Bike Share Toronto

Bike Share Toronto
Station on Temperance St at Cloud Gardens
Overview
Owner Toronto Parking Authority
Locale Toronto, Ontario
Transit type Bicycle sharing system
Number of stations 360
Annual ridership 1,510,802 (2017)[1]
Website www.bikesharetoronto.com
Operation
Began operation May 3, 2011 (as BIXI Toronto)
Operator(s) Shift Transit
Number of vehicles 3,750 bikes

Bike Share Toronto [2] is a bicycle sharing system located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Launched in 2011 by Public Bike System Company (PBSC, now PBSC Urban Solutions) under the BIXI brand, the system was taken over by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) in 2014. The system runs year-round and currently consists of 2,750 bicycles, 4,700 docking points, and 270 stations within the downtown Toronto area.[3][4]

As of August 2, 2017, Bike Share Toronto has almost 9,500 active members. Since 2011, riders have travelled a total of 16,847,127 km (10,468,319 mi). In 2016, riders took 830,000 rides on the system, and 1,510,802 in 2017.[5][1]

History

Bike Share Toronto launched in 2011 with 80 stations and 1,000 bicycles, as BIXI Toronto,[6] operated by the PBSC.[7]

In 2013, PBSC announced that it was unable to pay back a $3.9-million loan from the City of Toronto and filed for bankruptcy.[8] The City announced that they will cover the loan by diverting money from an automated public toilets program and took control of the bike share program.[9]

On April 1, 2014, the TPA took control of the bike share program, and renamed it to Bike Share Toronto. The new operator of the system was Alta Bicycle Share (now Motivate).[10]

A planned expansion of 22 stations for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games was abandoned. The original stations operated on software from 8D and hardware from PBSC. Now, both companies develop full stations, meaning that all existing stations would have to be replaced or retrofitted.[11]

The first expansion launched in June 2016, with $4.9 million in funding provided by Metrolinx[12] and $1.1 million in Section 37 funds.[13][14] The expansion added 120 stations and 1,000 bikes, for a total of 2,000 bicycles and 200 stations. The TPA chose PSBC as the supplier of the new bicycles and stations. As part of the agreement, PBSC would also retrofit the existing stations to be compatible with the new stations.[15]

On April 1, 2017, the TPA transitioned Bike Share Toronto operations to Shift Transit, a PBSC partner.[16][17]

A further expansion of the system took place in August 2017, with the system expanding to 270 stations, 2,750 bikes and 4,700 docks - with $4 million in expansion funding from the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto.[4] The August 2018 expansion expanded the station to 360 stations, 3,750 bikes, and 6,200 docks. [18]

Ridership

Year Ridership Source
2017 1,510,802 [1]
2016 834,235 [1]

Sponsorship and Promotions

TD logos on bike racks

A sponsorship deal was announced with TD Canada Trust in December 2014 to cover "all operating costs".[19] TD sponsorship advertisements started appearing at bike racks in 2015.

In June 2017, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced a Free Ride Wednesdays program which will enable anyone to use the bikes at no charge for up to 30 minutes on Wednesdays in July 2017: 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th.[20] There are no limits to the number of trips per day and charges will apply only if a trip exceeds 30 minutes.[21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bike Share Toronto [@BikeShareTO] (2018-01-03). "Happy New Year Toronto! We closed out 2017 with 1,510,802 rides, that's nearly double last year! Thank you for the continued support as we look forward to the year ahead! #BikeTO #RideToronto pic.twitter.com/JcsJSjaAAn" (Tweet). Retrieved 2018-01-13 – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Bixi Toronto Under New Management, Now Called "Bike Share Toronto"". Marketwired. March 31, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ Landau, Jack (June 17, 2016). "Major expansion of Bike Share Toronto Network Starting". urbantoronto.ca.
  4. 1 2 "Bike Share Toronto expansion gives Toronto residents 70 new bike stations". City of Toronto. August 2, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Bike Share Toronto expansion gives Toronto residents 70 new bike stations - Bike Share Toronto". Bike Share Toronto. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  6. ↑ "BIXI bike-sharing officially launches in Toronto". blogTO. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  7. ↑ "BIXI bike-sharing officially launches in Toronto". blogTO. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  8. ↑ Moore, Oliver (March 31, 2014). "Pricing favours repeat users under new Toronto bike-sharing program". The Globe and Mail.
  9. ↑ Alcoba, Natalie (December 5, 2013). "Bell Media saves Bixi bike program, kicks in $5-million to pay debt, expand". National Post. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Bixi Toronto Under New Management, Now Called "Bike Share Toronto" — Motivate". Motivate. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  11. ↑ Spurr, Ben (2015-06-03). "Bike Share won't expand in time for Pan Am Games". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  12. ↑ Kalinowski, Tess (July 6, 2015). "Bike Share Toronto to double with $4.9 million from Metrolinx". Toronto Star.
  13. ↑ Kalinowski, Tess (December 9, 2014). "Bike Share Toronto sponsor means 20 new stations next year". Toronto Star.
  14. ↑ Keenan, Edward (January 16, 2015). "Section 37 — What it is, and why everybody's fighting about it". Toronto Star.
  15. ↑ "1,000 new bikes and 120 new stations coming to Bike Share Toronto program". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  16. ↑ "Motivate and Toronto Parking Authority Announce Transition of Bike Share Toronto Operations — Motivate". Motivate. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  17. ↑ "BIKE SHARE TORONTO | SHIFT TRANSIT". shifttransit.net. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  18. ↑ "Bike Share Toronto 2018 Expansion - More bikes and new stations". Bike Share Toronto. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  19. ↑ "Toronto Bike Share gets new life with TD sponsorship". CBC News. December 9, 2014.
  20. ↑ Mezzanotte, Rita (June 23, 2017). "Mayor John Tory and Bike Share Toronto roll out Free Ride Wednesdays in July". bikesharetoronto.com.
  21. ↑ Rider, David (June 23, 2017). "Bike Share Toronto hits ridership record, offers free Wednesday rides in July". Toronto Star.

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