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B.C.’s first public bike share program is just two weeks into its soft launch and already has drawn a heftier ridership than many expected — including those running the system.

More than 2,800 people have purchased a collective $315,000 in annual Mobi memberships, giving them access to a few hundred bikes scattered around downtown Vancouver, the system’s area of operation.

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Mia Kohout is the general manager of Vancouver Bike Share, a subsidiary of parent company CycleHop, which received $5 million from the city to run the system for five years. She said she was “totally blown away” by the number of members who have signed on to date.

“It was our hope, obviously, when you launch a system to see numbers like this, but it is beyond what we expected,” Kohout said.

She put the membership numbers in perspective, drawing on experience that CycleHop has had running bike share programs in cities across the United States.