Ottawa kids may soon be able to borrow a bike like they'd borrow a book.

Charles Burke and Justin Hall are two McMaster University students who created Start The Cycle, a library bike rental program aimed at getting more children riding bicycles.

And they want to bring the unique Hamilton-based program to the nation's capital.

"We want to bring it to Ottawa, like now," said Burke, who used to live in Ottawa. "Kids are already in a library for school projects, this is just an added draw to go."

Burke, 34, and Hall, 25, are both transportation planning Ph.D. and Master's students at McMaster and said the concept was born in the Hamilton, Ont. university's TransLab.

They currently have two active libraries participating - McMaster University and Mohawk College, with plans to expand two more public libraries in Hamilton.

"The bikes aren't actually sitting on shelves, but helmets are and the bikes are sitting outside," said Hall. "Right now you can take the bike out for 48 hours or over a weekend."

All bikes have been provided free of charge from the Canadian Tire jump-start program and other donors. And the program works with local bike shops to also help adopt the program and take care of the bike repairs. The only obligation of the library is to store the bikes and check them out.

Vivian Lewis, McMaster's librarian said she's an enthusiastic supporters of the bike library both as a service and as a social experiment.

"The helmets have been flying off the shelves and the response from the people using the service has been very positive. For us, the opportunity to work with a student group on a project with broad social impact has been tremendous."

And the guys feel they're onto something special as well.

"When we were coming up with the idea, we said 'how can we create the next generation of cyclist?'" said Burke. "You have to provide access to bikes to kids at a young age, so they grow up riding. And then they'll keep with it the rest of their lives."

The pair are currently trying to spark the interest of the Ottawa Public Library and show the bike-crazy city why the program is a no-brainer.

"This is going to get young people cycling in Ottawa," said Hall. "Ottawa is such a great city for it because it's constantly ranked high as a cycling city. We want to make sure as many Ottawa citizens are using as many bikes as possible."

The Ottawa Public Library currently has a summer bike-borrowing program for adults to commute to work.

But nothing similar to Start The Cycle's concept.

OPL said the idea is still "very fresh", as Start The Cycle just reached out to them on Mar. 4.

"There hasn't been a commitment to that program yet," said Anna Basile, Manager, Planning & Board Support at OPL. "We are asking them some questions and we'll take it from there. But it sounds like a neat idea."

Start The Cycle, which just started under a year ago, is already expanding to new locations.

Burke said by June, the program will have grown to six libraries including locations in Toronto and U.S. that can't be confirmed.

"We also have interest from a library in Williamsburg, VA. We're expanding beyond anything we could imagine ourselves," said Burke.

Twitter: @Keaton_Robbins