{"id":259,"date":"2015-08-03T17:21:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T17:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2015-08-03T17:27:52","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T17:27:52","slug":"cargo-bike-keeps-the-balance-for-bike-share-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/?p=259","title":{"rendered":"Cargo bike keeps the balance for Bike Share Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A glimpse into what a Bike rebalancer does in Toronto\" width=\"605\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qfFaQW5BMiY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>As Eric Gallo-Miscevich cycles down the Martin Goodman Trail on Queens Quay, it takes a moment for onlookers to understand what they\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>At first glance it looks like the 19-year-old is riding three bikes at once \u2013 two of them seem to hover off the ground in front of him, their wheels not moving, while Gallo-Miscevich pedals away. But in fact, he\u2019s the operator of Bike Share Toronto\u2019s brand new bike-hauling cargo bike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Gallo-Miscevich admits the machine attracts some odd glances. \u201cSome people look like they\u2019re seeing an alien,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>While his Seussian contraption may look odd, it\u2019s a practical solution to a persistent problem for Bike Share Toronto. Because most users head in the same direction at the same time of day (towards downtown in the morning, away from the core in the afternoon) some bike stations end up with too many bikes and others with too few.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>It\u2019s Gallo-Miscevich\u2019s job to \u201cbalance\u201d the 1,000-bike fleet by shuttling bicycles from overcrowded stations to empty ones, using only the power of his pedals. He can fit two Bike Share bicycles onto the cargo bike, each one weighing 45 pounds. Moving them around is grueling work, especially during this week\u2019s heat wave, but Gallo-Miscevich is an avid cyclist and loves the job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very fun,\u201d he grins. A global development student at Queen\u2019s University for most of the year, he says he took the summer gig at Bike Share because he wanted something \u201cout of the ordinary.\u201d The best part of the work is getting paid to ride.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>On an average day, Gallo-Miscevich makes between 30 to 40 trips between stations. To cope with the heat he carries a two-litre sack of water strapped to his back, which he can drink from through a tube while he rides. To keep himself fueled, he tries to eat plenty of pasta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>The cargo bike idea was borrowed from New York City\u2019s Citi Bike program, which pioneered their use to balance its fleet. Before Bike Share introduced its own last week, the program was dependent on three cube vans to redistribute its bikes. The trucks are still being used, but during rush hour they can get stuck in gridlock. By using bike lanes, Gallo-Miscevich can often do the job quicker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>The new vehicle is already a success. According to Scott Hancock, general manager of the company that operates Bike Share, \u201cthe cargo bike has significantly increased our service abilities\u201d and the system\u2019s balance has improved even though ridership is up 34 per cent over this time last year. He hopes to add more cargo bikes to the operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>The introduction of the cargo vehicle hasn\u2019t been completely smooth, however. Although Gallo-Miscevich is an experienced cyclist, it took him some time to get the hang of the heavy-duty ride, which was custom made for Bike Share by a local cargo bicycle expert. \u201cA few times it almost flipped over on me,\u201d Gallo-Miscevich says. He\u2019s since learned to take it easy on the turns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Despite spending all day wheeling around the city, Gallo-Miscevich still likes to bike in his free time, at least whenever he\u2019s not exhausted. His arduous day job has given him a whole new appreciation for his 10-speed bicycle. \u201cAfter I get off this bike, I feel I can fly on my bike,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Eric Gallo-Miscevich cycles down the Martin Goodman Trail on Queens Quay, it takes a moment for onlookers to understand what they\u2019re seeing. At first glance it looks like the 19-year-old is riding three bikes at once \u2013 two of &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/?p=259\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Cargo bike keeps the balance for Bike Share Toronto<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,7,6,5],"tags":[3,25],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cargobikes","category-goodnews","category-spcnews","category-urbanbikes","tag-cargobike","tag-eco-entrepreneur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfpropelledcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}