The City of Victoria is seeking vendors to apply to set up a “coat check” style bike valet service for the summer.
This project is part of the city’s goal to increase sustainable transportation by enhancing bike parking services.
“The City is requesting proposals from Qualified Proponents to provide, operate, promote, maintain and evaluate a bicycle valet pilot project located within the downtown core,” the request for proposal document says. “This RFP is focused on offering a ‘coat check’ style valet service that consists of a staffed, secured area with established operating hours for bicycle parking.”
The document says any services must accommodate all kinds of bikes, including e-bikes, cargo bikes, recumbent and/or other types of adaptive bicycles, as well as personal mobility scooters, walkers, strollers, and skateboards.
The bike valet service can be set up at the Undercroft, which is under the antechamber at City Hall, or at a privately-owned site in the downtown core.
As part of the bicycle valet, the city says the service must also promote and facilitate registration with Project 529, which is a bicycle registration service that helps people send alerts if a bicycle is stolen.
Since this is a pilot project, the application document says a successful operator would have to provide monthly information, including total number of bikes parked, average length of time parked, types of parked devices, number of Project 529 registrations, voluntary tips received, and photos of the operations, site and patrons.
The city says a successful applicant should commit to running the service between June 15 and Oct. 31.
The deadline to apply for this proposal is May 5 at noon.
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Laura Brougham
