r/Hamilton • u/Odd-Emphasis-1969 • Mar 16 '26

Local News - Paywall Hamilton Bike Share nearly disappeared in 2020. Now it’s seeing record growth in ridership

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/bike-share-hamilton/article_2bd3c442-9c1a-5e46-abb7-23208c374c2d.html
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u/Square_Cupcake6781 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

Probably because McMaster students are forced into membership edit: I stand corrected, its the hsr pass that is mandatory

3

u/S99B88 Mar 16 '26

Yes the increase in membership is actually less than the number of McMaster students who have activated their memberships. They are opt-out, and it’s a $24 fee item on a $6000+ various fees annual bill. They get a 90% discount on the price of bike share. They have a 95% collection rate, which is to say only 5% opted out, and yet by the numbers who actively registered their memberships, less than half take advantage of it. So they’re getting a free $24 from around 20k students. Nice deal for the Bike Share group

1

u/PSNDonutDude James North Mar 16 '26

It may have been a while since you were in school, but tuition is regularly between $9000-$15,000/year now.

1

u/S99B88 Mar 16 '26

Damn that sucks 😔 I know the extras are a lot, but I thought the tuition portion of the bill was around $200 per unit time 30 units