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Toronto Bike Share

Filip said:
Shame they didn't extend Bixi along the western waterfront. If I had a dollar every time I saw a Bixi bike far from home in Humber Bay - I'd be a rich man.

Guess I'm not getting a membership again this year. Too bad. However, no traffic on the Gardiner means I'm back to driving to work every day. 15 min commute!
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Would you really bike from Humber Bay to Downtown anyway? Everytime the idea has been suggested in the past, you said you hated biking.
 
LNahid2000 said:
Would you really bike from Humber Bay to Downtown anyway? Everytime the idea has been suggested in the past, you said you hated biking.
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I'd bike if I didn't have a bike chained to my neck.. That is I need the flexibility of biking when need be, but taking transit home/cabbing etc if there's inclement weather. If I'm in a suit that day, then biking is a no go. Bixi would provide certain flexibility. I've heard of too many people getting their bikes stolen downtown hence additional reluctance in having it chained outside for 8+ hours.
 
Filip said:
I'd bike if I didn't have a bike chained to my neck.. That is I need the flexibility of biking when need be, but taking transit home/cabbing etc if there's inclement weather. If I'm in a suit that day, then biking is a no go. Bixi would provide certain flexibility. I've heard of too many people getting their bikes stolen downtown hence additional reluctance in having it chained outside for 8+ hours.
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So, Bixi seems designed for you - if you have a dock or docks not too far from home. You can use it when it's dry, when you are not tired, when you want to. You CAN bike in a suit (or change into one when you arrive). You park it when you want and it's really rather cheap.
 
Yes but they've failed to expand along the western waterfront.. again, so Bixi is not a solution yet. My car though.. the best thing ever. Can't believe I've spent 5 years relying on transit stubbornly instead of just driving. Gah. This forum will be the death of me.
 
Filip said:
Yes but they've failed to expand along the western waterfront.. again, so Bixi is not a solution yet. My car though.. the best thing ever. Can't believe I've spent 5 years relying on transit stubbornly instead of just driving. Gah. This forum will be the death of me.
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Cars can be a pleasure if you're lucky to be on a route that facilitates fast driving (e.g. driving counter-peak-flow on freeways).

Gardiner peak direction flows have changed over the years, and it's possible "induced demand" will make it intolerable again in about 3-5 years. Everybody will notice how great your commute is, and use up the capacity of your commute route (unless you've got really odd hours).

Toronto is rapidly densifying and new office tower districts may pop up near many condo developments -- creating new peak-traffic direction flows on various roads.
 
mdrejhon said:
Cars can be a pleasure if you're lucky to be on a route that facilitates fast driving (e.g. driving counter-peak-flow on freeways). Gardiner peak direction flows have changed over the years, and it's possible "induced demand" will make it intolerable again in about 3-5 years.
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3-5 years is a long time. Unless they take out a lane on the Gardiner I doubt it'll ever get that bad again, at least not in my professional life.
 
Filip said:
Shame they didn't extend Bixi along the western waterfront. If I had a dollar every time I saw a Bixi bike far from home in Humber Bay - I'd be a rich man.
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I think this must actually make Bixi rather rich. I often see bikes pretty far away from the closest station. I just presume they're tourists that don't understand how the fee structure works and how much it costs if the trip is over 30 minutes.
 
Napoleon said:
I think this must actually make Bixi rather rich. I often see bikes pretty far away from the closest station. I just presume they're tourists that don't understand how the fee structure works and how much it costs if the trip is over 30 minutes.
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Yep. A couple weeks ago when I was grabbing a bike, some tourists asked me how the bike share system worked. While I was explaining they said they were planning on renting bikes to take to the islands. So I told them they'd be charged hundreds of dollars and that it would be cheaper to just rent bikes on the islands.
 
LNahid2000 said:
Yep. A couple weeks ago when I was grabbing a bike, some tourists asked me how the bike share system worked. While I was explaining they said they were planning on renting bikes to take to the islands. So I told them they'd be charged hundreds of dollars and that it would be cheaper to just rent bikes on the islands.
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Bike Share program is $14/hour (first hour $8.50 includes 24-hour membership fee). Toronto Island Bicycle Rental is $8/hour for a single-person bike (tandems are $15/hour).

The big savings I suppose is Bike Share requires you to pay for the bike while waiting/riding the ferry, but the Island Bicycle Rental shop requires a bit of a walk from the ferry.

If you've already paid for the Bike Share membership fee to cycle elsewhere and only intend to do a loop of the island (90 minutes for a slow scenic ride), it's about $10 difference, in favour of the Island Rental.

http://www.torontoislandbicyclerental.com/#!blank/c66t
http://www.bikesharetoronto.com/pricing
 
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So I saw a bunch of the new bike stations along the Danforth yesterday. They were mostly empty and appeared to be out of service , and also don't show up on the official bike share maps/apps. However I saw one bike docked in at Danforth/Lamb Ave (by Greenwood) and tried my key, and it worked. Was able to bike from there all the way to Bathurst. I'm enjoying this expansion, can't wait until it's done!
 
Yes, lots of new docks going in and most have not yet made the map. I just saw one on Mill @ Cherry and returned my bike to another new dock at Lower Sherbourne @ The Esplanade.

It may not be connected to new system but I had my first (since Day 1) problem on Saturday. I docked a bike and after 10-15 minutes returned to take it out again. My key did not work on any bike. Fortunately it was close to home so I went online and saw the trip was still 'open". I called the BikeShare and was told it would take several hours for a technician to go to the dock but I could go myself and try to remove the bike and re-dock it. I did this but it was firmly locked. I emailed BikeShare and they reactivated my key but there was something clearly wrong with the system as I DID get the green light and the bike was certainly firmly locked when I returned to it.
 
I've combined the three separate Bikeshare maps into one, albeit imperfectly. Click to enlarge.

27807219000_38dc957e5f_o.png
 
Nice - though some of the actual (final) locations seem to have changed. e.g. the one that is at Lower Sherbourne @ The Esplanade was originally supposed to be located at Princess @ The Esplanade (as your map shows)..
 
I definitely noticed several new locations when I was in TO this past weekend, however some were slightly off from the map. It would be useful to see a map that had a different colour for the new/old locations, just for comparison.
 
DSC said:
Nice - though some of the actual (final) locations seem to have changed. e.g. the one that is at Lower Sherbourne @ The Esplanade was originally supposed to be located at Princess @ The Esplanade (as your map shows)..
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I couldn't find an updated version of the maps, or even the original ones. If you could post a link, I will edit my post.
 
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