Bike sharing is an innovative year­-round transportation system that allows users to take one­-way trips via publicly accessible bikes. The Hamilton Bike Share fleet is made up of specially designed, heavy­-duty bikes that are located at over 130 hubs across the city. Bikes can be returned to any hub anywhere in the system, creating an efficient network with many possible connection points and combinations of departures and arrivals.

Users can purchase any level of membership online or on the Social Bicycles app. Once registered, riders can walk up to any bike and scan the QR code to unlock a bike (or tap your member card). This will unlock the bike. Place the u-bar in the holster and you are ready to ride. 

When you arrive at your destination lock the bike to a secure object in a publicly accessible area (preferably a bike share hub) using the u-bar. The bike is now available for others to use. (Bikes may also be locked to any regular bike rack or secure object like a sign post for a $1 fee). If you return an out of hub bike to a hub at the end your trip then you earn a 75¢ credit. 

Please note riders should always end their trip within the service area and the bike must always be securely locked to a fixed object when locking a bike or putting it on hold. 

Bike share is residents and visitors alike! In cities all over the world bike share is used for commuting to work and school, running errands, riding with friends, riding to a transit stop, and generally getting around.

For tourists, bike share makes it easy to explore the hidden corners of a city where transit doesn’t go — plus the bikes are available 24 hours a day, not just during business hours. 

Citizens and visitors who never use the bikes will realize benefits as well. By providing a viable alternative for short trips, bike share systems help to alleviate pressure on our roads. They replace car trips, reduce traffic, free up parking spaces and ease the burden on the transit system for short trips. And these benefits grow over time, as bike share programs have the ability to draw non­-cyclists into the world of short­-distance urban cycling — and each new cyclist represents additional savings to our road and transit budgets.

Hamilton Bike Share’s bike share system is available to everyone who is 16 years of age and older. 16 and 17 year old riders must have the permission of their parent/guardian.

Even those who own a bike can benefit from bike share. For impromptu trips, it’s easy to grab a bike from any station, even if you don’t have your bike with you. If you take transit on a rainy morning, you can take a bike home if the sky clears. If you happen to be out with a group of people, everyone can cycle to another destination with the help of bike share, even if only a few people brought their own bikes. If you are worried about bike theft, you can use bike share for trips where your own bike may not be able to be safely stored. It’s the missing ingredient that makes multi-­modal transportation work.

Bike share complements transit and is great for first and last mile connectivity. Unlike many bus routes, bike share is available 24 hours a day and is a great way to get between your bus/train stop and destination or to avoid inconvenient transfers for a leg of your journey.

Bike share is also great for leisure! Many riders use the system for fun rides and to integrate more physical activity into your life.

Yes! The bikes are comfortable, sturdy bikes that are routinely maintained by professional mechanics. All our bikes have front and rear lighting, a bell, and reflectors. Their visibility and the sheer increase in the number of cyclists will create a great platform to further educate Hamiltonians on how to safely share the streets.

The City of Hamilton continues to improve cycling infrastructure to improve access and safety for all road users. Using the anonymous data we collect from the bikes, Hamilton Bike Share looks forward to sharing information with the City so they can be better informed as to where cyclists are travelling, how infrastructure can be improved, and where to prioritize bike lanes.

According to Ontario legislation, cyclists over the age of 18 are not required to wear helmets, however we recommend riders wear helmets and follow all recommended safety rules of the road. All riders who are 16 or ­17 must wear a helmet. We will be offering urban cycling safety workshops for interested riders. If you’d like to participate, and for information about subsidized helmet purchases, please contact us.

RFID access cards are available for pick up at the following locations during their regular opening hours:

• Downtown Bike Hounds (19 John St N)
• 541 Eatery (541 Barton St E)
• New Hope Community Bikes (1249 Main St E)
• Freewheel Cycles (9 King St W, Dundas)

Once you have picked up your card, contact Hamilton Bike Share Support with the 5 digit number on the back righthand corner of your card to connect it to your account.

If you are not able to make it to any of these pick up locations, contact everyonerides@hamiltonbikeshare.ca to discuss alternatives.

Yes. To use the Hamilton bike share system you must purchase a membership. You can do this on this website or using the SoBi app.  See the pricing section for more details on the pay as you go plan (15¢/minute), monthly membership ($20/month, includes 90 minutes of ride time per day), and Seasonal Supporter options ($100/6 months, includes 90 minutes of ride time per day). 

If you have a low income you may qualify for our subsidized memberships as part of our Everyone Rides Initiative. You can find out more at everyonerides.org or by calling the team office at 289-768-2453 ext 2.

Memberships can be purchased here on our website, on the Social Bicycles app. If you are facing barriers and would like more information about subsidized options, please visit everyonerides.org to learn about our equity program options. 

We currently accept Visa debit in addition to credit cards (Mastercard, Visa). Most debit cards from major Canadian banks are Visa Debit and are therefore accepted.

The prepaid pay as you go membership option allows you to use a prepaid card. With this membership you must carry a positive balance and use a verified email address.

If you don’t have a debit card or prepaid card, our Everyone Rides Initiative program may be able to help: find out more at everyonerides.org

The replacement value of a SoBi is $1500. When you properly lock up the bike at the end of your trip, it is no longer your responsibility. If a bike is stolen, you are required to file a police report and contact Hamilton Bike Share as soon as possible.

Bikes area available to use throughout our large service area. Please review the system boundaries outlined on our map on this website and on the SoBi app. If you lock up a bike outside of the system (i.e. in Burlington or east of Ottawa St) there is a cost to our team to collect that bike and you will be charged $25 retrieval penalty.

We recommend you end your trip within the service area. You also have the option to put a bike on hold if you are stopping while out of the service area but plan to complete your ride within the system. To learn more about how to use the hold feature please click here. 

All users can see the service area on our map or on the SoBi app.

Hamilton Bike Share maintains all of the bikes. If you check out a bike and it is in need of repair, simply press the repair option in the SoBi app before you lock the bike. This will ensure that the bike is not available for others to ride until it is repaired and it flags it for Hamilton Bike Share staff.

Users can also report any additional issues by emailing help@hamiltonbikeshare.ca

You can now access multiple bikes on one account! This is great for when you have an out of town guest or a friend who wants to try the system with you. Each account holder can take up to 2 guests (plus themselves). 

The account holder will pay for guest ride time at the pay as you go rate. If you have a monthly subscription your free daily ride time cannot be used by guests. When a guest logs into a bike the account holder will need to enter their user number and pin code. Then the guest will need to consent to the terms and conditions that appear on the screen of the bike. 

Yes, all our users can the ability to change their membership at any time by logging onto the user interface through hamiltonbikeshare.ca or the Social Bicycles app. Users can unsubscribe their membership in their Network Settings if they no longer want to use their membership or if they’d like to resubscribe to a new membership type. Click here for more information on how to change, unsubscribe or reactivate your account. 

When you sign up you are given the option to turn autorenew on or off. To learn how to turn the autorenew option on or off, please click here. 

There were several considerations that were part of our decision­-making process for selecting station locations. We used international best practices (in accordance with the ITDP) for determining station density and placement throughout Hamilton, analyzed neighborhood characteristics (including housing density and commute trends), underwent a public feedback process with Hamilton residents, and consulted with several City departments (Parking, Traffic, etc) for each station to ensure there are no obstructions or safety issues for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists. We are also limited by what space is available as most of our stations are on City property and we did not want to remove parking spaces.

The public engagement report can be viewed here.

Some bikeshare hubs are designed as destination hubs and some are designed as feeder hubs. Feeder hubs are usually found in neighborhood areas on smaller streets where residents are likely to take a bike and use it for running errands or work commutes. This is similar to a neighbourhood bus stop on a smaller, less frequent bus route. Feeder hubs are named as such because they help residents get to destination hubs conveniently. A destination hub is usually found in areas with significant commercial, cultural or employment uses. Regardless of the hub type, the system was designed to have the recommended hub density of approximately 300m between hubs. This ensures that hubs are conveniently located, user friendly and more likely to have high usage rates.

There was a specific amount of funding available to purchase station equipment which determined the number of stations that could be installed (and subsequently the size of the service area). In general, bike share systems are most successful when the stations are densely placed throughout the service area. Hamilton’s service area is quite large (over 20 square kilometers) and Hamilton Bike Share plans to use future surplus revenue to invest in system expansion and improvement. 

Interested in getting a hub outside our existing service area? We encourage you to help connect us with prospective partners (businesses, organizations, Ward councillors, etc) who can sponsor a new station. This helps support our non-profit organization in covering our operational costs to service new stations and a larger service area. 

In all bike share systems it is common for some stations to be on­-street, some to be in boulevards and some to be on grass or in parks; especially in constrained corridors where there are limited siting options. Some of our hubs are placed on-street on City property.

 Hamilton Bike Share Inc, a local not-for-profit, is contracted by the City of Hamilton to operate the bike share system.  

The City owns the bikes, which were paid for in 2014 with Metrolinx funding. Operations of the bike share system are fully funded by membership fees, sponsorships, donations, grants, and contributions from the municipality.