Toronto Bike Share

[TransitBart]

Okay! I'm sold. Whatever happened to that promotion for new members? I guess I missed it...

EDIT: Never mind, found it! 50% for PRESTO users.

Here is the link:

https://member.bikesharetoronto.com/signup/PRESTO

 

[WislaHD]

I think I will hold on in membership until it expands to Eglinton, as a Midtown resident.

As usual, my opinion is worth what you paid for it. The Crosstown is still (*sigh*) four years in the future and putting bike depots at those stations would be consistent with the expansion of 2016.

But it's a much different prospect and I want to say, "I doubt it" or "Much more dubious prospect."

1. Four years to go, so first priority should be westward to Roncesvalles and along the Lakeshore West. If they are brave, then into the Bloor West Village.
2. Second - easterly along Lakeshore East, Dundas East, and Gerrard.
3. East/West in the city - downtown at least - is an easy ride - no major hills. It's also an easy ride (way) farther north - like Sheppard. Mid-town - St Clair and Eglinton - you have to (somehow) get over the Don Valley and this involves discontinuous streets and hills.
4. This works downtown. Where (a lot of) young people live. Whether this works in older less dense neighbourhoods along Eglinton is a much more iffy prospect.
5. Going north and sough north of Bloor / Danforth involves some significant hills on some routes. This makes the ride harder and more dangerous as I can't see people (casusal riders) coasting safely - for example - down Avenue Hill or Yonge Street. Sure the traffic is busy in the downtown, but the ride is mostly flat.
6. If there are depots at Crosstown stations, I wonder if a lot of the traffic will be local and east - west along Eglinton to avoid the hills and the issues that I speculated about above.

My two cents for a Sunday morning.

I think you are spot on in your analysis of Eglinton.

There is actually considerable existing (and probably latent) demand for local east-west travel on the Eglinton corridor. Eglinton already has many cyclists, and the adjacent streets Soudan and Roehampton/Broadway also receive many more who refuse to cycle along Eglinton due to it being unsafe (and currently clogged with construction - another reason why maybe we should hold off with expanding to Eglinton too soon). My prediction is that once the Crosstown is complete and Eglinton Connects has added separated cycling lanes along the entire stretch of Eglinton, that the corridor will be a highly used one for cyclists in general, but also for Bixi.

I wonder how Bixi will be able to expand north of Bloor. The issue is that if they expand along the Yonge corridor north for instance, there wouldn't be anywhere to park your Bixi bike once you reached your destination outside the vicinity of Yonge Street.

Maybe expansion northwards should be akin to a wave gradually creeping north, based on customer demand. They've already reached the Annex and Seaton village. Fill out the areas west in Davenport, Bloor West and the Junction, before creeping up to St. Clair, then onto Deer Park, Forest Hill, Earlscourt and Davisville.

I feel like this approach will eventualy become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as when coverage expands to meet demand, it creates more demand, which in turn pushes the city to create more cycling infrastructure, which increases the attractiveness of the cycling mode, which then incentives Bixi to expand coverage to meet demand.

 

[mdrejhon]

BIXI (er, Bike Share Toronto) all the way to Eglinton? Now that would be quite a competitive bikeshare network to Montreal, New York City and Paris. Or maybe not, depending on how patchwork it is.

Bike Share Toronto has already made it all the way to near St. Clair, albiet in a very patchwork basis. I'd predict at least a few racks will make it to Eglinton before Crosstown opening 2021 at key nodes like north-south cycle tracks (Kay Gardner Beltline, etc) and near Yonge.

 

[ADRM]

Living along the Richmond/Adelaide bike corridor, I'm tempted to get a membership to quickly get across town. Too bad N/S isn't as straight forward.

I work near Yonge and St. Joseph, and bike share is now pretty much the only way I get around town after work if I'm headed to downtown core events. I love it, and took advantage of the Presto half-off discount.

Though, yeah, the north-south cycling routes in the city really suck, so it's definitely better for getting across town.

 

[DSC]

I work near Yonge and St. Joseph, and bike share is now pretty much the only way I get around town after work if I'm headed to downtown core events. I love it, and took advantage of the Presto half-off discount.

Though, yeah, the north-south cycling routes in the city really suck, so it's definitely better for getting across town.

One big problem with north-south is the HILL! It does not seem much when walking but when on a (heavy) Bixi Bike it is quite tiresome!

 

[WislaHD]

BIXI (er, Bike Share Toronto) all the way to Eglinton?

Heh, habits die hard.

 

[LNahid2000]

One big problem with north-south is the HILL! It does not seem much when walking but when on a (heavy) Bixi Bike it is quite tiresome!

The hill isn't that bad. I've done it a few times to get to the station and Christie and St Clair and it's pretty easy on gear 1. Now if we were talking about Hoggs Hollow, that's a different story.

Heh, habits die hard.

Haha I still call it Bixi just because it's a lot less syllables than "Bike Share Toronto".

 

[WislaHD]

The hill isn't that bad. I've done it a few times to get to the station and Christie and St Clair and it's pretty easy on gear 1. Now if we were talking about Hoggs Hollow, that's a different story.

Hoggs Hollow is a different beast that is compounded by the dangerous 401. We need a Hoggs Hollow trail bypass.

Haha I still call it Bixi just because it's a lot less syllables than "Bike Share Toronto".

It is even in the name of the thread!

 

[LNahid2000]

Hoggs Hollow is a different beast that is compounded by the dangerous 401. We need a Hoggs Hollow trail bypass.

I used to bike from Bloor to Finch and back everyday, using Yonge the whole way. Hoggs Hollow was scary at first, but after a while I enjoyed the workout and the challenge of getting around all the traffic. That bypass would be sweet though.

 

[mdrejhon]

Okay! I'm sold. Whatever happened to that promotion for new members? I guess I missed it...
EDIT: Never mind, found it! 50% for PRESTO users.

With that deal it pays for itself even if you only use it 2 times a month (TTC token cost).

It's great for diagonal movements through downtown -- riding from Bloor-Church to Carlton-Parliament took only 8 minutes, compared to needing 25 for TTC (1 block walk + Yonge subway + College streetcar). Memorize the favourite cycle routes like the Sherbourne cycle track and you'll be able to breeze a few A-B pairs. Also load the "Spotcycle" app to help you quickly find nearby stations that aren't empty or full.

Haha I still call it Bixi just because it's a lot less syllables than "Bike Share Toronto".

I'll take the Bixi to the drugstore to buy some Kleenex [grabs the store brand] and Band-Aids [grabs a generic label].

 

[Zach6668]

The Bikeshare is definetly something where each ride is a little better than the last in my opinion. Systems like this really lend themselves to riders who learn where the stations and the best routes. The beautiful thing is that cycling infrastructure is cheap and the more people who ride bikes the more infrastructure. It's a beautiful positive feedback loop, that's just starting in Toronto.

One of my biggest complaints is how they basically hide the stations in the back of parking lots, off the street, etc. I'm sure they couldn't negotiate more prime real estate away from parked cars, etc, so having more stations is better than none at all. However, in the absence of that, I wish there was a bit more wayfinding involved. Even if each dock just had a Green P-style tallish sign. They already have tall solar panels, but those blend into the surroundings. A sign, maybe reflective or something attached to that would be a big boost. Some directional arrows if you're looking down a side street and there's a dock tucked around the corner would be nice too. I could always stop and check my phone, but that's a hassle, and what about people who don't have smart phones, or data plans, etc.

 

[DSC]

This from Guardian may 'amuse'...

It has been billed as a hi-tech bike-sharing boom that entrepreneurs hope will make them rich while simultaneously transforming China’s traffic-clogged cities.

But, occasionally, dreams can turn sour.

In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, more than 500 bicycles for hire have been found dumped in huge piles on the streets, according to reports.

Pictures showed jumbled stacks of vehicles nearly three metres high, with handlebars, baskets and other parts scattered on the ground.

 

[PinkLucy]

It's a tradition to toss your old bike into the canal. They dredge them out on a regular basis.

 

[Skeezix]

It's a tradition to toss your old bike into the canal. They dredge them out on a regular basis.

We need a similar tradition to help build Toronto's reputation as a cycling city.

Toss our old bikes in the pool at Nathan Phillips Square? Pro: highly visible spot will help build new tradition. Con: Bikes won't sink.

Toss our old bikes in the pool in Don River? Pro: Gets more people using the Don valley trails. Con: Mass of old bikes might increase likelihood of DVP flooding during big rainstorms.

Toss our old bikes off end of Leslie Spit? Pro: Help build spit. Con: Possible attack by cormorants.

I think we really need to build a canal, if only for the disposal of old bikes.

 

[ADRM]

We need a similar tradition to help build Toronto's reputation as a cycling city.

Toss our old bikes in the pool at Nathan Phillips Square? Pro: highly visible spot will help build new tradition. Con: Bikes won't sink.

Toss our old bikes in the pool in Don River? Pro: Gets more people using the Don valley trails. Con: Mass of old bikes might increase likelihood of DVP flooding during big rainstorms.

Toss our old bikes off end of Leslie Spit? Pro: Help build spit. Con: Possible attack by cormorants.

I think we really need to build a canal, if only for the disposal of old bikes.

The canal really needs to be built under the gondola.