A worker from a local salvage company on Monday was seen placing dozens of orange Dropbikes, some appearing to be in mint condition, into a dumpster outside the Cook Brothers Youth Centre in Kingston.

The bike-sharing service was introduced to Kingston as a pilot project in 2017, and Dropbike was selected to provide about 200 bicycles set up at 50 different locations, or havens, for use in the downtown Kingston and Queen’s University areas from 2018 to 2021.

For a small fee, each bike was to be rented using a mobile app and then returned to any haven location.

But due to some manufacturer’s recalls on some of the bikes’ components, Dropbike’s 2018 season in Kingston, which was to have started in June, was delayed to July, then again in September, but in November the 2018 season was ultimately cancelled.

The bikes were paid for by the company, and the city contributed $30,000 to mark haven areas around the downtown and Queen’s.

Witnesses on Monday told the Whig-Standard the bikes were being removed from the lobby of the decommissioned arena on Bagot Street and were being thrown down the fire escape stairs.

Two dumpsters were set up on Friday outside the east end of the arena, and over the course of the weekend people were seen in the dumpsters removing bicycles and riding them around the neighbourhood.

On Monday morning, the Whig-Standard found three bicycles leaning against a fence adjacent to Optimist Park, about 400 metres away from the dumpsters.

Liane Casford, who works nearby, noticed workers removing the bicycles from the arena on Thursday afternoon.

“I think it’s a huge waste,” she said. “They can take them to a high school tech program and they can fix them and donate them to kids. I think it’s sad that they’re being thrown out; they could be of some use.”

Bike-sharing programs have been touted as a way of reducing greenhouse gas, improving physical fitness, improving road safety and supporting tourism. Similar programs operate in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver, and community bike-sharing programs exist at Trent University, University of Windsor and Western University.

Sydenham District Coun. Peter Stroud likes the concept of bike-sharing but hoped that parts of the Dropbikes that were taken away could be recycled and reused.

Many of Dropbike’s clients would be riding the bright orange conveyance through Stroud’s district going back and forth from Queen’s to the downtown.

“It doesn’t surprise me they might be disposed of, because I was told that the next generation of bike was going to replace [the current bike],” he said. “They weren’t going to keep any of the old models running because of the defect.

“I was thinking back in 2017 it was great to have the service and the software worked really well. The smartphone technology of Dropbike was excellent, top notch.”

Stroud thinks the bicycles weren’t worth much in the first place.

“I can think 100 of those bikes might have only cost $50 each.”

Stroud said he had not heard about the issue until he was contacted by a reporter.

“We should be recovering everything we can from them. I have no further knowledge of what was the decision behind it,” he said.

Stroud, who had a chance to briefly test the newer models of Dropbike, said they’re an improvement over the old model.

“They’re noticeably better models than the previous ones,” Stroud said. “It had several features that were an upgrade on the previous model, so that will be good.”

Stroud said they will have three speeds on the newer models and GPS locating devices on them.

“It is a shame about the bikes being thrown out rather than being donated to Rideau Heights Community Centre or someplace like that,” he said. “I’m just thinking outside the box there.”

City staff were unavailable for comment on Monday, and Dropbike representatives did not respond to an email request for an interview.

With files from Elliot Ferguson

imacalpine@postmedia.com

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