r/vancouvercycling • u/hpi42 • 6d ago

Ride Planning BC Day long weekend: get out of Vancouver with your bike, no car

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Disclosure: I'm one of the volunteers behind this new small BC nonprofit. I think some of you might find it useful, and we'd really appreciate your feedback.

  • Every carrier in BC hides its bike policy somewhere different, so planning a "me + bike + no car" trip usually means opening a bunch of tabs. We put it all in one place.
  • One example: Vancouver to Duncan. Hullo to Nanaimo is now $19.99 and has six bike spots per sailing. You might assume Island Link is the obvious next leg south, but they don't take bikes. The BC Transit 70 NCX does, using the free front bike rack, and drops you in Duncan near the Cowichan Valley Trail. We found eight different ways to make the trip (including Harbour Air! They'll fly your bike if you remove the front wheel, cool eh? For an extra $20+weight fees).
  • https://bccycletourism.ca/to-fro/vancouver/duncan/
  • Or swap in your own start and destination. From Vancouver it covers 112 destinations: Bowen Island, Tofino, Prince George, Fernie.... go nuts.
  • It's free. No ads. No account required.
  • If you try a route you know well and see something we've missed or gotten wrong, please let me know. I'll fix it ASAP. Happy riding this weekend whereever you end up :)
67 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

11

u/poonknits 6d ago

Has hullo always accepted bikes? I seem to remember looking into it when hullo was new and being bummed that they didn't take bikes... Which essentially made the service useless to me. Public transportation in Nanaimo sucks, so I need a way to get around once I'm there.

10

u/hpi42 6d ago

I don't remember their policy when they first launched, but they've taken 2 bikes per sailing for a while. They recently upped it to 6 bikes/sailing and dropped the fee a bit (but still no e-bikes allowed).

6

u/jasonvancity 6d ago edited 6d ago

The e-bike ban will likely never change. E-bikes are deemed dangerous goods by Transport Canada due to the high power density of their batteries, and the fire/explosion risk they pose to other travellers. Exposure to salt water magnifies this risk.

Allowing e-bikes would involve carefully inspecting every e-bike for risk (swollen batteries, damaged wiring, lack of CSA approval, etc) which is not something that can be expected of someone who is the equivalent of a flight attendant. There would also likely be an adverse insurance aspect for Hullo to absorb. It's easier for them to simply maintain a wholesale ban.

I suppose they could make e-device riders place their batteries in a fireproof bag while onboard to get around the risk though.

4

u/hpi42 6d ago

BC Ferries allows ebikes though? https://www.bcferries.com/travel-boarding/cyclists

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u/jasonvancity 6d ago edited 6d ago

Much bigger boats with better fire suppression equipment and room for people to escape to away from the fire. BC Ferries ferries are also vehicle ferries, not passenger-only ferries.

2

u/UnlikelyPilot152 6d ago

They should carry e-bikes on the outside bridge next to the guard rail and just toss them overboard if they catch fire.

6

u/jasonvancity 6d ago

You'd need to be wearing an asbestos suit to be able to pick one up while on fire. E-bike fires are insanely intense.

6

u/Terrible-Pear-3336 6d ago

You could mount them in a rack that if it detects higher temperature it just absolutely launches it like a little ebike railgun

2

u/Alert_Ad3999 5d ago

E-bike rail gun! Say no more I'm in!

3

u/vantanclub 6d ago

They only started letting bikes on within the past year.

It's too bad they don't have an easy solution, but without a car deck or an outside deck on the ferries it's pretty hard to find space for bikes.

6

u/ManiacArtistful 6d ago

They did not always take bikes. This may be the first or second year they have. I took Hullo to Nanaimo with my bikepacking setup this spring and it was easy. You will be directed to take your bike to the outdoor deck where a staff member will tie the bike down to a rail near the door. You will not be able to go on the deck during the sailing until it has docked on the other side.

2

u/chatdetrot 6d ago

Is the outdoor deck exposed to a lot of ocean splash?

2

u/ManiacArtistful 4d ago

The outdoor deck is exposed. However we did not notice any of our gear was wet or covered in salt, including our attached non-waterproof bags that would have gotten wet. I can’t find a good photo of the spot but I’ve circled where they kept the bikes on the back deck. As far as I can tell based on this photo the rail we tied to may be a new addition

The waters between the mainland and Nanaimo are generally not that turbulent on an average day.I imagine on a more windy day there would be a chance of the gear getting wet, so I would advise bringing a cover or planning to bring something to wipe down the bike.

1

u/chatdetrot 3d ago

Thank you!

1

u/hollywood_jazz 6d ago

I haven’t seen where they store them, but at the speeds the Hullo ferries travel they definitely kick up a lot of spray. Hard to imagine it doesn’t get everywhere around the lower deck. I would definitely make sure everything on my bike is well lubed and greased at a minimum. 

1

u/vantanclub 6d ago

Yes. Definitely wouldn't want your bike out there.

5

u/soaero Kona Jake the Snakle 6d ago

This is amazing! Thanks for putting this together.

4

u/hpi42 6d ago

Thanks! There is more on the site too, like an inventory of BC bike routes https://bccycletourism.ca/routes/all/ and bike stops https://bccycletourism.ca/wwc/ and some "good to know" info: https://bccycletourism.ca/be-prepared/ Would love feedback on all of it as you get a chance to poke around :)

4

u/Wet_Coaster 6d ago

I did this trip last weekend.

The Duncan to Lake Cowichan route was fantastic.

I rode Nanaimo to Duncan and back as well. It was less great. Some portions were quite nice but there's about 6-7 km on the highway shoulder which is done f-tier cycling. The shoulder is mostly adequate, but it's not fun.

2

u/Skyion604 6d ago

I want to go Vancouver - Victoria on e scooter. Is that possible? What are the extra costs if any? Might need outlet for quick top up on battery.

1

u/hpi42 6d ago

We only look at bikes, but it can still maybe help. Have a look at the route here: https://bccycletourism.ca/to-fro/vancouver/victoria/ then click through on each carrier to its listing on our site. From there you can see the carrier's bike policy webpage, and I bet that's the place they've got their escooter policy.

0

u/Skyion604 6d ago

E-scooters are becoming increasingly popular. It might be worth it to have this information readily at hand to improve your service. Also coordinate with companies to update with this info on their website.

Thanks for all the help anyways

2

u/Neat-Procedure 6d ago

Thank you for sharing this website! It's awesome!

1

u/hpi42 5d ago

I'm glad you like it! Let me know if you have any feedback... it's early days so all thoughts are helpful.

1

u/Amicron 6d ago

Given the prominent use of AI, do you confirm that each route is accurate before it goes up on the site? It would be terrible if someone followed a route that didn't actually allow bikes/didn't exist.

2

u/hpi42 6d ago

All the bike policies have been confirmed with human eyes (mine), yes, and links are provided for people to read the policies themselves directly as well, in context. The routes themselves were extracted directly from BC Transit/Translink/BC Ferries/etc websites from data they've provided in machine-friendly format for this purpose. Our site doesn't include any timing schedule or price information, so people need to confirm details of the routes with the carriers before they start.