Be Spontaneous Hamilton; rent a Social Bicycle this weekend!

Hi everyone, it’s Elizabeth, the social media maven for Team Bush!!

I’m sure you’ve seen all the blue bikes around Hamilton, ever wonder what they are for. Social Bicycles (SoBi )is a bike sharing business in Hamilton where you can rent a bike for a certain amount of time. I was taking photos down by the Waterfront and these bikes caught my eye. These stations are all around downtown Hamilton and even stretch over to Dundas. While I took my pictures I started thinking about why we would bother with a bike sharing program in Hamilton, so, I put my research skills to work and found out some neat things about this program.

Hamilton isn’t the first city to introduce a bike sharing program; it is quite popular in NYC. So my first question was, why would we want this? According to the SoBi website the program focuses on sustainability, no responsibility of owning a bike, and the spontaneity of going for a bike ride because you can. I think the station down by the waterfront is a great place to go for a spontaneous bike ride!

My next thought was, okay, how do I know if a bike is available at a station near me? The SoBi website has an interactive map that gives you up to date bikes available at the 100 bike station locations. If you sign into your account and reserve a bike for up to 20 minutes, that way you know a bike will be there for you!

 

The one thing you must know is that you have to have a membership to unlock these bikes. Once you get your bike you tap your card on the pad you see at the end of the bike, you will also be given a 4 digit code to unlock the bike, and then you are free to ride as long as you want.

See the SoBi website for pricing and other questions and regulations.

During festivals is when I can really see the program flourishing. Who wouldn’t love going around Art Crawl on a bike and sightseeing. I’d personally be riding my bike all down Locke street and picking up fresh bread and flowers. 

I’d be curious to see who has used this bike program, please leave your comments below!