Bike Share Toronto is set to expand in 2015 with the help of a new corporate sponsor that officials say will make the service financially viable going forward.
TD Bank Group has pledged an undisclosed amount of money that will cover the operating costs of the bike-sharing service and allow it to add 20 new stations in 2015 and an unknown number of stations in 2016.
The news comes one year after the city announced that it was assuming control of the financially troubled program, which had become unable to make payments on a $3.9-million loan.
“Great cities have an integrated transportation system that includes cycling and Toronto should be no different,” Mayor John Tory told reporters at city hall Tuesday morning. “Bike share programs are successful around the world and now the people of Toronto can rest assured that the bike share program they have come to love is here to stay.”
Bike Share Toronto, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Toronto Parking Authority, charges members an annual fee and then allows them to check out bicycles for 30-minute increments from any of its 80 stations.
Stations are currently located in an area bound by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Shore Boulevard to the south, Ossington Avenue to the west and Parliament Street to the east, however that foot print is now expected to grow with Toronto Parking Authority President Lorne Persiko telling CP24 that the service will “absolutely” be available outside the downtown core in the future.
Speaking with reporters, Tory noted that TD Bank Group is not asking the city to “put bank propaganda on the side of bikes” and is simply playing the part of a “good corporate partner” and stepping to the plate to subsidize a “much loved service.”
“This is one example of the kinds of partnership that I would like to see flourish right across the city in a host of areas,” Tory said. “From investing in bike share programs to getting more businesses and unions involved in programs for young people I am going to be knocking on doors across this city and I need people to answer the call.”
Councillors also working to grow network
So far officials have only announced the addition of Bike Share Toronto stations at Exhibition Place and the Pan American Games Athletes Village near the Don River, however additional station sites are expected to be announced in the coming months.
Some councillors have also begun negotiating the addition of stations using Section 37 funding from developers, including Ward 27 Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam.
Section 37 of the Planning Act permits the city to authorize increases in permitted development height and density in return for money to provide community benefits to the area.
“I allocated $1.1 million in the last term and that would purchase 22 stations,” Wong-Tam told reporters at city hall Tuesday. “We (Ward 27 residents) are invested in the system-wide success. We want residents who live in downtown Toronto or work in downtown Toronto to be able to use the same system to take them to the Beach, uptown or the Ossington district. That is the ultimate objective.”
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