Vancouver property taxpayers, prepare for the latest Vision Vancouver money pit to open up beneath you.

City Council will vote next week (as if there’s any doubt when it comes to Vision shoveling money out the door on bike projects) to spend at least $7 million upfront, plus $500,000 a year to start a bike share program in downtown Vancouver, and forgo $800,000 a year in parking revenue. That’s $13.5 million over five years for 1,500 bikes – or $9,000 per bicycle!

And for what? The City’s staff report notes that New York City launched its public bike program this year, and NYC projects the system will cut 9,000 daily car trips. Sounds like a lot, but it isn’t: NYC’s program has four times the number of bikes and twice as many residents live in Manhattan as in all of Vancouver. The same Vancouver planning staff claim 9,700 car trips will be eliminated by converting Point Grey Road to bikes only – so clearly reducing car use isn’t much of a reason to support the bike share.

Council will claim they won’t put more money into the system, but when it fails (and it will, if helmet-mandatory jurisdictions like Melbourne and Brisbane – and cost overruns in Montreal and other cities – are any indication), you can bet Vision will fold like a cheap tent and pump more millions into the system.

Of course, Council will approve it next week. Gotta keep up with the bicycle Joneses in other cities – no matter the cost to the overburdened taxpayer.