A lot of people who stay in hostels are young, adventurous and green. By “green” we mean “friends of the earth” types.
So a lot of them want to tour our town by bicycle; however, renting a bicycle was never a very easy proposition in Toronto.
Four years ago a “bicycle share” program was started in Toronto. It was a low tech approach to providing urban trransport and the ambitious initiative soon fizzled and disappeared.
The good news is that Bicycle Sharing is back in the city. The new program called BIXI operates from 80 bike “stations” located in the downtown core of the city. This program is a decidedly high-tech solution to urban transport.
The “stations” are all located in the area bounded by Bloor St., in the north; Spadina Ave., on the west; Jarvis Street in the east and Harbourfront to the south. These stations are never located more than 300 meters apart.
You’ll need to purchase a membership (daily $5; monthly $40; or yearly $95). Members can then rent a bike for $5 for 30 minutes of use. Further charges are incurred past the half-hour limit.
Details of their rates, locations terms and conditions can be found here:
http://www.wikito.org/Bixi_-_Toronto_Bike_Sharing
To see the city, you might consider picking up a biks and enjoy the summer weather as you explore.
Due to our location in the virtual centre of BIXI’s area of operation, there is a bike “station” one block north and another one block south of our hostel’s front door.
