A new pay-as-you-go bike-borrowing system could be coming soon to downtown Ottawa.
The city, in co-operation with the National Capital Commission, has completed an initial study of placing racks of rentable bikes at several key downtown locations, such as the bus station, museums and major transit hubs.
This spring, some 2,400 Montreal residents are expected to hop on bikes they don’t own. A bike-sharing program is being introduced there that allows users to borrow bikes from rental terminals throughout the city core.
As with other bike-sharing networks – in Paris and Washington – users would swipe their bike-share card at a rental station, allowing a bicycle to be unlocked as a timer starts. When the bike is returned to any station, the time stops and the user’s account is charged.
In current programs, the first 30 minutes are free. The system caters to short-term commutes. The cost varies, but usually begins at $1.50 per half-hour.
To dissuade users from stealing or hoarding bikes, if a bike is not returned within 24 hours, the renter’s account is charged a hefty replacement fee – in Washington, $550.
Interest in this project was sparked last month when federal Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon met with the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau and NCC representatives. It was agreed that the NCC would lead the program and that it should benefit residents on both sides of the Ottawa River.
The federal government agreed to provide the bulk of the estimated $275,000 required to research the project's feasibility.
An initial report prepared by the city's planning department and submitted this week to the transportation committee recommends that Ottawa council contribute between $5,000 and $10,000.
This should easily be approved, says Coun. Rainer Bloess.
The decision will come during an upcoming council meeting or during budget deliberations next month.
“I can see myself jumping off the bus then hopping on a bike,” says Bloess. “It dovetails with the rest of our transit plans.”
He also says this form of public transit would be a lot quicker to implement than the plans for a transit tunnels or light-rail trains.
Cycling advocates say they are cautiously optimistic about the program.
“We have to make sure that this isn’t the only investment in cycling,” says Charles Akben-Marchand, president of Citizens for Safe Cycling.
Ottawa Council recently approved the Ottawa Cycling Plan. It guarantees, Akban-Marchand says, that “whenever a road gets reconstructed, there’s funding for cycling options.”
He wants to ensure that the two programs complement each other and don’t compete financially.
Harry Musson owns RentABike, a company that already provides a bike-loan service that is similar to the public one being proposed.
He says that the city needs to rethink its transit plan if the bike-sharing is to achieve its full potential.
“The new transit plan is basically a road-building plan,” he says. “We have to stop building all the roads for cars. We need to make some easier commuting routes for bicycles.”