The "brain" of a three-speed Dutch-style step-through sapphire bicycle flashes as Chelsea Cox, community manager for SoBi Hamilton, Hamilton's not-for-profit bike share program, taps an RFID card to unlock it. With a fleet of over 750 bicycles and 105 locking stations dispersed throughout the lower city, the program provides a sustainable transit service for the community.
"Bike share is the fastest growing form of transportation in North America. We want to make Hamilton the cycling capital of Ontario," Chelsea explains, herself an avid cyclist who still has the scars from her first three-wheeled bike adventure at age two.
The program, which city council unanimously approved in 2013, received capital funding when Transportation Manager Peter Topalovic identified Metrolinx funding that could be earmarked for a bike share program. Thanks to the perseverance of community advocates, the program soft-launched in January 2015 and officially began in March 2015. However, unlike other bike share programs, SoBi Hamilton is a non-profit whose operating costs are recovered through sponsorships and ridership revenue.
