To be honest you seem a little too worked up about this SoBi thing. Do you always write like this?
Well...
I am a member of both Bike Share Toronto and SoBi Hamilton.
I have also used Paris Velib and Montreal's BIXI too.
I signed up for a BIXI Toronto membership before it launched.
SoBi type technology was not invented yet when BIXI launched.
We didn't know the SoBi method would cut costs so dramatically.
Here's my answer:
Ask anybody who's a member of both a BIXI system and SoBi system. See the pattern?
All of them are raving equally. Every single one of those talk as if they finally have a new subway in front of their house! That's how much more convenient SoBi is, than BIXI -- since you don't have to worry about full bike racks anymore, ever again. There is never a full bike rack for SoBi. Park-and-forget anywhere.
Ottawa already switched from BIXI to SoBi to save money.
www.velogo.ca
My Hamilton membership automatically works there too, the same day it launched!
Toronto can do the same.
I like BIXI and I am glad BIXI did not get scrapped from Toronto.
but now with $4.9 million offered, I now think Toronto is a making a financial mistake staying with BIXI. Why not sell BIXI, and get a 3000-bike SoBi fleet (
and 6-9x racks over 6-9x area) instead of 2000 bikes (and 2x racks), covering a much bigger area with the SAME TAX MONEY? Hamiltons has more SoBi racks (~115) for less money than Toronto has BIXI racks (~80),
and on top of that, you can park-and-forget a SoBi anywhere. You also get credits for doing actions that behave like bike rebalancing. Bikes self-rebalance faster. No bike dock overprovisioning required for surges. Less bike rebalancing costs. Bikes equally easy to find for users despite 3x bigger area, as a result! Bigger area = bigger market. Consequently, this is an area-size multiplier while having the same number of bikes.
P23 honestly -- really, honestly -- I was skeptical and was a big BIXI booster but I am sad BIXI screwed up finances (their Montreal bankruptcy), and put a bad reputation to Canada's bike sharing industry, so I've given up rooting for BIXI. I don't own anything in SoBi or BIXI. Just damn impressed at the next generation bikeshare technology.
Look at how the cities using SoBi aren't having financial issues with the SoBi systems. See the pattern? Time to press the Reset button.
I am a homeowner and carowner that pays all sorts of taxes, totalling the typical five digits of taxes of a middle class Canadian. This is
my Ontario taxpayer money too, and I'd rather see Toronto cover up to
almost 10x the area, instead of only 2x area, with the same $4.9 million offered. It's a great bang for the buck, I feel. That's why I am being
LOUD here. But I am pro-bike-sharing, possibly partially subsidized as public transit (in well-implemented use cases).
Half price infrastructure. Three times area. Bigger coverage area = bigger market = more member signups faster = this is why Hamilton membership grew faster than Toronto = faster financial sustainability.
Let's look at it this way:
$4.9M = Add 1000 BIXI bikes, increase service area by 2x
$4.9M = Start over with 2500 SoBi bike fleet.
$4.9M plus BIXI sale proceeds = start over with 3000 SoBi bike fleet, increase service area almost 10x
10x bigger area, 10x stations, yet can park anywhere = members signs up much faster =
less taxpayer waste
Wouldn't we like to get a Scarborough subway for closer to $500 million? That's how dramatic the SoBi cost savings is. No, I don't own SoBi. No, I have never volunteered for them. No, I don't know anyone there. No, I have no stake. But I am a
TAXPAYER! Part of that 4.9 million Toronto is getting, is also
my Ontario taxpayer money.
SoBi even confirms --
@SoBiHamilton
tweeted to GlobeAndMail (cuz of their
stupidly negative bikeshare article) that they are able to cover its own operations with just 1 bike rebalancing vehicle (and a Community CarShare vehicle at that! No owned vehicle for bike rebalancing and SoBi functions successfully with a bigger active membership than Toronto! Operating the whole 750 bike fleet for less cost than operating 1 HSR municipal bus, some lesser bus routes used by fewer users in a day than SoBi daily. See? A good last-mile transit bang for taxpayer buck. So good that there is no government subsidy for operating costs even for a sub-1000-bike fleet!