Vancouver is getting super-secure ‘smart’ bike lockers
Solar-powered and on-demand storage will cost 10 cents per hour
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TransLink
Vancouver cyclists who commute via transit will soon be able to use new on-demand secure smart bike lockers at major TransLink hubs. The pilot project will bring a total of 71 individual outdoor bike lockers across the region starting this summer.
The solar-powered lockers are accessible through the Bikeep app on either Android or iOS devices. The bike lockers are on-demand, so riders don’t have to book them in advance.
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Lockers will be added to six facilities in the coming months, though riders commuting from SkyTrain and West Coast Express’ Moody Centre Station and the Carvolth bus exchange in Langley can already try out the new contraptions. Other hubs that will be getting lockers include the Lonsdale Quay bus exchange and SeaBus terminal, and SkyTrain’s 22nd Street Station, VCC-Clark Station, and Richmond-Brighouse Station.
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The lockers cost 10 cents per hour and are capped at $1 per day. Users can also buy a monthly pass for $10.
A cycling city
Vancouver’s Transportation 2040 Plan, aims to have two-thirds of all trips made by walking, cycling or transit by 2040. But, according to the CBC, Vancouver has the highest rate of bike theft per capita in Canada. The city’s lack of long-term, secure bicycle parkades that include end-of-trip facilities is a factor that contributes to cyclists’ hesitation in leaving their bikes in public for long periods of time, according to Navdeep Chhina, the director of campaigns and inclusion at HUB Cycling.
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The new secure lockers will be monitored and feedback from the new service will be analyzed through Fall 2021, at which point TransLink will decide if more lockers could be installed in other locations in the future.
