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 fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

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 both ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The system is administered by the city and is owned and operated by CycleHop. 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 Rogers'', and formerly ''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 In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city ...

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 North America. The systems provide a flexible method for comp ...

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 nine sons of the Dragon King, he is depicted as a dragon with the shell of a turtle. Stone sculptures of Bixi have been used in Chinese culture for centuries as a decorative p ...

in early 2014 pushed back the launch date, and the sale of Alta Bike Share to

Motivate Motivation is an internal state that propels individuals to engage in goal-directed behavior. It is often understood as a force that explains why people or animals initiate, continue, or terminate a certain behavior at a particular time. It i ...

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 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 list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. ...

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 A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of sta ...

with

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

, 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 Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. , 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 Victor ...

. 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. Following the acquisition of the original Shaw Communications partnering company by Rogers Communications, the Vancouver’s bike share network was rebranded to "Mobi by Rogers" starting late November 2023. The fleet counted then 2,000 pedal bikes, 600 e-bikes, and 250 stations, with an upcoming expansion to the University of British Columbia main campus introducing 10 new stations by summer 2024. 100 e-bikes were also being added.

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 Fifteen (previously Smoove) is a French company that designs, manufactures and markets products related to bike-sharing. The company produces lightweight bike stands that require virtually no civil engineering and no electricity. In 2022, the ...

, 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; sometimes redundantly a PIN code or PIN number) 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 facilitating the ...

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 the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Pronto Cycle Share Pronto Cycle Share, branded as Pronto!, was a public bicycle-sharing system in Seattle, Washington, that operated from 2014 to 2017. The system, initially owned 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