City staff said technological advances and lessons learned will help to avoid downfalls from a previous privately operated bike-share program called U-Bicycle, which ran from 2017 to 2018
Victoria is taking its first steps toward bringing an electric-bike-share program to the city.
Councillors voted unanimously Thursday to issue a request for proposals for a privately owned and operated program intended to launch next spring.
City staff said technological advances and lessons learned will help to avoid problems found with a previous privately operated bike-share program called U-Bicycle, which ran from 2017 to 2018. Pedal bikes from U-Bicycle’s dockless system were often left blocking sidewalks and stolen or vandalized.
Mayor Marianne Alto said it’s about time the city tries again.
Staff spent nine months researching other bike-share programs across the province to determine the feasibility of bringing a program to Victoria.
There are 40 bike-share systems across Canada, including ones in Nanaimo and Courtenay-Comox, according to a staff report. Those services are operated by Evolve, part of BCAA’s Evo Car Share, which has a fleet of vehicles in Victoria available for one-way trips.
E-bike usage has been particularly popular at Nanaimo stations near Vancouver Island University and at the Hullo Ferries terminal, BCAA said in June, after adding e-scooters to the bike-share service in response to growing demand.
BCAA said 27,000 kilometres worth of trips were made on the service in 2024, with just over half made by locals.
Victoria’s program would be aimed at visitors and locals who are making one-way trips, worry about bike theft or don’t own a bike, staff said.
Victoria has the ideal conditions for a successful bike-share program, staff said, with nearly 40 kilometres of all ages and abilities cycling routes and a strong tourism market, and there is increasingly an expectation from visitors that modern cities offer shared active-transportation options.
Staff recommended a model that is publicly administered but privately owned and operated, as it is the most popular approach in Canada because it allows a high degree of municipal regulation and oversight while minimizing public investment.
They also recommend a parking model that uses parking zones, around the size of a single-vehicle parking space, rather than a docked or dockless system. E-bikes would include helmets, GPS, speed limiters to control maximum speeds and remote power and locking control. E-bikes are the preferred option in Victoria, because they’re easier for more people to ride than heavy-duty bike-share pedal bikes, particularly on hills, staff said.
E-scooters are not currently recommended due to a lack of provincial regulation, but could be considered in future, the report said.
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