Bike to Shop
About Bike to Shop
From August 7 - 20, 2021, 119 local businesses in 20 neighbourhoods across Metro Vancouver offered amazing freebies and sweet deals for people biking to their businesses. Half of the neighbourhoods took part from August 7 - 13 and the other half from August 14 - 20 - plenty of opportunities to explore!
In-person events are BACK! We hosted 11 Knowledge HUBs around the region where people stopped by for free bike fix-ups, snacks, bike information, giveaways, engaged with the local community and entered to win great prizes.
Bike to Shop registration is always 100% free. Thank you for showing our businesses and decision-makers how important cycling is for local businesses and for the community.
Check out the blog about the thousands of people that biked to shop this year!
Why would you bike to shop?
Bike to Shop showcases the positive relationship between biking and business, and that biking is good for business and community. We encourage and support people that it is easy, fun, and convenient to bike to shop. This includes overcoming perceived barriers like how to carry things by bike, lack of knowledge of bike routes to shopping areas, motivation to try for the first time.
HUB Cycling offers online resources, maps and free registration. In different neighbourhoods across Metro Vancouver, local businesses offer free goods and services for those that register and bike by. Some neighbourhoods also have Knowledge HUBs to provide a more visual presence and additional resources (including bike maintenance and maps).
Find out more about the relationship between bikes and business:
Small Businesses are Learning to Love Bike Lanes
Are Bike Lanes Good for Small Business
Article: I turned my office into a cycling cafe
'Part of an evolution': Downtown business partners with cycling group
Neighbourhoods taking part
View map of all neighbourhoods
Week 1 (August 7 - 13):
Vancouver: Granville Island, Hastings North (East Village), Mount Pleasant, Sunset on Fraser, Strathcona, Ontario & 5th, Wesbrook Village at UBC
West Vancouver: Park Royal Shopping Centre
Burnaby: Burnaby Heights
Langley: Langley City
Week 2 (August 14 - 20):
Vancouver: Kits on Broadway, Downtown Vancouver, Richards Street Downtown, Hastings Crossing
Coquitlam: Coquitlam Town Centre, Austin Heights
North Vancouver: Lynn Valley, The Shipyards District
Richmond: Steveston
Port Moody: Port Moody Centre
How to bike to the neighbourhoods
Best and safest routes to visit the Bike to Shop neighbourhoods, check out our great bike map resources at bikehub.ca/maps.
Tips on how to inspect your bicycle or how to plan the best route to your favourite shops, check out HUB's free online educational resource called StreetWise Cycling Online! Learn how to get started at bikehub.ca/swco
If you’re entirely new to biking to shop, don’t fret! Follow HUB Cycling on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for tips and tricks on how to easily make cycling to shops a part of your routine, or check out The Commuter Bike Shopper’s Checklist or How to Shop by Bike.
No bike? No problem. Mobi by Shaw Go is offering free 24H passes on August 8, 13-16. Use promo code mobi2shop. Take as many 30 minute (or less) rides as you want in 4 hours. Rides longer than 30 minutes incur overage fees.
How do I participate as a business?
Thank you to all the businesses that participated in Bike to Shop - we truly couldn't do it without you! Participating businesses are required to report their results by Friday, August 27th. Click below to complete the business reporting form.
Questions? Contact outreach@bikehub.ca.
Prizes
There are loads of great prizes to win during Bike to Shop.
Early Bird Prize - Register before July 30 for a chance to win a $50 Compass Card from TransLink
Knowledge HUBs - All of our Knowledge HUBs have their own prize draws. Check out the full schedule to find a Knowledge HUB in your community.
Social media prize - Win a $100 gift card to Whole Foods. Details to come.
Volunteer prizes - Volunteer at one of our Knowledge HUBs for a chance to win a swag bag from TransLink and Let's Go Biking
Post-event survey prize - Submit this survey for a chance to win a gift basket from Left Coast Naturals
Help spread the word
Help spread the word about Bike to Shop! Share ways that you like to bike to shop, products that make it easy to do so or your favourite bike-friendly businesses with us on social media Don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtags: #BikeToShop and #Bike2Shop.
Check out our Bike to Shop media kit for social media posts, newsletter posts, and graphics that you can use to promote the event, and help get more people to your business.
If you're using our email signature graphic, we recommend adding the URL ‘bikehub.ca/biketoshop’ to the image in your email signature so that when it is clicked from someone's email signature, it takes you directly to the registration page.
Collaborate or Volunteer
Collaborate
We would love your organization or business to get involved in Bike to Shop. Please contact Kate Shen here if your organization would like to donate pre-packaged snacks for our Knowledge HUB Stations or donate prizes (valued at $50-$100).
Volunteers
Thank you to everyone who volunteered for Bike to Shop! To keep up to date with other volunteer opportunities, subscribe to our volunteer callout newsletter here.
Secure Bike Parking Options
One of the biggest deterrents to getting more people cycling is the fear that their bike will get stolen.
Park your bike near your closest bus stop or station at a bike parkade or bring it with you on transit (100% of TransLink's fleet is accessible to bikes). Three different types of bike parking are available at SkyTrain stations, bus exchanges, and West Coast Express stations across Metro Vancouver.
1. Bike Lockers
Reserved locker for your bike. Available at most SkyTrain stations and some bus exchanges. Learn More.
This just in! TransLink is set to install solar-powered on-demand bike lockers at six transit hubs in Metro Vancouver, including SkyTrain stations. Two of the locations are Langley's Carvolth Exchange and Port Moody's Moody Centre Station. Read more here.
2. Bike Racks
Standard outdoor racks for locking your bike up. Available at all SkyTrain stations and most bus exchanges. Learn More.
3. Bike Parkades
To make shopping by bike even easier, TransLink has built bike parkades so now you can park your bike and hop on the SkyTrain! Located at Main Street–Science World, King Edward, Commercial–Broadway, Joyce–Collingwood, Metrotown, Maple Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Bridgeport, Lafarge Lake-Douglas, Burquitlam and King George stations. Bike Parkades are indoor parking facilities where customers can lock up their bike for the day. Learn More.
4. The Bicycle Valet
The Bicycle Valet offers FREE bike parking at three locations across Metro Vancouver. Two of the locations are near our Bike to Shop neighbourhoods: Granville Island and Main-Broadway. Just like a coat-check, they’ll tag your bike and provide you with a claim stub to pick up your bike later on.
Thank You to our incredible Sponsors!
Thank You to our incredible Supporters!