Councillor wants to put wheels in motion for future bike-share program in Ottawa

The National Capital Commission launched its BIXI bike program, Wednesday, May 18, 2011. The program makes bikes available for rent at 10 locations in Ottawa-Gatineau.

An Ottawa councillor wants to get the wheels in motion on the possible return of a bicycle-sharing program operating in the capital.

Coun. Shawn Menard will introduce a motion at Thursday's Transportation Committee meeting to ask staff to report back in 2025 on recommendations for an "appropriate bike-share model that would serve the city's needs."

"Implementing a bike share program would align with the city's new Transportation Master Plan and its goals to reduce the dependence on private automobile use," Menard says in the motion.

Several bike-share programs have operated in Ottawa in the past, including the Capital Bixi Bike program and operations such as Right Bike, VeloGo and CycleHop. The last bike-share program ceased operations in Ottawa in 2018.

In a report tabled in 2021, city staff said the $4 million start-up price tag for the city to run a bike-sharing program was "too expensive." Staff added no interested companies had come forward to operate a bike-share program in the two years after the final bike-share program stopped operating.

The report from Menard says the city of Ottawa's e-scooter bike sharing program will "offer valuable lessons-learned" in terms of need and operation for a bike-share program.

City staff say it may be "premature for the city to commit to the implementation of a publicly funded program at the time," noting two studies by Envirocentre/OCAF and the Transportation Association of Canada are looking at bike-share programs.

Envirocentre/OCAF are conducting a 'Future Bike Share Ottawa' study, looking at conditions that lead to a successful bike-share program and "opportunities, implications and next steps" for bike-share programs in Ottawa. The Transportation Association of Canada is reviewing shared micromobility services in Canadian communities, to look at lessons learned by organizations and explore system sizing, operating models, financial needs and transit integration for bike-sharing programs.

Staff say given the timelines for the two studies, and to consider all city-specific details, a report would be available for the transportation committee in 2025, "at the earliest."