City of Toronto goes Dutch with New Fleet Bike Program.
Today the City of Toronto has blessed the Dutch Bicycle as its official two-wheeled transportation vehicle. The City of Toronto Green Fleet allows city employees to run errands or move from office to office without paying hefty taxi or parking fees. Designed to reduce the cities overall carbon footprint, the bikes are a pilot program that functions as a prolegomena to the next big installation – a Velib style bike-share program.
Despite many offers from much bigger bike companies, Marco Iacampo, who runs the Smart Commute program, chose Batavus from experience. As a student at the Tilburg University in the Netherlands, he had first-hand experience with the durability, safety, and efficiency of a Dutch bike. The City of Toronto required a bike that could offer its employees a completely clean clothing experience, a safe and upright position, almost zero maintenance, and above all a rust free platform that could be stored outside year after year all winter. It’s a fundamentally approachable and friendly bike to any new cyclist who wants to start riding but feels a bit scared. Finding such a bike in North America is simply put, impossible. Finding such a bike in Holland is, well, as normal as finding a stand selling raw pickled herring.
The bikes feature a galvanized steel frame with a thick powdercoat paint, strong stainless steel rims, puncture resistant tires, a single speed transmission (the bikes will be used for trips no more than 3km long), a full chaincase, coatguard, rack, kickstand, lights and bell, and a quick release to quickly adjust the seat. It’s the bike that the Dutch have been riding since 1905 and is still centuries ahead of most North American bikes. And the quality is pure Dutch too, made in Holland and able to last decades, even in Toronto winters.
(Photos by our own whiz-kid Brian Telzerow)
8 Comments
- xander replied:
Go Dutch! I can’t wait till Toronto gets its own hotel bike network. I’d love to see hotel chain branded batavus personal bikes parked outside the major downtown hotels… I saw this in nyc and Boston recently… Have you heard anything for Toronto?
June 16th, 2009 at 1:52 pm. Permalink.
- curbside replied:
Haven’t heard anything yet, although its an absolutely fantastic idea. With the sheer number of cyclists on the streets, I could see that visitors to Toronto would want to ride a bike themselves. A hotel that offered a bike fleet would be a smart hotel indeed!
June 16th, 2009 at 3:02 pm. Permalink.
- xander replied:
i was speaking with my friend who is the programs coordinator over at the hyatt regency and he was wondering about how they could set up a rental program… does curbside do external rentals of the Batavus personal bikes outside of their storefront? eg: longterm seasonal rentals or short term rentals for business conference perks? who could he contact?
June 16th, 2009 at 8:35 pm. Permalink.
- curbside replied:
Hey Xander,
You bet we can help out. Our existing rental bikes are available for special events, or we can even sell a fleet bike program through our wholesale company, Fourth Floor Distribution (as we did for the city). The Personal Bike is the only bike ever truly designed for commercial rental use and can withstand year round outdoor storage and a great deal of renter abuse. Moreover, it’s highly visible serial number discourages theft. Give me a shout at 416.920.4933 and we can certainly arrange something.-Eric
June 17th, 2009 at 12:43 am. Permalink.
- donna replied:
Nice idea but as a tax payer I don’t know that I approve of them spending my cash on such expensive bikes. Only the best will do for Toronto’s city employees I guess.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:53 pm. Permalink.
- curbside replied:
Hey Donna,
Hardly expensive. The city was previously paying cab fare for its employees to go from Metro Hall to City Hall – now that’s expensive!
Plus the Dutch bike is made to last a lifetime, making it the most sustainable choice and moreover, the best long term investment in terms of its cost amortization.
July 14th, 2009 at 1:16 pm. Permalink.
- Tim replied:
Hello,
I was wondering how Batavus is doing in North America and got some questions for you bike riders.
How are the Batavus bikes? Are they anything good? And on hilly roads? Do people like the old vintage look? Price/quality? What do you like most about a Batavus bike?
I see there is a special dutch bike only for the north american market, the Fryslan. It has a classic look but is suited for the roads and long distance travelling in North America if i am right. I am very curious about the succes of this bike, is it really suited for mountain roads? Do people like it? Is there anything negative about the bike?
I am very fond on bicycles but living outside NA. I want to get familiar with the bicycle culture in NA and am looking forward to some replies!
October 16th, 2009 at 8:01 am. Permalink.
- curbside replied:
Hey Tim,
How are the Batavus bikes? Does the word ‘amazing’ answer your question? They are what many shops have been waiting for, especially urban shops that cater to city cyclists. They are built with a much higher standard of quality than seen with North American bikes and they are designed with the city cyclist in mind. This means issues like outdoor storability, comfort, low maintenance, theft, and longevity are paramount to the design.
People love the vintage look which is certainly why we helped design the Fryslan bike. For those who want something that is a bit lighter we recommend the Breukelen. It does make sense to have an aluminum frame and lighter parts if you are doing more distance and hills. And yes, they climb just fine. Batavus has been exporting to hillier countries for years and knows the market. It’s a city bike, not a mountain bike, so for mountain roads (not sure what you mean by that) there are probably better bikes.
The only negative thing about the bikes is price. But this is a matter of perception. People are used to paying as little as possible for a bike in North America whereas in Holland an average city bike is at least 700 EU. The Dutch buy a bike with the same level of seriousness that a North American buys a car. And, if you think about it, a city bike is used for more trips than a car and costs significantly less. So, we are trying to change that perception.
Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, let em’ fly!
October 16th, 2009 at 12:11 pm. Permalink.
