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Toronto Bike Share

Do you have to bring back a bike to a rack within 45 minutes, or do you just get charged by the minute past a certain point (in Montreal's case, 45 minutes I guess) as is the case in most bike share programs across the world?
 
stanko said:
Do you have to bring back a bike to a rack within 45 minutes, or do you just get charged by the minute past a certain point (in Montreal's case, 45 minutes I guess) as is the case in most bike share programs across the world?
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Yeah, you get charged by 30 minute intervals. The price goes up over time too - i.e. minutes 61-90 cost more than 31-60, here in Toronto at least.
 
DSC said:
Because the whole idea is that the bikes are for SHORT-TERM use.
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I do understand the idea behind it but it just doesn't make sense to offer one-day renting. You rent it for a day but should bring it back to the parking every 30 minutes.
 
Ahmet Kul said:
I do understand the idea behind it but it just doesn't make sense to offer one-day renting. You rent it for a day but should bring it back to the parking every 30 minutes.
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I think you do NOT understand. By paying $7 you become a Bike-Share MEMBER for a DAY and membership (no matter how long you have one for) means you get a bike for 30 minutes at no additional cost. Do you really think that you can rent bikes for $7 for 24-hours? As far as I know all these kinds of bike-share work same way - certainly all of the ones I have used (Paris, Montreal, Montpellier, Belfast, NYC and Washington) work this way, or did when I used them.
 
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DSC said:
I think you do NOT understand. By paying $7 you become a Bike-Share MEMBER for a DAY and membership (no matter how long you have one for) means you get a bike for 30 minutes at no additional cost. Do you really think that you can rent bikes for $7 for 24-hours? As far as I know all these kinds of bike-share work same way - certainly all of the ones I have used (London, Paris, Montreal, Montpellier, Belfast, NYC and Washington) work this way.
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London is GBP2 for the daily membership. Then GBP2 for every 30 minute increment over the first 30 minutes. No acceleration in costs.

Which is way more reasonable than the $7. London's bike is less than 1 zone on the Tube. While Toronto's is double the fare?

Even Hamilton's is $4/hr (each hour). But dockless is cheaper (and more user friendly IMO).
 
muller877 said:
Even Hamilton's is $4/hr (each hour). But dockless is cheaper (and more user friendly IMO).
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SoBi has a $3 setup fee in addition to the $4/hour, so Bike Share Toronto is cheaper if you ride more than an hour. I actually prefer the Bike Share Toronto model since I often end up riding for more than an hour throughout a day, which would end up costing me way more with the SoBi model, even on their annual membership.
 
MartinMtl said:
It's 45 minutes now.
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I thought it was 30 mins. Or are you referring to Montreal?
amnesiajune said:
Yeah, you get charged by 30 minute intervals. The price goes up over time too - i.e. minutes 61-90 cost more than 31-60, here in Toronto at least.
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I’m a total Bikeshare convert now! Felt like a leisure ride today, but didn’t want to haul up my uncomfortable 1980s-era mountain bike up from the basement. So, grabbed a bike from the station at Carlton and Parliament, rode down to Mill St. in the Distillery District, reset my 30 mins at the dock on Mill st., then cycled on Richmond’s separated bike lane, wow the marathon made a mess of auto gridlock, then up Tecumseh to the dock at Queen St. Left the bike, grabbed an ice coffee at Cafe St. Viateur, chilled on patio, and then grabbed another bike, rode to UofT, reset my 30 mins on Bathurst St. then Bloor St. bike lane to Sherbourne to Wellesley and to the dock at Carlton and Parliament.

So, it’s definitely possible to have a great day out on the Bikeshare whilst staying within the 30 mins.
DSC said:
Because the whole idea is that the bikes are for SHORT-TERM use.
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True. That’s how I intend to use it, to get from home to Union Station and back. So far it’s about 20 mins.

I do wish the bikes had a higher gear, as I’d like to go a bit faster if I could.
 
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Admiral Beez said:
I do wish the bikes had a higher gear, as I’d like to go a bit faster if I could.
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They are designed to be as safe and stable as possible so speed definitely is a non-priority, undesirable even. Nobody at the Bikeshare office wants to read about people having accidents on their bikes.
 
Avenue said:
They are designed to be as safe and stable as possible so speed definitely is a non-priority, undesirable even.
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They're also designed as a public transit option, not for recreation. Lower gears means you won't be drenched in sweat when you get to wherever you're going.
 
News from the PTIF report that is going to Executive Ctte tomorrow.

Recommendation to shift $2 Million to Bikeshare expansion for 750 additional bikes, and 71 new docking stations.

Further purchases to be considered through the 2018 budget process.

Great news!

Nothing in the report saying where these will be going, but as I previously confirmed that the east end was up next, I'm assuming that this will cover that area, and likely quite a bit more, along with infilling stations at popular locations.

Hopefully w/the purchase set to go in this calendar year (subject to committee and council approval) we might get the first wave of new bikes and stations in spring, instead of mid-summer 2018.
 
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My observation -which I know does not constitute evidence- is also that the interest is very high. Prior to expansion, I was thinking like, "everyone who likes to cycle has their own bike anyway so what's the point of this" but people do find Bixi quite practical. I assume especially younger people living condos and apartment buildings really prefer these because it eliminates the problem of going to the basement to retrieve their own bikes.

I'd like to see more stations in Queen E, Wallace-Emerson, Little Portugal and Parkdale.

Oh and old seats in these bikes are SO UNCOMFORTABLE. They should replace them all with the new ones. They feel like I'm sitting on something that was produced in a soviet bloc country in 1983.
 
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