The BIXI bike sharing program has become one of the most used bicycle sharing systems in the US & Canada. The Public Bike System Company (PBSC) launched BIXI in Montreal in May 2009, making it North America's first large-scale bike sharing system. In early 2014, the City of Montreal purchased the assets of PBSC and created the non-profit BIXI Montreal to handle operations.

The name BIXI is a contraction of the words "bicycle" and "taxi". It was created by Michel Gourdeau after a contest where Montrealers submitted 8,896 name ideas.