Critiquing Bike Share Toronto’s March 2026 Annual Operating Plan

On Wednesday, the Toronto Parking Authority presented Bike Share Toronto’s 2026 annual operating plan. Several media outlets mainly reported on the new e-bike design, but there are several other things in store for the next four years. Let’s pedal along!

The presentation started with a few highlights including the 7.8 million trips taken last year which was a tenfold increase from 2016! Last year marked the first year of operations on the Toronto Islands which saw over 200,000 trips taken from mid-May to mid-October and the majority (55%) of users there were from outside of Toronto. From a financial standpoint, the contribution loss was almost 40% lower than budgeted at $2.9 million (or a 37¢ per ride subsidy). While the higher number of rides vs plan played a role, the fact that almost all of that increase – 290,000 out of 310,000 – came from the more profitable e-bike rides was the key driver of higher revenues.

Given the success Bike Share Toronto has been having with their e-bikes, you can’t blame them for their push to almost double the number of e-bikes to 5,210 by 2030 including 200 new e-bikes this year. However, I wished Bike Share Toronto would specify the number of new e-bike stations instead of the number of e-docks which would also more than double to 3,035 by 2030 including 350 new e-docks for this year. Using the number of docks instead of stations is even more misleading than when the City of Toronto’s Cycling Unit switched from centreline kilometres to lane kilometres back in 2015 for a couple of years before switching back to centreline kilometres.

The use of e-docks instead of stations also applied to solar docks which will see 5,700 new solar docks over the next five years for a total of 24,270 by 2030 including 1,250 new docks this year. With Bike Share Toronto’s website claiming over 1,000 existing stations – which works out to roughly 20 docks per station – the 2026-30 growth plan is estimated to include an additional 350 stations or a 35% increase. This year’s expansion would likely lead to 80 new stations.

If you look at the overall 2026-30 expansion map, the priority appears to be increasing the density of the existing network, though some new stations can be found along the newly opened Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West. One significant issue with this round of expansion is the lack of stations in Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre represented by known bike skeptic Stephen Holyday. Given work on extending Line 5 Eglinton west towards Renforth is already underway for a tentative 2030 completion date, there is an urgent need to add bike share stations along Eglinton including the significant employment lands just south of Pearson Airport. There is also Centennial Park and a few trails such as West Deane, Etobicoke Creek, and the future Etobicoke Greenway which could use some bike share love.

Northeastern Scarborough is another significant gap that needs to be addressed to serve lower income areas such as Malvern, the easternmost portions of The Meadoway, and the Toronto Zoo.

The presentation also looked at several new revenue streams including a business case review of PRESTO integration – which is long overdue – as well as loyalty programs, reservations, partnerships with universities such as the University of Toronto, and a Bike Angels program which pays riders to help rebalance bikes to lesser used stations. There was also a mention of the continued roll out of new NFC enabled pillar docks which Bike Share Toronto first introduced back in September, though it remains unknown how long it would take to replace all existing docks with the new design.

While Toronto’s cycling community waits for the outcome of the Charter challenge appeal from January, Bike Share Toronto continues to pedal along with the good news. There are some improvements that are needed such as increasing presence in Etobicoke Centre and northeast Scarborough, as well as reverting back to reporting on the number of stations instead of docks.