They do it in Montreal, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Washington, Paris and... Jasper?

Jasper Town Council is gearing up to possibly implement a public bike sharing program. 

The bikes, which will be available to anyone with a credit card or who joins a bike share club, would be found at solar powered, wireless internet connected docking pods around town. The town would buy 160 bikes, durable enough for a trip to Jasper Park Lodge, but not for a trip up the Bench, and 240 docking stations. The same brand of bike is currently being used in a bike sharing program in Montreal.

“A public bike share program in Jasper would be a significant and very visible green transportation initiative showcasing Jasper as a leader in environment practices,” reads a town document on the matter. “An inexpensive public bike share program in Jasper would reduce the number of vehicles driving in and around Jasper.” This would lessen traffic, gas consumption, GHG emissions and make for cleaner air, the document reads.

While nothing about the program is set in stone, Jasper Town Council will vote on whether they should pursue a Federation of Canadian Municipalities grant and low interest loan to help pay for the program at their May 4 meeting. If the money for the program is made available, the likelihood that it goes forwards increases. That money would total about $310,000 (most of it in loan form) with an additional $312,000 coming from the town’s reserves for next year.

If the program’s momentum continues forwards, the town could roll out the bikes during the summer of 2011.

Still, some people in Jasper are less than happy about the potential program.

“My business tax dollars are going into a program that is going to be directly competing with my business,” said Wendy Hall, owner of Freewheel Cycle in Jasper.

While she supports the idea of getting more people onto bikes, she wonders why the town is providing a service that Freewheel and other bike shops already provide.

Part of the reason may be cost. According to town documents, the cost of renting a bike for the day will be $5. The town claims that this money will be used to maintain and run the program and will not be providing any sort of profit to town coffers.

The cost of renting a Kona road bike from Freewheel is $32 for the day; a significant difference.

“They’re undercutting us, really,” said Hall.

Several bike renters in town, including Freewheel, maintain that renting bikes to people who only use them around town is an important part of their business. Losing that revenue stream would hurt.

Hall also maintains that her prices pay for service that the town is not able to offer. Her staff can give advice on safety, the best trails for riding in the area and her bikes are guaranteed to be fully serviced and ready to ride smooth.

“It’s a safety issue, really,” said Manabu Saito, the owner of Vicious Cycle in Jasper. “The people who rent these bikes are likely going to be trashing them really hard. My staff can service the bikes we rent, but for the town to do it .... it just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Both Hall and Saito said they were open to the idea of getting more people onto bikes and that the town should encourage people to ride. They don’t like the idea of the town becoming a provider of bikes when sources already exist. Both said the town would be better off spending money on things like bike racks.

Janet Cooper, environmental stewardship coordinator for the town, said the town will hold a series of consultation meetings with local businesses about how to properly structure the rental program. 

She also said that the town was open to having one of the businesses run the program (some owners have said they will fight tooth and nail for the right to run the program).

“Council is very sensitive to the interests of the business community. We will be consulting them extensively,” Cooper said.

However, David J. Whitson, a professor of political science who specializes in sport, culture and public policy at the University of Alberta, said that the town might not be able to please everyone. He said perhaps the town could organize the plan so that residents paid a lower cost than tourists for using the bikes, which could make businesses happier.

But he said the town may have to decide that providing cheap bikes to people is worth the cost of making business owners angry.

“I would bite that bullet,” he said. “It’s unfortunate for some businesses, but the public policy goals of encouraging more people to use bicycles... reducing carbon footprints and easing the strains on public parking, that all seems worth it.”

He said that most locations that have tried bike sharing programs haven’t had to encounter skeptical business owners.

“Try renting a bike in Edmonton these days. It’s just impossible. This problem seems like something that’s isolated to tourist towns,” he said.