Vancouver's Mobi bike share is expanding to the UBC campus with e-bikes

E-bike on Vancouver's Mobi public bike share. (David Niddrie/Mobi)

At long last, the Mobi public bike share network in Vancouver is set to make a big expansion westward into the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus.

The Government of BC has committed $500,000 to Mobi towards the expansion of the system on the UBC campus, consisting of 10 electric-assist bike share stations.

This was part of the provincial government’s announcement today on distributing $20 million in grant funding for active transportation projects across BC.

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Mia Kohout, the general manager of Vancouver Bike Share, told Daily Hive Urbanized they are excited about the province’s announcement and dedicated funding to the expansion of Mobi e-bikes to UBC. There are currently no details on the e-bike device fleet expansion size, station locations, and launch timeline; Kohout says more details will be made available over the coming months.

In Summer 2022, Mobi significantly expanded its network and introduced e-bikes as a fleet option. At the time, it added 500 e-bikes and 50 new stations — including 30 e-bike stations — to grow the total network size to 2,500 bikes of all types and 250 stations.

As part of today’s announcement, Mobi will also receive an additional $500,000 to install charging infrastructure for e-bikes within 10 locations across the City of Vancouver, bringing Mobi’s total funding to $1 million in this round.

E-bike on Vancouver’s Mobi public bike share. (David Niddrie/Mobi)

Currently, Mobi bike share stations are found across Vancouver’s central areas as far west as Jericho Beach Park in West Point Grey, as far south as Point Grey Secondary School on West 37th Avenue in Kerrisdale, and as far east as Pandora Park on Nanaimo Street near Hastings Street.

Since 2019, UBC has been served by a public bike share service operated by HOPR, which is owned by Cyclehop LLC — the same company that operates Mobi. HOPR currently has a fleet of 200 bikes and 80 designated bike share hubs, which are marked parking zones, unlike the physical docking station equipment of Mobi.

Discounted annual memberships are already available for UBC students, faculty, staff, and neighbourhood residents for Mobi’s service area within the City of Vancouver.

The expansion of Mobi to the UBC campus represents the system’s first expansion outside of the jurisdiction of the City of Vancouver, which spearheaded and provided funding for the system’s initial launch in 2016.

A marked parking zone for HOPR bike share at UBC Wesbrook Village. (Wesbrook Village)

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