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Toronto Bike Share

georgevicbell said:
We keep hearing this year. But without a signed contract for new bikes this is still a ways off. Lead time for 1000+ bikes is going to be a while. Plus it still doesn't sound like they have their ducks in a row re: metrolinx, ownership, operating outside Toronto boundaries or presto. It would be nice if they had a public road map for expansion. Every 6 months there is an article or two, but not a single new bike.
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Yep, I wonder when this is actually going to happen. I posted an article about this in January, but it doesn't look like any progress has been made since then.
 
georgevicbell said:
We keep hearing this year. But without a signed contract for new bikes this is still a ways off. Lead time for 1000+ bikes is going to be a while. Plus it still doesn't sound like they have their ducks in a row re: metrolinx, ownership, operating outside Toronto boundaries or presto. It would be nice if they had a public road map for expansion. Every 6 months there is an article or two, but not a single new bike.
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This be true, we keep hearing.
I imagine they were also earlier wresting with "to do, or not to do" -- keeping or scrapping the existing fleet. Then trying to make tough decisions about which bikeshare system to choose.

Rather them take the time to choose the right bikeshare technology that provides maximum farebox recovery (smartbikes, IMHO).

I'd imagine something is going to happen sometime this year, but not as early as we might anticipate. It wouldn't actually be waste to replace the less-cost-efficient BIXI fleet, as Bike Share Toronto can just sell it to some other city (e.g. NYC, Montreal) for their BIXI fleet expansions (e.g. Citibike).

BIXI still works well in really dense cities, but it's a poor choice for lower density cities when larger numbers of smaller hubs and even offdock bikes advertising the prescence of the existence of a bikeshare system. It's really hard to spread expensive stations across a low-density suburb...

By taking their time to choose the right bikeshare bike -- it can actually helps accelerate membership signups to use smartbikes that can dock anywhere (like stop sign poles). It was actually an offdock bike next to my home, that caused me to sign up for bike share. Someone ended their "bike rental" in front of my house at the stop sign pole. Imagine a Cabbagetown or Riverdale resident seeing a bike docked to a "No Parking" signpole on a nice sunny day; and being able to signup via their iPhone & do a 1-way bike trip to downtown at a cost lower than TTC bus fare ($1 per 15 minutes). Instead of just 80 docks, you can have 300 docks + 100 offdock bikes (400 "bikeshare" locations -- 5x more locations for the same price).

Eyes peeled to see what bikeshare fleet offers they are getting from their procurement call...
 
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Hopefully they'll increase the density of bike stations within the existing service area as well. When I used Bixi, it was very useful for one-way trips where I wouldn't be taking a bike home (on those days, I rode my own). That was until the only station within two blocks of me was moved. My biggest problem was finding an empty spot near work; it was also very difficult to get a bike after 3:30 PM near my office as well.
 
ShonTron said:
Hopefully they'll increase the density of bike stations within the existing service area as well. When I used Bixi, it was very useful for one-way trips where I wouldn't be taking a bike home (on those days, I rode my own). That was until the only station within two blocks of me was moved. My biggest problem was finding an empty spot near work; it was also very difficult to get a bike after 3:30 PM near my office as well.
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I'd prefer geographical expansion to increasing density. East to Pape, west to Roncesvalles, and north to Eglinton would satisfy me. I'm not sure doubling the system is enough to do that though. There's a huge dock in front of my office building, so I usually don't have issues finding a spot.
 
LNahid2000 said:
It looks like we're not getting the same smart bikes as Hamilton:

http://www.newswire.ca/news-release...upplier-for-bike-share-toronto-575229671.html

It looks like this company is a spin-off of Bixi, which makes bikes compatible with the Bixi system. The good news is, we're more than doubling the size of the system!
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Too bad it's not a smartbike system of any kind!
Even if not SoBi, but *any* kind of good emerging smartbike system.

Dissapointing. I suppose they were wrestling with scrapping and replacing the system, versus finding a mostly-compatible system that allows them to keep the existing bike assets.

A lost opportunity to:
- Cut operating costs by approximately half by partially crowdsourcing bike rebalancing
- Break even at 2 rides per bike per day
- Expand into less dense areas that is easier to justify with a smartbike system rather than BIXI.
- Triple or quadruple station count and area coverage for the same cost as doubling.
- Make it possible to dock at an overflowing dock or offdock.

Some of the smartbike systems are considering adding a bounty system for increasing the percentage of crowdsourced rebalancing less desirable bikes, e.g. counter-commute directions, or uphill flows. Also, overflowing stations aren't an emergency or major membership repeller (people who stop renewing membership) with smartbike systems that are also able to dock at any regular bike pole/rack, instead of official stations. Thanks to partially crowdsourced bike rebalancing, SoBi still rebalances Hamilton with only 1 rebalancing vehicle, and 1 carshare vehicle (Community CarShare) as an extra vehicle. For a while, the carshare vehicle was the only bike rebalancing in Hamilton!

Either way, still good to see Toronto's system double in size.
 
LNahid2000 said:
It looks like we're not getting the same smart bikes as Hamilton:

http://www.newswire.ca/news-release...upplier-for-bike-share-toronto-575229671.html

It looks like this company is a spin-off of Bixi, which makes bikes compatible with the Bixi system. The good news is, we're more than doubling the size of the system!
Click to expand...

It might be a spin off, but PBSC isn't making bikes compatible with BIXI, they're making the BIXI bikes themselves. PBSC bought the technologies from the Montreal Parking Authority when that setup was deemed illegal.

Motivate, formerly Alta, which runs a bunch of BIXI/PBSC based systems, does make their own bikes that are compatible with BIXI, and some of the kiosk technologies for their systems after the issues they had trying to roll out CitiBike when the BIXI to PBSC transition was going on. It's only in the past year and a bit that PBSC has gotten things back together.
 
Just got an email from Bike Share...looks like their expansion is happening pretty soon!

Dear _____,

We're excited to let you know about some big changes that are coming soon to Bike share Toronto. We're going to be switching the technology that powers the system in order to be able to add 1,000 new bikes and 120 new stations later this summer.

With just a little help from our members, we can make these changes quickly and seamlessly. Here's what you can expect:
  • This Week: Log into your account and make sure your mailing address is up to date. We'll be mailing out new bike keys soon, which you'll need for the new system.
  • Week of June 6: When your new bike key arrives, log into your account again to activate your new key and re-enter your billing info.
  • June 17–19: Bike Share Toronto will shut down for 3 days so the technicians can switch out all of the station hardware. (Don't worry, we'll extend your membership by 3 extra days to make up for the lost time.)
  • June 20 and beyond: The new system will be up and running! Begin using your new bike key, and stay tuned for more news on the expansion plans.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work hard to improve the system. We look forward to bring you a bigger and better Bike Share Toronto!

The Team at Bike Share Toronto
 
They need to continue expanding the supply.

I have a strong feeling 'if we built it they will come'. The problem is there are not enough locations yet to make bikeshare a viable option for many trips.
 
I would have liked a couple more stations along the waterfront trial, at Cherry Beach, etc. A single station at Ronces/Queen would help serve the Western waterfront which looks a little empty. Great expansion though, and a long time coming.
 
Looks pretty impressive to me. They've really filled in the west. Before there were some huge holes in very popular neighbourhoods west of Bathurst. They even managed to include the junction (just barely). Not sure about the lonely stations on the Danforth...they only parallel the subway, so might not be the best use of resources.

One thing of note is that almost all of the tourist destinations are now properly covered. This will really give visitors to the city the opportunity to use Bixi to viably explore the city.

Overall, a great improvement.
 
I wish there were more stations north to Eglinton, but they probably decided to go east and west because of the hill between Summerhill and St. Clair.

I like the east end stations near the subway. Great alternative to the TTC.
 
Excellent start (the expansion)!

Like most others, the need for more still, particularly in the east end, south of Danforth; but later, in other areas w/potential (Etobicoke waterfront, all remaining subway and GO stations and North York Ctr). Still, its good enough I'll consider joining in July.
 
LNahid2000 said:
I wish there were more stations north to Eglinton, but they probably decided to go east and west because of the hill between Summerhill and St. Clair.

I like the east end stations near the subway. Great alternative to the TTC.
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If they added stations to neighbourhoods around the subway as well then people could bike to the subway.
 
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