Metrolinx is doubling the size of the city’s bike sharing system with $4.9 million aimed primarily at making more bikes available at transit stations.

The new bikes will be in place by the end of 2016, according to the provincial transportation agency's Monday announcement.

Bike Share Toronto has about 1,000 bikes and 4,000 active users. Three hundred GO Transit riders are among those Bike Share members.

But the system, which remains concentrated in the downtown, has struggled to grow, stuck with the same number of wheels and stations that opened in 2011.

By putting more bikes at transit stations, the Metrolinx contribution potentially opens up bike sharing to suburbanites who may not realistically be able to cycle their entire commute, said Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong (open Denzil Minnan-Wong's policard).

"We need to expand cycling generally and bike sharing particularly outside the downtown core. I would like to see bike sharing expanded to every subway station," he said.

The new wheels and docking stations will be owned by the province, but it will still be up to the Toronto Parking Authority to operate the system.

TD Bank took over last year as the main sponsor of Bike Share Toronto. At that time the two-year sponsorship deal was said to be valued in excess of the $650,000 a year it costs to operate the system.

Locations of the new docking stations haven’t been announced, but they will be placed near transit stations and densely populated areas to maximize usage, said Metrolinx.

While most of the additional bikes will be stationed in Toronto, a two-year pilot will also put some in Hamilton and other area municipalities. Those facilities and bikes will be installed by December 2017.

Bike sharing is just one more option to connect people to transit, said Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

“A key component of creating a fast, convenient and integrated transit network is encouraging multi-modal travel including cycling, walking and other modes of active transportation,” she said in an email.

A plan to add 22 stations to Bike Share Toronto for the Pan Am Games this month was abandoned while officials figure out a supply issue.

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The program’s stations are based on software and hardware made by two different companies. Those companies now make their own full stations, and Bike Share has to decide whether to go with one or the other or find a third supplier.