Bike Share Toronto is a bicycle sharing system located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Launched in 2011 by Public Bike System Company (PBSC, now PBSC Urban Solutions) under the BIXI brand, the system was taken over by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) in 2014. The system runs year-round and currently consists of 2,750 bicycles, 4,700 docking points, and 270 stations within the downtown Toronto area.
As of August 2, 2017, Bike Share Toronto has almost 9,500 active members. Since 2011, riders have travelled a total of 16,847,127 km (10,468,319 mi). In 2016, riders took 830,000 rides on the system, and 1,510,802 in 2017.
Video Bike Share Toronto
History
Bike Share Toronto launched in 2011 with 80 stations and 1,000 bicycles, as BIXI Toronto, operated by the PBSC.
In 2013, PBSC announced that it was unable to pay back a $3.9-million loan from the City of Toronto and filed for bankruptcy. The City announced that they will cover the loan by diverting money from an automated public toilets program and took control of the bike share program.
On April 1, 2014, the TPA took control of the bike share program, and renamed it to Bike Share Toronto. The new operator of the system was Alta Bicycle Share (now Motivate).
A planned expansion of 22 stations for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games was abandoned. The original stations operated on software from 8D and hardware from PBSC. Now, both companies develop full stations, meaning that all existing stations would have to be replaced or retrofitted.
The first expansion launched in June 2016, with $4.9 million in funding provided by Metrolinx and $1.1 million in Section 37 funds. The expansion added 120 stations and 1,000 bikes, for a total of 2,000 bicycles and 200 stations. The TPA chose PSBC as the supplier of the new bicycles and stations. As part of the agreement, PBSC would also retrofit the existing stations to be compatible with the new stations.
On April 1, 2017, the TPA transitioned Bike Share Toronto operations to Shift Transit, a PBSC partner.
A further expansion of the system took place in August 2017, with the system expanding to 270 stations, 2,750 bikes and 4,700 docks - with $4 million in expansion funding from the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto.
Ridership
Maps Bike Share Toronto
Sponsorship and Promotions
A sponsorship deal was announced with TD Canada Trust in December 2014 to cover "all operating costs". TD sponsorship advertisements started appearing at bike racks in 2015.
In June 2017, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced a Free Ride Wednesdays program which will enable anyone to use the bikes at no charge for up to 30 minutes on Wednesdays in July 2017: 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th. There are no limits to the number of trips per day and charges will apply only if a trip exceeds 30 minutes.
References
External links
Media related to Bike Share Toronto at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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