS systems, air pumps at docking stations, cleaning machines at stalls — especially relevant during a pandemic — and making membership cards available on the spot. Users also indicated they would like the bikes to be colourful and aesthetically pleasing, have big and bright headlights and increase usage time to one hour or more.
“Montrealers are heavily into bike-sharing, whether with BIXI or some of the other, newer services,” Awasthi says. “So, let’s use it more and make it more environmentally friendly. We can promote the use of bikes, whether they are private bikes, BIXIs, e-bikes or something else, and combine it with different modes of shared or public transportation.”
Read the cited paper: “Evaluating bikesharing service quality: a case study for BIXI, Montreal.”