Bixi reports record-setting year as bike-sharing season comes to a close

As theBixi season comes to a close, the ride-sharing service is reporting a record-high number of trips in 2017.

More than 258,000 used Bixisthis year, for a grand total of 4.8 million trips. Those figures representa 10 per cent jump over last year's totals, the non-profit organization said Wednesday. Free rides on Sundays helped contribute to that total.

"The 2017 Bixiseason wasexceptional, as more people than ever have been able to take advantage of the service," Marie Elaine Farley, the president of Bixi, said in a statement.

• Bixi riders can now use OPUS cards to pay for rides

Bixi officially shuts down for the season atmidnight.

Removing the stations takes a few weeks and the bike-sharing service shuts down every year on Nov. 15 in order to avoid scrambling to deal with an early snowfall.

Bixi expanded this year,with 1,000 more bikes and 80 more docking stations. The number of new Bixi users was up 35 per cent as of June 2017, compared to the same date one year ago.

The City of Montreal announced a $10 million commitment to Bixiin 2016, some of which went toward buying additional bikes and upgrading the docking stations in order to accept the STM's OPUS card.