Vancouver to launch bike sharing service this summer

The City of Vancouver's long-awaited bike share program appears set to finally rollout in time for this summer.

City councillors announced today that the citysigned a five-year agreement with CycleHop Canada to operate the program.

"Public bike share will extend the reach of transit and walking trips and will be a great way for people to move around Vancouver, while supporting our Healthy City and Greenest City goals," wrote Mayor Gregor Robertson in a media release.

The service will launch in June with 100 stations and an initialfleet of 1,000 bicycles.The companyplansto add another 500 bikes and 50 stations by the end of the year.

The service areas will include the downtown area, and will be bordered by Arbutus Street, West16thAve., and Main Street.

Helmets will be available at no additional cost to users.

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The city says it's supporting the project with $5million over five years.

CycleHopoperates a bike share program in Ottawa-Gatineau as well as in several U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Atlanta.

Vancouver's bike shareprogram was first announced nearly sevenyears ago but has been plagued by setbacks.