Bike Share Toronto celebrated six-million riders outside George Brown’s St. James Campus.
A regular trip to campus turned into a surprise celebration for one George Brown student on Sept. 10.
Mitondo Masaninga, who became rider six-million for Bike Share Toronto in 2026, received a surprise as she parked her bike in the dock located King Street East and George Street.
She was met with cheers and a prize; a free annual Bike Share Toronto membership along with 15 weekly passes to share.
This was also the first time she ever used the service.
“So, it’s actually so funny because it’s my first time riding. For this to happen on my first ride, it’s just amazing and spectacular to be the six-millionth rider,” said Masaninga.
Bike Share Toronto chose George Brown for the celebration to recognize the college’s long-standing partnership, notes to Matthew Varsava, director of Bike Share Toronto.
“George Brown’s campuses have been with us since the very beginning,” Varsava said. “They were a logical fit for where to celebrate six million rides this year.”
The event was also carefully timed to coincide with the six-millionth ride, as Varsava notes the time of day is nearly exact for when they hit the mark.
This milestone reflects another record-setting year for Bike Share Toronto. The service recorded just under 7.8-million rides in 2025 and is currently tracking nearly 10 per cent ahead of last year’s pace.
Varsava said Bike Share Toronto expects to finish 2026 with between eight and nine million rides.
He says the growth is driven by efforts to make the system more convenient for riders.
“At the end of the day, we like to say that part of our business model is giving people choice, ease, and speed, and I think everything comes back to those three things” Varsava said.
Bike Share Toronto has expanded the number of bikes, docks and services across the city to keep up with demand, including introducing valet stations at busy locations.
The King and George station is one of the valet locations for Bike Share Toronto this fall. During peak hours, staff members remove bikes from docks that are full to create parking space for arriving riders, then return bikes later in the day so there are bikes available for students heading home.
“There’s always room for people coming into class to dock their bike, and then towards the end of the day we put the bikes back into the bike racks into our docks, so that when they want to leave to go home, there’s extra bikes available. So we build out this extra service to make sure that there’s always space to put in a bike and extra bikes that can also go in as well.” Varsava added.
Bike share Toronto is also promoting its student membership, which costs $84 annually, or about $7 a month.
Bike Share Toronto is already planning another major expansion next year. This expansion includes 1,600 new docks and about 900 additional bikes, including both pedal bikes and e-bikes.
For Masaninga, though, the city’s latest milestone was much simpler: it turned an ordinary trip to campus into an unforgettable first ride.
“My roommate always said, ‘use it, use it, use it.’ Finally, the day I use it, I’m the six-millionth rider.”
With a free annual membership now in hand, she says she plans to ride more, explore Toronto, and make the most of a service she had only just discovered.
