Mobi (bike share)

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Mobi
Mobi bike share station near BC Place in downtown Vancouver
Mobi bike share station near BC Place in downtown Vancouver
Overview
LocaleVancouver, British Columbia
Transit typeBicycle-sharing system
Number of stations200[1]
Websitemobibikes.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.

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

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

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[update], the system had 1,200 bikes and 122 stations.

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[update], 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

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]

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^
    The Vancouver Sun
    . Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "Public bike share system". City of Vancouver. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  6. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b 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.

External links