Mobi Bike! I like the baskets, as you can see, I have my backpack in the basket. |
There is something new, blue and on two wheels that have been popping up all over Vancouver this summer: Mobi Bike Share! The Vancouver bike sharing program had its soft opening on July 20th. At that time, only "founding members," the first adopters who chose to purchase a year pass had access to the program only. Not to worry if you did not grab a founding members pass, Mobi has now gone public and everyone can hop on a Mobi Bike with a daily or monthly pass.
As the summer goes on, Mobi plans on expanding from its current 64 stations with 600+ bikes to a total of 150 stations with 1,500 bikes. At this time, Mobi services are within the downtown peninsula; bounded by Arbutus street and 16th avenue and Main street. Expect to see a Mobi bike station every 2 to 3 blocks.
I decided to check out Mobi bikes to find out how the bike sharing program works, as well as, why bike sharing is a great option.
Starting with why it is amazing that Vancouver now has a bike sharing option!
If you study at UBC or ride a bike as your daily commute in Vancouver, you are probably well aware of the ridiculously high number of bike thefts that take place within the lower mainland. I am not exaggerating, just this past year, 2015, a total of 3,132 reports of stolen bikes were filed with the Vancouver Police Department. When I was on the Varsity Men's Rowing team at UBC, my coach came in one practice with a gorgeous brand new carbon fiber frame bike. Unfortunately, none of us even imagined that my coach's bike would be stolen within the week. More astonishingly, a friend of mine had his bike stolen right from inside his own work office! Now that is ludicrous!
I refuse to ride a bike without a helmet, so it is amazing that every Mobi bike has a helmet with them. They may not be the most stylish accessory to wear, but they can save you in a fatal accident. |
I put Mobi to the test and went for a bike ride around downtown to figure out what I liked and things that I was not too sure about. Here are my thoughts:
- The France-manufactured bikes are very sturdy, but the bikes frames are on the heavier side.
- Checking out the bike from the station was fairly simple. Scanned the Mobi fob, entered the pin and the bike was unlocked.
- I like how they were smart about putting the bike lock into the handle bars to save space. Therefore, if you do need to lock up the bike for a quick moment, you simply pull out the bike lock from the handlebars.
- Though helmets are provided, the current ones are pretty big. No matter how tight I made the straps, the helmet would fall forward or back. Furthermore, the helmets are sanitized only once a week and deep cleaned once a month. Mobi does plan on providing helmet liners in the future. They also plan on getting new helmets that will hopefully fit my small head better.
- I spin bike quite a bit, so I found the gears on the bike really did not provide much resistance. However, if you tend to not bike often, the 7 available gears should be enough.
- All of the bikes frames are the same size with adjustable seat heights. I am 5ft 1inch TALL and I had to have the bike seat all the way to the bottom. Perhaps Mobi can look into providing two different sizes?
- I like how there is a basket on the front to store your bag/items as well the bungee cords ensure your items will not fall out during your ride.
- If you look closely, you will notice a light on the rear bike cover. The light automatically turns on while you are pedalling. I really like this feature as it will definitely increase your visibility if you biking in the dark to alert any motorists/pedestrians as well as other bikers around of your presence.
- If I have trouble with using Mobi, it is great to know that there is 24/7 support available.
- A hinderance to using Mobi would be their price point. It practically matches the already very steep Translink pricing and far exceeds other bike sharing program in Canada. I would like to see it become more accessible not just in location, but also in affordability.
To retrieve a bike from a station, you use the keypad on the handlebar. The helmets secure to the bike via the bike lock. |
BYES