Toronto Bike Share

[kotsy]

I did a follow-up investigation regarding the above story. Something bugged me a lot from that frosty winter morning. The issue of Ghost Bike Share Stations (or so I thought).

You see, as I exited the Exhibition GO station that morning, I looked up the nearest Bike Share station and I was pleasantly treated by the app showing there were plenty of bikes at a station that was right there at the exit. More precisely on the south-west corner of Manitoba Dr. & Nova Scotia Ave.
View attachment 731248


To my dismay, not only did I not find any available bikes there, there was no station at all! I looked around for a bit, there was no station to be seen anywhere in the vicinity. I shrugged and went to the next station on the map (near Hotel X). Luckily, the station was indeed there and had a couple of bikes.

Ever since then, it really bugged me. Was the station on the corner of Manitoba/Nova Scotia completely covered by a giant pile of snow that morning? Did they remove it for the winter and didn't update the map? Was I blind??

This morning I swung by that location. I needed to have my questions answered. The snow banks along the road are gone, but the station is still nowhere to be found, yet still on the map!
View attachment 731249

Once again, from ^this vantage point at the exit of the Exhibition GO, I looked all the way around and there were no Bike Share stations in sight. Not on the southwest corner, nowhere around that intersection.

"I have discovered a ghost station" I thought to myself, pleased with the results of my investigation.

As I set off eastwards along Manitoba Dr, I had my hypothesis shattered soon enough. I found the missing Bike Share station, hidden under a canopy, tucked behind a bend in a fence, invisible from the intersection it was mapped to:

View attachment 731251

All this to say is that in this particular case, the station is so sloppily mipmapped, I genuinely couldn't find it twice(!) before finally accidentally stumbling upon it. Here is it's actual location (note that Google Maps also has it mismapped):

View attachment 731252


I'm sure this will create absolutely no issues whatsoever for World Cup tourists, given it is literally the closest station to BMO Field...

Goddamn, sorry to hear about that confusion & inconvenience! You should reach out to bike share to get this rectified if you haven't already. I use this station often and have never noticed it's misplacement on the map because I've always known where it is so I never zoom all the way in when checking it's bike/dock status.

World Cup is gonna have valet stations for surzies. Dozens and dozens of bikes piled up. You won't be able to miss them.

The question is - where will the bike share station be? I'm wiling to bet this one is moved out of the area like during the CNE because we've already seen that not even TTC streetcars will be allowed into Ex Place on game days. I wouldn't be surprised if the closest stations are Princes's Gates and the one at Dufferin Gate.

On another topic, I've noticed that stations are now getting their docks numbered, which makes it easier to report docks that you can't dock your bike into.

 

[txlseries4]

I did a follow-up investigation regarding the above story. Something bugged me a lot from that frosty winter morning. The issue of Ghost Bike Share Stations (or so I thought).

You see, as I exited the Exhibition GO station that morning, I looked up the nearest Bike Share station and I was pleasantly treated by the app showing there were plenty of bikes at a station that was right there at the exit. More precisely on the south-west corner of Manitoba Dr. & Nova Scotia Ave.
View attachment 731248


To my dismay, not only did I not find any available bikes there, there was no station at all! I looked around for a bit, there was no station to be seen anywhere in the vicinity. I shrugged and went to the next station on the map (near Hotel X). Luckily, the station was indeed there and had a couple of bikes.

Ever since then, it really bugged me. Was the station on the corner of Manitoba/Nova Scotia completely covered by a giant pile of snow that morning? Did they remove it for the winter and didn't update the map? Was I blind??

This morning I swung by that location. I needed to have my questions answered. The snow banks along the road are gone, but the station is still nowhere to be found, yet still on the map!
View attachment 731249

Once again, from ^this vantage point at the exit of the Exhibition GO, I looked all the way around and there were no Bike Share stations in sight. Not on the southwest corner, nowhere around that intersection.

"I have discovered a ghost station" I thought to myself, pleased with the results of my investigation.

As I set off eastwards along Manitoba Dr, I had my hypothesis shattered soon enough. I found the missing Bike Share station, hidden under a canopy, tucked behind a bend in a fence, invisible from the intersection it was mapped to:

View attachment 731251

All this to say is that in this particular case, the station is so sloppily mipmapped, I genuinely couldn't find it twice(!) before finally accidentally stumbling upon it. Here is it's actual location (note that Google Maps also has it mismapped):

View attachment 731252

Have you contacted Bike Share about this? Seems like its location needs to be updated in their system

I'm sure this will create absolutely no issues whatsoever for World Cup tourists, given it is literally the closest station to BMO Field...

More broadly all bike parking within Exhibition Place will be removed for the World Cup and I'd be shocked if any bike share stations remained. It would be such a disaster to leave any stations on site anyway. People would arrive to full stations and be frantically trying to figure out what to do, and some people would just abandon the bikes. There's mention of it here on page 45 of Toronto's FIFA Mobility Plan: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/fwc/bgrd/backgroundfile-285594.pdf

For security purposes, it is understood that bike parking within Exhibition Place is not feasible due to proximity to secure areas, and therefore any existing moveable bike racks will be removed from Exhibition Place. Tournament time bike parking plans are detailed in Section 6.6.4

The map from Section 6.6.4

 

[txlseries4]

The question is - where will the bike share station be? I'm wiling to bet this one is moved out of the area like during the CNE because we've already seen that not even TTC streetcars will be allowed into Ex Place on game days. I wouldn't be surprised if the closest stations are Princes's Gates and the one at Dufferin Gate.

I just posted a comment with a map, but the three locations for valet bike parking are Inukshuk Park, Hanna and East Liberty Green P Parking Lot, and Ordnance Park.

From the mobility plan (page 73):
All three bicycle parking areas are planned to be placed outside of Exhibition Place, two of which are located to the north (i.e., north of the rail corridor) with the remaining one along the Martin Goodman Trail. This will minimize conflicts between bicycles and pedestrians in heavy pedestrian traffic areas (even if pedestrians walk bicycles, this can still impede movement), and it will minimize security risks of personal bicycles that are parked close to the secure Tournament site. Bike parking locations have been identified in line with existing cycling routes and expected high-volume corridors (Exhibit 6.17) and are as follows