Mobi (bike share)

Last updated
Mobi
Vancouver Mobi bike share near BC Place stadium in Downtown Vancouver.jpg
Mobi bike share station near BC Place in downtown Vancouver
Overview
Locale Vancouver, British Columbia
Transit type Bicycle-sharing system
Number of stations200 [1]
Website mobibikes.ca
Operation
Began operationJuly 20, 2016 (2016-07-20)
Operator(s)
Number of vehicles2,000 [1]

Mobi is the trade name of Vancouver Bike Share, Inc. a bicycle-sharing system in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The system is administered by the city and is owned and operated by CycleHop. The system launched on July 20, 2016, with a limited number of stations and bicycles for founding members.

Contents

For sponsorship reasons, the service is also known as Mobi by Rogers. (Formerly Shaw Go)

History

A public bike share system for Vancouver was first proposed in 2008 through a feasibility study by TransLink. The following year, the Vancouver City Council directed staff to begin searching for an operator, with Alta Bicycle Share selected as the preferred operator in 2011. A five-year, $6 million contract was signed by the city with Alta in July 2013, aiming for a spring 2014 launch for a system with 1,500 bicycles. [4] [5]

The bankruptcy of bike-share system supplier Bixi in early 2014 pushed back the launch date, and the sale of Alta Bike Share to Motivate in October prompted the city to look for a new service provider the following year. In February 2016, the City of Vancouver signed a five-year, $5 million agreement with CycleHop to operate a bike sharing system in the city by the end of the year. [4]

A soft launch for founding members was held on July 20, 2016, with 260 bicycles and 23 stations open in Downtown Vancouver and part of the Fairview neighborhood, bounded by Arbutus Street to the west, 16th Avenue to the south, and Main Street to the east. By the end of the summer, the entire initial phase of 1,500 bicycles and 150 stations is expected to open. [6] On December 6, 2016, Mobi announced a corporate sponsorship with Shaw Communications, a Canadian telecommunications company. The sponsorship renamed the service to "Mobi by Shaw Go" and added Shaw branding to bicycles and stations, the latter of which would also receive free Wi-Fi. [7]

As of July 7,2017, the system had 1,200 bikes and 122 stations. [8] As of May 30,2018, the system had 1,400 bikes and 143 stations. [9] In June 2018, the coverage area was extended east to Commercial Drive. The minimum age to use Mobi was dropped to 12 years old, although the service only has adult-sized bicycles. [10]

As of August 15,2020, the system had 2,000 bikes and 200 stations.[ citation needed ]

Pricing

Mobi offers four payment options for its rental service: two annual plans of $129 and $159 for an unlimited number of 30 and 60 minute rides, respectively; a 90-day pass of $75 and a 24 hours pass of $12 for unlimited 30-minute rides. Overage fees are $6 for each additional 30-minute block on the 24 hour pass and $3 for all subsequent 30 minute blocks of additional riding on the $75 and $129 plan. A surcharge of $3 per half-hour for rides over 60 minutes are charged on the $159 plan. During the soft launch, a "founding members" discount brought the annual plans down to $99 and $129. [11] [12]

Corporate memberships that involve a 25% discount launched in 2017. [8]

Equipment

Mobi's fleet of 1,500 bicycles and its stations were built by Smoove, a French company that specializes in bike sharing systems. The "smart bikes" are able to be locked outside of designated stations with a lock and PIN code or digital key fob. [13] [14]

The system provides free helmets alongside rented bikes to comply with the province's helmet law. [15] It, alongside Seattle's Pronto Cycle Share, are the only bicycle sharing systems in North America that are required to provide helmets. [6]

Bike share stations were deliberately placed at least 50 metres (160 ft) away from existing bike shops that offer competing rental services. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle-sharing system</span> Short-time bicycle rental service

A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Vancouver</span>

Transportation in Vancouver, British Columbia, has many of the features of modern cities worldwide. Unlike many large metropolises, Vancouver has no freeways into or through the downtown area. A proposed freeway through the downtown was rejected in the 1960s by a coalition of citizens, community leaders and planners. This event "signalled the emergence of a new concept of the urban landscape" and has been a consistent element of the city's planning ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smoove</span>

Smoove is a French company that designs, manufactures and markets products related to bike-sharing. The company produces lightweight bike stands that require virtually no civil engineering and no electricity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dublinbikes</span> Bike-share system in Dublin, Ireland

Dublinbikes is a public bicycle rental scheme which has operated in the city of Dublin since 2009. At its launch, the scheme, which is sponsored by JCDecaux, used 450 French-made unisex bicycles with 40 stations. By 2011, this had expanded to 550 bicycles and 44 stations, and in 2013 it was announced that a major expansion of the scheme would add a further 950 bikes and another 58 hire points. Dublin was the 17th city to implement such a scheme, and it was considered one of the most successful bike-sharing schemes in the world; however, in recent times, progress has stalled, with only 2 of 14 phases being rolled out. As of 2016 the scheme lost €376,000 a year, leading to further expansion of Dublin Bikes being put on hold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Bikeshare</span> Bike sharing system in the Washington, D.C., area

Capital Bikeshare is a bicycle-sharing system which serves Washington, D.C., and certain counties of the larger metropolitan area. As of January 2023, it had 700+ stations and more than 5,400 bicycles. The member jurisdictions own most of the equipment and have sourced operations to contractor Motivate International. Opened in September 2010, the system was the largest bike sharing service in the United States until New York City's Citi Bike began operations in May 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in Canada</span> Overview of cycling in Canada

Cycling in Canada is experienced in various ways across a geographically huge, economically and socially diverse country. Among the reasons for cycling in Canada are for practical reasons such as commuting to work or school, for sports such as road racing, BMX, mountain bike racing, freestyle BMX, as well as for pure recreation. The amount and quality of bicycle infrastructure varies widely across the country as do the laws pertaining to cyclists such as bicycle helmet laws which can differ by province.

Bluebikes, originally Hubway, is a bicycle sharing system in the Boston metropolitan area. As of July 2021, the system had deployed 393 stations with a fleet of over 3,800 bikes in the 10 municipalities it served. Bluebikes is operated by Motivate and uses technology provided by 8D Technologies and PBSC Urban Solutions for equipment. The bike share program officially launched in Boston as Hubway. From 2012 to 2021, neighboring municipalities of Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Newton, Arlington, Chelsea, Watertown, and Salem joined the system. By 2020, total annual members neared 23,000, and as of 2021, 14 million total rides have been taken.

Motivate LLC is a company based in New York City that services bicycle sharing systems and other urban services in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Bike Share</span>

Melbourne Bike Share was a bicycle sharing system that served the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The stations and bicycles were owned by the government and operated in a public-private partnership with RACV. Launched in 2010, the network utilized a system designed by Montreal-based PBSC Urban Solutions with 600 bicycles operating from 51 stations. Melbourne Bike Share was one of two such systems in Australia until the Victorian Government shut down the service on 30 November 2019.

Citi Bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system serving the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, as well as Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey. Named after lead sponsor Citigroup, it was operated by Motivate, with former Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Jay Walder as chief executive until September 30, 2018, when the company was acquired by Lyft. The system's bikes and stations use technology from Lyft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divvy</span> Chicago-based bike sharing system

Divvy is the bicycle sharing system in the Chicago metropolitan area, currently serving the cities of Chicago and Evanston. The system is owned by the Chicago Department of Transportation and has been operated by Lyft since 2019. As of Sept 2021, Divvy operated 16,500 bicycles and over 800 stations, covering 190 square miles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indego</span> Bike sharing system in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Indego is a public bicycle sharing system that serves parts of Philadelphia. Operations started on April 23, 2015, with 125 stations and 1000 bikes. The system is operated by Bicycle Transit Systems, a Philadelphia-based company, with bikes provided by B-cycle and stations as well as bicycles owned by the City of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay Wheels</span>

Bay Wheels is a regional public bicycle sharing system in California's San Francisco Bay Area. It is operated by Motivate in a partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Bay Wheels is the first regional and large-scale bicycle sharing system deployed in California and on the West Coast of the United States. It was established as Bay Area Bike Share in August 2013. As of January 2018, the Bay Wheels system had over 2,600 bicycles in 262 stations across San Francisco, East Bay and San Jose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bike Share Toronto</span> Canadian bicycle-sharing system

Bike Share Toronto is a bicycle-sharing system in Toronto, Ontario, operated by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA). The system consists of over 9,000 bicycles and over 700 stations, and covers over 200 square kilometres in 21 of the 25 wards of the city, with plans to expand to the entire city by 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pronto Cycle Share</span> Bike sharing system in Seattle, Washington, United States

Pronto Cycle Share, branded as Pronto!, was a public bicycle sharing system in Seattle, Washington, that operated from 2014 to 2017. The system, owned initially by a non-profit and later by the Seattle Department of Transportation, included 54 stations in the city's central neighborhoods and 500 bicycles. Motivate operated the system and Alaska Airlines was the program's presenting sponsor. On March 31, 2017, Pronto shut down operations and disassembly of stations began, with the bicycles being offered to other cities that wish to start a similar system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy Ride</span>

Healthy Ride is a public bicycle sharing system that serves parts of Pittsburgh. Operations started on May 31, 2015, with 50 stations and 500 bikes. The system is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Bike Share, a Pittsburgh-based 501c3, with bikes provided by Nextbike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biketown</span> Bike sharing system in Portland, Oregon, United States

Biketown, also known as Biketown PDX, is a bicycle-sharing system in Portland, Oregon, that began operation on July 19, 2016. The system is owned by Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and operated by Lyft, with Nike, Inc. as the title sponsor. At launch, the system had 100 stations and 1,000 bicycles serving the city's central and eastside neighborhoods, with hopes to expand outward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CycleHop</span> Bicycle sharing company

CycleHop LLC is a bicycle sharing platform and mobility company that operates bike share systems in fifteen cities in North America, including Vancouver Bike Share in British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CoGo</span> Bike sharing system in Columbus, Ohio

CoGo Bike Share is a public bicycle sharing system serving Columbus, Ohio and its suburbs. The service is operated by the bikeshare company Motivate It was created in July 2013 with 300 bikes and 30 docking stations, since expanded to about 600 bikes and 80 stations. The service is operated in conjunction with the City of Columbus, which owns all equipment.

References

  1. 1 2 Ip, Stephanie (October 23, 2019). "Five Things: Put the pedal to the metal for Bike to Work Week". Vancouver Sun . Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ Tanaka, Ashley; Gattinger, Tobias; Konrad, Jamie; Ferguson, Gemma; Dhami, Divya; Sun, Patrick (November 14, 2017). "Opinion: Vancouver should abandon costly bike-share program when contract up". Vancouver Sun . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ Alter, Lloyd (April 24, 2018). "Vancouver's Mobi bike share system is just weird". TreeHugger . Archived from the original on 2019-08-15. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Robinson, Matthew (February 23, 2016). "Vancouver eyes bike share system roll out within months". The Vancouver Sun . Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Public bike share system". City of Vancouver. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Bula, Frances (July 20, 2016). "After some bumps and crashes, Vancouver rolls out bike-share system". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  7. ↑ Lindsay, Bethany (December 6, 2016). "Vancouver's Mobi bike-share system partners with Shaw". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Mobi at one: membership grows but fewer stations than promised". Business In Vancouver. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  9. ↑ Chan, Kenneth (30 May 2018). "Vancouver plans to expand Mobi Bike Share across the city". Daily Hive . Retrieved 1 Dec 2018.
  10. ↑ Chan, Kenneth (14 June 2018). "Vancouver's Mobi bike share expands to Commercial Drive, reduces age restrictions". Daily Hive . Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  11. 1 2 Mui, Michael (July 20, 2016). "Mobi bike share launches in Vancouver". 24 Hours Vancouver . Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Choose a plan". Mobi. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  13. ↑ "How it works". Mobi. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  14. ↑ Schaefer, Glen (July 20, 2016). "Vancouver's mayor wheels out city's Mobi bike-share program". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  15. ↑ Kelly, Trish (February 29, 2016). "Vancouver's bike share program up against helmet laws". Metro International . Retrieved July 25, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.