Toronto Bike Share

[androiduk]

When I walked by the Bixi station near Church & Wellesley at 9 am this morning there were only 3 bikes left out of 16 slots.

 

[DSC]

There are two bikes at Lower Jarvis and the Esplanade but I am not sure how many were there to start off with. Unfortunately I still do not have my Bixi key. Though I joined last summer it was apparently only mailed to me on April 26. Not a very good start!

 

[Torontovibe]

I haven't seen a Bixi bike yet, so I'm going to look around to find one today. I'd love to ride one but I won't ride on Toronto's streets until the riding lanes are separated from traffic. It's just too dangerous for me now.

 

[Jonny5]

There's a bunch parked on the south side of King, west of Bay.

 

[gweed123]

I posted this on the Homepage News thing that was there today, but I'll post it here as well:

I think what new condos within the Bixi 'bikeshed' should do is offer a free 1 year Bixi membership as part of the condo purchase. If those buyers don't use it, the condo companies are still paying into Bixi, and if they do use it, then Bixi gets more ridership and more exposure. The condo companies also get to market themselves with that 'urban trendiness' that they love so much. Because really, what's it to them to throw in an $80 membership (I think that's what it is) on a $400,000 condo purchase? It's peanuts to them.

I personally think it's a win-win-win.

 

[androiduk]

Church St. This station has been like this all day. Great response so far. While walking around downtown today most of the stations I saw had about 2/3rds of the bikes in use.

 

[gweed123]

Church St. This station has been like this all day. Great response so far. While walking around downtown today most of the stations I saw had about 2/3rds of the bikes in use.

I wonder what the typical planned vacancy rate at these Bixi stops is. 20%? You can't have every rack full at the start of the day, because you need empty racks for people to park them. Does anyone know?

 

[Jonny5]

Saw my first Bixi rider tonight on College on the sidewalk

 

[lafard]

Saw my first Bixi rider tonight on College on the sidewalk

Saw a couple of them go by on College this evening.

Also saw them unloading bikes at the racks at Bay and Bloor, about 8pm. The trailer still had about 30 bikes on it, so they might be distributing them around the city a few at a time.

 

[vic]

Saw a couple of them go by on College this evening.

Also saw them unloading bikes at the racks at Bay and Bloor, about 8pm. The trailer still had about 30 bikes on it, so they might be distributing them around the city a few at a time.

They also redistribute the bikes to other stations as needed. There will probably be a tendency for bikes to end up in certain locations... Especially if the program expands to any part of Toronto where there might be some hills.

Bikes being redistributed in Montreal last summer:

 

[RC8]

Front.

 

[landscapeurbanismTO]

I wonder what the typical planned vacancy rate at these Bixi stops is. 20%? You can't have every rack full at the start of the day, because you need empty racks for people to park them. Does anyone know?

Here's info from today's G&M:

"With Tuesday’s launch, Bixi began stocking bike stations from Jarvis Street to Kensington Market and from Bloor Street to Lake Ontario. Within two weeks, it will have 1,000 bikes spread across 1,500 docking points at 80 stations."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...nto/article2010486/singlepage/#articlecontent

 

[gweed123]

Here's info from today's G&M:

"With Tuesday’s launch, Bixi began stocking bike stations from Jarvis Street to Kensington Market and from Bloor Street to Lake Ontario. Within two weeks, it will have 1,000 bikes spread across 1,500 docking points at 80 stations."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...nto/article2010486/singlepage/#articlecontent

So 33% 'vacancy'. I guess I wasn't that far off. I mean, the last thing you'd want is to bring a bike to a stop, and then have all the spots be taken and you have to sit there for someone else to take a bike out of a spot.

 

[vic]

So 33% 'vacancy'. I guess I wasn't that far off. I mean, the last thing you'd want is to bring a bike to a stop, and then have all the spots be taken and you have to sit there for someone else to take a bike out of a spot.

From the FAQ:

What do I do if there are no empty bike docks when I want to return my bike?
You can obtain an additional 15 minutes free of charge from the pay station. This should give you enough time to return your bike to a nearby bike station. You will need your credit card (24-hour or 72-hour access) or the 7-digit number on the back of your BIXI key (1-year or 30-day subscriptions) to identify yourself at the pay station. Please note that the Time credit option is only available when the station is full and does not allow you to return your bike.

Refer to the map located at the end of the station to find the nearest stations or at the pay station, which will give you a list of the four closest stations and allow you to find out in real time the number of available docking points so you can return your BIXI bike.

 

[grey]

There are also smartphone apps that tell you the vacancy rates of stations, so you can plan ahead.

Also, the stations aren't toooo spread out, so it doesn't seem like it would be a major inconvenience to park at a nearby station on occasion.