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Company spokesman Taylor Bennett said ofo, which began in China in 2014, is excited to expand north to Canada at some point and has Vancouver in mind.

“You do have the urban density that we’re looking for and it’s also just … the culture,” Bennett said. “Vancouver is a bike-friendly city. It’s one that I think recognizes the value of greener transportation solutions and more affordable and reliable ways to get around.”

Lime said it has no expansion plans to share for Vancouver at this time, and Bird said it couldn’t comment on future growth.

Photo by Elliot Ferguson / Elliot Ferguson/Whig-Standard

Vancouver currently has one bike-share program: Mobi by Shaw Go, which started in 2016 and has more than 1,400 bicycles and almost 150 solar-powered stations from Mount Pleasant to downtown, and is expanding. Mobi is owned and operated by Vancouver Bike Share Inc., and supported by the city.

The program has more than 75,000 users and has provided more than 900,000 rides to date.

The introduction of dockless bikes and scooters is a prospect for which the city says it’s prepared. Scott Edwards, Vancouver’s manager of public bike share, has monitored the industry for the past few years, and been in touch with companies running the programs.

Edwards said the city isn’t closed to the idea of dockless bikes and scooters, but is happy with the docked system it currently has, which allows it to balance transportation and land-use interests.

“Of course the city is excited about supporting sustainable mobility and these different platforms will help to provide transportation choices for people, but there’s a bit of a balance we want to ensure is maintained, and part of that is the use of public space and managing the public realm,” Edwards said. “One of the lessons learned from other cities and peer cities is that there is the potential to negatively impact other users, particularly pedestrians and those with accessibility needs.”