HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mobi is the
trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
of Vancouver Bike Share, Inc. a
bicycle-sharing system 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. The programmes themselves include bo ...
in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. The system is administered by the City and is owned and operated by
CycleHop 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. History The company's founder traces its history back to 1 ...
. 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 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 Vancouver City Council is the governing body of Vancouver, British Columbia. The council consists of a mayor and ten councillors elected to serve a four-year term. Monthly, a deputy mayor is appointed from among the councillors. The current mayo ...
directed staff to begin searching for an operator, with
Alta Bicycle Share Motivate LLC (formerly Alta Bicycle Share and also Motivate International Inc.) is a company based in New York City that services bicycle sharing systems and other urban services in the North America. The systems provide a flexible method for co ...
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. The bankruptcy of bike-share system supplier
Bixi Bixi, or Bi Xi (), is a figure from Chinese mythology. One of the 9 sons of the dragon, 9 sons of the Dragon King, he is depicted as a Chinese dragon, dragon with the shell of a turtle. Stone Chinese sculpture, sculptures of Bixi have been used ...
in early 2014 pushed back the launch date, and the sale of Alta Bike Share to
Motivate Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...
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 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. History The company's founder traces its history back to 1 ...
to operate a bike sharing system in the city by the end of the year. A soft launch for founding members was held on July 20, 2016, with 260 bicycles and 23 stations open in
Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. It occupies most of the north shor ...
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. On December 6, 2016, Mobi announced a
corporate sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
with
Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...
, 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 Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
. , the system had 1,200 bikes and 122 stations. , the system had 1,400 bikes and 143 stations. In June 2018, the coverage area was extended east to
Commercial Drive Commercial Drive is a roadway in the city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada that extends from Powell Street at its northern extremity, near the waterfront, south through the heart of the Grandview–Woodland neighbourhood to the Victori ...
. The minimum age to use Mobi was dropped to 12 years old, although the service only has adult-sized bicycles. , the system had 2,000 bikes and 200 stations.


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


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 A personal identification number (PIN), or sometimes redundantly a PIN number or PIN code, is a numeric (sometimes alpha-numeric) passcode used in the process of authenticating a user accessing a system. The PIN has been the key to facilitati ...
or digital key fob. The system provides free helmets alongside rented bikes to comply with the province's helmet law. It, alongside
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
's
Pronto Cycle Share Pronto Cycle Share, branded as Pronto!, was a public bycycle 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 ...
, are the only bicycle sharing systems in North America that are required to provide helmets. Bike share stations were deliberately placed at least away from existing bike shops that offer competing rental services.


References


External links

*
City of Vancouver
{{Vancouver 2016 establishments in British Columbia Bicycle sharing in Canada Community bicycle programs Cycling in Vancouver Organizations based in Vancouver Organizations established in 2016 Transport in Greater Vancouver