Rental shops worried a bike share program will hurt business

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Bike rental shops in Vancouver are concerned the city’s proposed bike share program will put a dent in their profits.

The proposal, which calls for an up-front $6-million investment from the city and an additional $500,000 a year for maintenance, goes to council today.

Councillor Heather Deal says steps are being taken to make sure the program can co-exist with rental stores.

“We already have a good system of rental shops in the city, especially near Stanley Park, and many people including tourists go down there and rent bikes for several hours,” she tells News1130. “That’s not what this is intended for. This is intended for short trips, often at the beginning and end of a ride on transit.”

The proposal also calls for a 50-metre buffer zone between rental shops and bike share racks.

Thomas Woywitka with YES Cycle on Denman Street supports the bike share program, but he’s concerned tourists will be drawn to bikes offered by the city.

“I’m very confused by that because in our last meeting with the city, they showed us station placements right in front of our stores,” says Woywitka.

“We’re very confused and concerned the stations will be very close, and if you have a station right in Stanley Park, it doesn’t matter if it’s 200 metres away, tourists will still go to that station because it’s in the park.”

Woywitka is also worried the company that runs the bike share will be allowed to drop its prices after the project is up and running.

“If the provider can just lower the rates, that opens up the possibility that you’ll be able to hop on a bike and ride it all day for $5,” he says. “That will kill the rental market.”

Deal insists the program won’t target tourists and says the price of using the bike share program will reflect that.

“After you start getting into longer trips, the prices go up quite steeply after about an hour and a half,” she tells us. “That’s because we have a good network of bike rental shops in Vancouver.”

If all goes as planned, the city will start the program early next year on a trial basis so that it can work out any kinks that might pop up with the system.

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