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East end benefits from rapid Bike Share expansion in 2019

It should be easier to grab a pair of wheels for a local bike ride in Toronto’s east-end neighbourhoods with an extensive expansion of the city’s Bike Share system this year.

A total of 105 Bike Share stations and 1,250 new bikes are being added across Toronto in 2019, the city announced today.

“Ninety-four of the 105 new stations have already been installed and the [rest] will be installed by July 15,” Mayor John Tory said in a press conference at Dentonia Park near Victoria Park subway station this morning.

This expansion is to bring the system across the city up to 465 stations in Toronto and 5,000 bikes.

Stations are being installed in new neighbourhoods, stretching out of the downtown core as far north as Yonge Street at Lawrence Avenue, as far west as the Junction and High Park Neighbourhood, and as far east as Victoria Park  Avenue and Kingston Road.

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A map on the Bike share website shows 21 stations established in The Beach and Upper Beaches neighbourhoods so far. Another 21 are located in the Leslieville area. About 39 Bike Share locations are listed in Riverdale and East York.

The two points furthest east are Victoria Park subway station and the Neville Park Loop on Queen Street East.

“We will continue to push for the expansion of Bike Share to new neighbourhoods because we know it leads to increased ridership and membership for this important service,” Mayor John Tory said.

Tory and Acting Toronto Parking Authority president Robin Oliphant issued a statement jointly to reiterate their commitment to expanding Toronto’s Bike Share system.

“The service is very popular in Toronto and receives great support, as is shown in the increase in membership numbers and number of rides,” Oliphant said.

More than 165,000 Bike Share memberships have been sold in the past 12 months, with ridership surpassing two million rides per year, according to the statement.

In the recent week of June 30 to July 6, more than 85,000 trips were taken — the highest ridership Bike Share has experienced in a seven-day period.