New bike sharing service in Toronto, Canada

A brightly coloured rival to Bike Share Toronto says they come in peace.

“This is not the Uber approach,” Dropbike co-CEO Qiming Weng told Metro, distancing themselves from that company’s ask-for-forgiveness-not-permission approach.
“We are absolutely dedicated to working with the city.”

Dropbike was spotted in the city earlier this week as the company tested its bikes downtown.

The funded startup plans to launch later this summer in a partnership with the University of Toronto Students Union.

Unlike Bike Share Toronto, Dropbike will not have large docks. This helps reduce costs, Weng explained, as in conventional bike-share setups “most of the cost comes from the dock itself.”

With the new service, bikes live in virtual “havens” in public spaces. Cyclists will find their ride via an app and scan its QR code to get the combination for the lock. Dropbike says the price will start at $1 per hour.

Compare that to $90 for an annual membership with Bike Share, which also requires riders to dock their bikes every 30 minutes.

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