At long last, Hamilton bike share gears up for full launch

The long-awaited full complement of bright blue bikes will hit Hamilton streets in time for spring Friday and Saturday with SoBi Hamilton's official launch.

The $1.6 million projectwas originally pegged to a "summer 2014" target, but delays in shipping the bikes, installing hardware and navigating telecommunications contracts to get the bikes up and rolling added up to months of delays.

The bike share comprises stations from Dundas in the west to Gage Park in the east, with a few stations on the Mountain and a station on the waterfront.

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On Friday, elected officials and project organizers will hold an official launch in Gore Park at 11:30 a.m., followed by a bike ride to McMaster University. Campus officials will hold their own launch at 1:00 p.m.

A couple hundred bikes have been out since January for the service's "winter launch," helping organizers to realize how popular stations in western Hamilton and downtown have been.

Other than a run-in with a Bobcat snowplow in Gore Park, the chainlessbikes are none the worse for winter wear, said SoBi Hamilton's Chelsea Cox.

Considering the "not-so-desirable weather" the last two months, Cox said,"we were very pleasantly surprised with the number of trips."

The bikes include GPSand organizers can see what stations around the city are most popular and need more bikes distributed to them.

The 750-bicyclefleet will typically be accessible for paid members and users who want to borrow a bike for the day. Anyone who wants to try the service out for free this weekend can sign up to participate in SoBi's Saturday community ride to distribute the bikes around the city.