Vancouver unveils bike-share program Mobi

A Mobi rental bike is pictured in Vancouver. (CTV News)

Vancouver’s long-awaited bike-share program set to hit the streets this summer was unveiled Friday.

Details of the program, called Mobi, were announced along with special discount prices valid for one year for “founding members” or anyone who signs up for the service by July.

The membership fee, ranging from $180 to over $240 is more than double the price of Seattle’s bike-share program called “Pronto.” That company launched in 2014 and hit a few potholes before taxpayers bailed it out in March.

“There's a lot of fine tuning we can do to make our system work better,” said Seattle City Councillor Mike O’Brien.

In Montreal and Toronto, bike-share program “Bixi” filed for bankruptcy in 2013 prompting Vancouver to postpone its program and launch with a different company.

The city of Vancouver committed $5 million over five years in a deal with CycleHop. The company oversees Mobi’s 1500 bikes and 150 stations which should be fully operational by the end of the summer.

The initial service area will include the downtown peninsula, Kitsilano and parts of west side and East Vancouver. The city is also asking locals to weigh in on where they would like to see more bike-share stations.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Sarah MacDonald