No saving SoBi: Hamilton bike share network will go dark Monday
Hamilton's popular bike share network will go dark June 1.
A motion to keep SoBi Hamilton rolling until the end of the year using stopgap cash from the ward infrastructure budgets of three lower city councillors failed on a rare 8-8 tie vote at close to 1 a.m.
The acrimonious debate was spurred by a surprise announcement by Uber Inc. that it would bail out of its bike share operating contract with the city June 1 - close to a year early.
The upshot is the city will put the distinctive blue bikes into storage after June 1.
The move will leave 26,000 users in the lurch" during the COVID-19 pandemic when transit is already severely restricted, noted disappointed SoBi supporter Coun. Nrinder Nann. It is an absolutely sad moment," she said.
Councillors nonetheless asked city staff to seek potential new bike share operators via a procurement process that is expected to take at least six months. City staff said they have already received some expressions of interest, but exploring potential partnerships will take time.
Nann originally pitched using $400,000 in infrastructure cash from wards 1, 2 and 3 to keep the system temporarily running and buy time" to properly search for a new operator - without cutting off bicycle users.
She pointed out the number of SoBi users in the city would not fit inside Tim Hortons Field - and more than 500 people depended on free or discounted SoBi passes arranged by Canada's first cycling equity program, the Everyone Rides Initiative.
Councillors Chad Collins and Sam Merulla, however, argued forcefully the program was adopted in 2015 on the understanding it would not cost local taxpayers.
Metrolinx and the province have accounted for all but a fraction of the $2.6 million-plus in capital costs for the 900 bikes and hubs, while the original Social Bicycles operator agreed to handle the costs of running the network.
We are $60 million in the hole and people are losing their jobs," said Merulla, pointing to the city's pandemic funding crisis. He argued it would be deceitful" for the city to pay to run SoBi now after promising the network would not cost taxpayers.
City staff noted the city will still have to pay to store the bikes, but did not reveal the estimated cost discussed in secret.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger unsuccessfully pleaded with council to not throw away" the growing bike network that now has 26,000 users compared to 7,500 in 2015.
He also railed against Hamilton's record of demanding important transportation improvements for free, pointing to both SoBi and a long-contest light rail transit system. It's so Hamilton to say we want it for nothing."
The vote to fund SoBi ended in a tie - but procedurally, that means it fails.
The decision also marks a rare occasion that council did not support a project requested and funded by a councillor out of a ward infrastructure budget.
How they voted:
In favour of funding: Fred Eisenberger, Maureen Wilson, Jason Farr, Nrinder Nann, John-Paul Danko, Brad Clark, Maria Pearson, Arlene Vanderbeek
Opposed: Sam Merulla, Chad Collins, Tom Jackson, Esther Pauls, Brenda Johnson, Lloyd Ferguson, Terry Whitehead, Judi Partridge.
Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com