Vancouver has Mobi, Victoria has U-Bike and Kelowna has Dropbike, but what about Richmond’s bike share options? Tonight at city council, transportation staff are hoping to be charged with the task of looking into a public bike share pilot project that would be implemented throughout the city.
According to a Richmond city staff report, public bike share companies offer bikes in various locations throughout a city to be used on a short term basis. Typically, users can pick up a bike in one location and return it to another within a specific service area. Vancouver began using the Mobi shared bike system in 2016.
“The establishment of a public bike share system that allows residents and visitors to access affordable and convenient bicycles for short distance trips would provide a number of community benefits that support the city's mobility, carbon reduction and economic development goals,” wrote Sonali Hingorani, transportation engineer and Joan Caravan, transportation planner in a city staff report.
The staff report differentiates between docked systems like Mobi’s, which require a significant start-up cost by the city, and dock-less systems where the bikes are accessed via a phone app and have digital locks so they can be parked anywhere.
According to city staff, Tourism Richmond hopes a bike share program would help to connect tourists to local attractions.
If council approves the agenda item at tonight’s meeting, staff would seek a single bike share provider to operate a trial service for 12 to 18 months at no cost to the city, which would allow staff to monitor the long-term feasibility of the project.
