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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

steveintoronto said:
ADRM had previously written:

Elite | Define Elite at Dictionary.com
www.dictionary.com/browse/elite
(often used with a plural verb) the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.

For some odd reason, that appears very elite to me. Or niche. Just not average.
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Traveling is elitist? You're really going all over the place with the strangeness today, even for yourself. Wowza.

More importantly, the most revealing part of maybe any of your posts today is that you believe my travel habits have anything to do with this topic at all. Positively strange.

Give it up and get back on-topic, please.
 
From an Urban Toronto feature:
[...]
Compared to many other cities, Toronto's bike-sharing infrastructure and technology is relatively inefficient and expensive for both the city and the user, notwithstanding the number of bicycles and stations. Yet, to find an example of a more successful and popular system, we need not stoke our 'second-city' envy by looking to New York or Paris for inspiration. A surprisingly efficient and successful system can be found in a smaller city in our own region; Hamilton, Ontario.

Though Hamilton's SoBi system only launched a few months ago (March 20th), it already boasts more users (5,200 active as of early 2015) than Toronto's system, thanks in large part to its greater convenience and ease of use, together with lower maintenance costs, which pass savings along to the consumer. While Toronto's system features low-tech bicycles and high-tech parking stations, each of Hamilton's city bikes has its own GPS tracker and payment interface, meaning that using a bike does not involve paying at a central terminal. This seemingly small difference has several important benefits.

Firstly, the "unlock code" sent to a user's phone allows for a bike to be quickly rented, avoiding potential lineups at a separate terminal. Secondly, since each bike features its own GPS system and payment interface, the bicycles can be dropped off and picked up anywhere in the city centre, not just SoBi stations. This means that parked bikes can be found scattered throughout the city, with the GPS directing each user to the vehicle nearest to them. The location of bikes naturally gravitates to where demand is greatest, while the inbuilt GPS system forms an effective theft-protection measure.
[...]
http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2015/07/hamiltons-bikeshare-success-provides-lessons-toronto

That's a much more user-friendly model for many. I'd certainly be far more willing to try a Sobi. In fact I just might next visit to Hamilton and Dundas. Here's some more background on why the Sobi machine and model are considerably advanced: (I accessed the latest report I could find on this system to see whether 'docking at a station' is now required or not. Evidently not, which continues to make this far more flexible. Comment from Rejohn welcome. (Your posts appear in a number of articles on Sobi)
[...]
But by a happy accident, we managed to dodge that whole (Bixi) fiasco. Instead, the winning bid was from a young, small, high-growth company called Social Bicycles (SoBi), a New York-based tech startup dedicated to creating the next generation of bikeshare technology.

Unlike Bixi-style systems, where the technology to run the operation is embedded in expensive docking stations, SoBi bikes themselves include the hardware and software used to manage them - including GPS positioning so that the system always knows where every bike is at any moment. (It's thanks to this feature that I was recently able to analyze bike-share trip data to determine that most bike trips along the Cannon Street cycle track are short-distance and local.)

Because of the lower cost of the SoBi system compared to Bixi, we ended up getting more than twice as many bikes as the original RFP proposed: 750, with 115 stations in a 38 square kilometre area.

Council signed off on the contract in December 2013, and Hamilton Bike Share launched officially on March 15, 2015.

Since then, both membership and daily ridership have been growing by leaps and bounds. This summer it has had around 1,200 trips a day, and it has been used for commuting as well as various other short trips.

I think it's fair to say that the system is already succeeding far beyond even the most optimistic projections of its supporters. Even the detractors - who predicted that no one would use it and it would fail - have fallen silent. [...]
Click to expand...
https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/3056/hamilton_lucked_out_with_bike-share

Be sure to read the comments.

A sister article to above makes a profound point in a reader comment: (the math is arguable, although appears legit)
[...] Why not free bike share then? The cost to operate the entire (Hamilton) bike share system would be similar to the cost of operating a single HSR bus.[...]
Click to expand...
https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/2906/hamilton_bike_share_used_for_commuting

Serious food for thought for the hungry...
 
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steveintoronto said:
Firstly, the "unlock code" sent to a user's phone allows for a bike to be quickly rented, avoiding potential lineups at a separate terminal.
Click to expand...
Quoting articles that refer to Bike Share Toronto's functionality before they upgraded their terminals is no longer relevant. Bike Share Toronto has this functionality now as well.

One huge disadvantage of SoBi is that you get a maximum of an hour of riding time per day on their plan closest in price to Bike Share Toronto's annual membership. Also, I prefer the unlimited 30 minute trips model since I often end up riding more than an hour per day.
 
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LNahid2000 said:
Quoting articles that refer to Bike Share Toronto's functionality before they upgraded their terminals is no longer relevant.
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And how does these 'upgraded terminals' work now? The last article I quoted is less than six months old.

Edit to Add: I'm digging to find more on these "upgrades" (no luck so far) but I am seeing a mediocre (I'm being diplomatic) rating on Facebook. Now Facebook *truly* isn't my thing, or Twitter, (I left Facebook over half a decade back when they acted like Scientology, had to even access some special code to do it), but the Facebook page on it is not, err, 'gushing in enthusiasm' from the comments:
https://www.facebook.com/bikesharetoronto/reviews

Oh here we go on the "upgrades":
[...]
Paul Trz reviewed Bike Share Toronto — 2 star
June 28, 2016 ·
Service was great until they did their system wide "upgrades" the weekend of June 18-19th/ 2016. Ever since then, none of the stations have worked for me. Called their customer service - which is at another level of horrible service (i.e can't find my account, rude CSRs, phone calls being hung up on, etc.) - and all they could do is apologize and say that I needed to wait... Well I've waited enough, put in a formal request to be refunded my membership. All in all, BikeShare was good until they ruined it to try and make it better... Let's see if they actually refund me though, or else off to the credit card's complaints department I go...

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Comments

Bike Share Toronto Hello Paul, we are very sorry for the terrible experience you have had with our customer service representatives. Please send us an email to help@bikesharetoronto.com so I can make sure everything is resolved with your account.
July 19, 2016 at 10:56am
1932217_10102392006506862_1847023851_n.jpg

Antonio De Franco I've been having a similar experience since the "upgrades." Stations that don't work, bikes that are out of service, customer service reps that are not at all helpful, and just overall huge system reliability issues. This needs to be fixed.
July 27, 2016 at 7:55pm · Edited
15822707_10157960306455058_4606883168052879914_n.jpg

Susan Gapka I have had similar problems.
August 24, 2016 at 12:26am
[...]
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Finally found some tech details on the bike. No wonder I thought it heavy. It's 44 lbs!

1023-city-bixi-part2-gr.jpeg


http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...ke-sharing-fleet-still-needs-tune-ups-part-ii
 
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I was one of the most vocal on Facebook about how badly the implementation of the upgrade went, but now that it's done the system works better than ever. I don't know why you keep creating new topics everytime someone responds to you though. I feel we're about to go off topic again.
 
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LNahid2000 said:
I was one of the most vocal on Facebook about how badly the implementation of the upgrade went, but now that it's done the system works better than ever. I don't know why you keep creating new topics everytime someone responds to you though. I feel we're about to go off topic again.
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Then quote some references on the upgrades. It's been six months now, surely you can produce some? Do they produce a major change in just the per-existing software, or do they radically alter the overall operating model?

Here's the very latest post on Toronto Bike Share's Facebook page:
Dan Harrison reviewed Bike Share Toronto — 5 star
December 19, 2016 at 10:56am ·
So here's the thing with bike share: while the usage fees aren't always crystal clear (although that has gotten better), the fact remains that if you use it as intended - short, one-way trips - there's no better way to get around. The expansion has been fantastic despite some early technical troubles, but now works flawlessly. The integration with TransitApp is especially appreciated - no need to carry a key anymore!

True, you sometimes strike out and a station is empty when you need a bike, or full when you want to return one - but to me, that's a great sign as it means the system is being used. The more the system is used, the more it will expand, and the better it will get.

Be patient, read the fee schedule, and you'll love it. If you mis-read (or don't read) the fees and you take a bike for a day, you'll get burned.

As a side note, I've had nothing but fantastic experiences with Bike Share's customer service. The two times my key has had issues, the staff sent me a new one that arrived the next day, credited my membership with an extra week, and instructed me on how to get TransitApp installed and running. 5/5 for their service!
Click to expand...
https://www.facebook.com/bikesharetoronto/reviews

He's all gung-ho like yourself, but I read continued concerns in there. It still sounds problematic and potentially expensive to the uninitiated.
 
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steveintoronto said:
Then quote some references on the upgrades. It's been six months now, surely you can produce some? Do they produce a major change in just the per-existing software, or do they radically alter the overall operating model?
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Nah, I'm not the type to spend hours on Google or write essays just to win an argument.
 
Zach6668 said:
Not sure why Bikeshare being not for everybody means we should entirely write it off and dismiss it as being awful.

I love it. Thousands do too.

Driving isn't for everybody, but we somehow obsess over maintaining the status quo on that.
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As I've stated prior "every bit helps" with the number bikeshare increases on the road. It is far from the being the cause d'etre to increasing the massive increase in cycling numbers though.

That is down to cyclists feeling 'safe' on the roads. Or better still, beside them. Sherbourne lanes getting mention in the press lately as the better way of doing this if compromise is necessary.
UserNameToronto said:
Steveintoronto, we all understand that your Quality Machine is a better bike (as defined by you) than a Bixi or a beater
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What an odd comment, you're an odd person though. I've been discussing a "junker" as my way to deal with the winter. Your powers of comprehension are sadly lacking. You still don't understand what "quality" refers to, but then again, you don't seem to read many cycling blogs.
The definition of ride quality
In keeping with its elusive, even esoteric, nature, there is no clear definition for ride quality. The spectrum of opinion ranges from vague, artistic notions to precise engineering terms.

Ben Serotta is a well-known framebuilder with a long history in the bike industry that has worked with every frame material. Despite his experience, he believes there is an element to ride quality that continues to defy our understanding:
[...]
Click to expand...
https://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/the...tors-affect-ride-quality-and-what-even-is-it/

As to the "separate bike lanes" many are still a mess with the weather. The Toronto West Trail has only been cleared by usage and sunshine, still patches of ice to beware of.
 
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Dry and cold in the bike lanes this week! At least the lanes are clear, and I've had some company (1-2 other riders near me in the mornings and evenings).

Have we talked about the revised Gerrard bike lanes, especially the part between Sherbourne and Yonge? These lanes have been refurbished and are partly separated with planters and bollards. In the past few weeks, green paint has been applied as well. In some ways they feel more substantial than the Richmond/Adelaide temporary pilot lanes. I wonder, are there plans to extend the lanes east to the Don and/or west to University? Handily, Gerrard intersects with Sherbourne and Bay which are good north/south corridors for cyclists.
 
UserNameToronto said:
Dry and cold in the bike lanes this week! At least the lanes are clear, and I've had some company (1-2 other riders near me in the mornings and evenings).

Have we talked about the revised Gerrard bike lanes, especially the part between Sherbourne and Yonge? These lanes have been refurbished and are partly separated with planters and bollards. In the past few weeks, green paint has been applied as well. In some ways they feel more substantial than the Richmond/Adelaide temporary pilot lanes. I wonder, are there plans to extend the lanes east to the Don and/or west to University? Handily, Gerrard intersects with Sherbourne and Bay which are good north/south corridors for cyclists.
Click to expand...

I hadn't appreciated that there was now physical protection of some sort on Gerrard -- last I'd seen them (which was a few weeks ago), they were still naked. Across what stretch is there now physical protection?

This has been litigated on this thread before, but the lanes are also on the wrong side of the parked cars, for my desire.

Interesting you note Bay, though, as to me, it's one of the single worst route for cyclists in the city. That'd be somewhat mitigated, though, if the new Yonge St. design miraculously manages to produce physically-protected cycle infrastructure.
 
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