BIXI Bixi: from word bicycle and taxi is a public bicycle sharing system developed in Montreal, Canada. After the 2008 implementation of the system in Montreal, Bixi began expanding around the world. Bixi systems are now found in the cities of Boston, Chattanooga, London, Melbourne, Minneapolis, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York City, and the campuses of Washington State University and Blackberry. Bixi equipment in several US cities and Melbourne are operated by Alta Bicycle Share. In 2007, the city of Montreal published the "Reinvent Montreal" transportation plan, which featured a bike sharing system as a method of reducing automobile dependence. To design and operate the new system, the city created the Public Bike System Company, a private non-profit company overseen by Stationnement de Montréal known as the Public Bike System Company (PBSC), a private enterprise serving as the Montreal Parking authority. In May 2009, the system began operation in Montreal, with 3000 bicycles and 300 stations. From June to September 2009, the system was introduced in a pilot study in Ottawa/Gatineau. This was followed by operations in Melbourne, Australia from May 2010, Minneapolis (MN), in June 2010, and London in July 2010. Bixi launched on the Washington State University campus in August 2010, in Washington, D.C. & Arlington under the name "Capital Bikeshare" in September 2010, and in Boston under the name "Hubway" in July 2011. A complete station is made up of a pay station, bikes, and bike docks (where the bikes are housed), which are fitted into modular technical platforms that are powered by solar panels. These technical platforms are the base and electronic ports for pay stations and bike docks. Bike stations can be created, expanded, configured and removed in about half an hour, monitored by a real-time management system. Excavation or preparatory work is not required, enabling the installation of a bike station as an adjunct to on-street parking.