Toronto’s bike share stations continue to quickly roll out beyond the city core.

A new station near 340 Chaplin Cres. and the Kay Gardner Beltline Trail was christened Wednesday, one of 90 being added this year.

Toronto Parking Authority, which operates Bike Share Toronto, is also adding to the network 1,000 bikes that can be used with a short-term pass or annual membership and returned to any of the 360 stations to be operating by the end of 2018.

Bike Share Toronto reported late last month that ridership was up 51 per cent over last year, totalling more than 1 million rides. In its previous incarnation, Bixi, the service struggled financially with a limited network.

The expansion is happening thanks to a $4 million investment over two years from the federal government, matched by the city, and some previous funding from Metrolinx.

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Bike Share Toronto says it is working toward breaking even but currently projects a 2018 shortfall of between $400,000 and $1.2 million, depending on whether it lands a main sponsor.

“You put the stations in the right places, you put the bikes in the stations, you make sure that you have all of the governments working to fund all of this and you end up in the situation where if you build it they will come, and people are now using it to a record extent,” Mayor John Tory said Wednesday.

Most of the bike stations are being installed close to TTC stations, with the hope commuters can use them to bridge the final distance between transit and their destination.

The bike station network now stretches from Humber Bay Shores Park in the west, Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. to the north, and east to Victoria Park subway station. A Scarborough councillor, however, has been lobbying to get the bikes further east.

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering Toronto politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

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