Even if you don’t have a bike, you’ll soon be able to ride one in Port Moody.
The bike sharing service U-bicycle has reached a one-year licensing agreement to place 36 of its lime-green and grey bicycles on public property around Port Moody along busy commercial and recreational routes.
But unlike established bike sharing systems such as Vancouver’s Mobi service, the new Port Moody service doesn’t require the bikes be parked in docking stations. Instead, they will be parked adjacent to designated public bike racks and riders can access them using an app downloaded to their mobile device. Riders then get a QR code to unlock a bike and a charge is administered to the rider’s account until the bike is locked again. Each bike also comes with a helmet locked to the frame.
Bikes can be left at any public bike rack or, if one isn’t available, at a spot that doesn’t impede traffic. Their location is tracked using GPS and U-bicycle has local agents available to round up wayward or improperly parked bikes.
To ride a U-bicycle, registered users must open an account with a $49 deposit and they’re then charged $1 for every 30 minutes they ride. The charge begins as soon as a bike is unlocked and stops when it is locked again.
Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay said the simplicity and convenience of the service will make it a boon for visitors as well as people who don’t own their own bike but would like to explore the city on two wheels.
“As a regular cyclist, I know the value of having access to a bike to do short trips and even fill in the ‘last mile’ on longer trips, such as visitors arriving by SkyTrain,” Clay said in a city press release.
U-bicycle is based in China but its North American operation is headed by a graduate of Simon Fraser University, Grace Min. The company has several hundred of its bicycles in Victoria and its suburbs, and recently announced plans to roll out in Port Coquitlam. It’s also awaiting approval from Richmond city council to launch in that city.
In Port Moody, the service will begin this month, with 26 bikes parked in nine locations. Another 10 bikes arrive in the fall.
For more information about how to use the U-bicycle service, as well as links to download the app, go to www.u-bicycle.ca.
