Bellingham plans to add bike lockers at two places downtown. Here’s how much they cost to use

Bellingham will be getting bike lockers downtown, according to a proposal up for City Council consideration on Monday.

A total of 14 bike lockers are planned, six near the Commercial Street parking garage and eight near Whatcom Transportation Authority bus station and Railroad and Magnolia streets.

Cost of the lockers is $44,000, and they are about $5,000 to install, said Natalie Monro of the Public Works Department.

There’s been demand for secure bike storage downtown, where 182 bicycles were reported stolen in 2023, according to a report at the city’s website.

“We are starting with 14 lockers, but if the program is successful, we could consider adding more later,” Monro said in an email.

Funds collected from bike locker fees will go to the parking fund, which pays for downtown cleaning and decorations, she said.

To use the lockers, cyclists can download the mobile app Movatic and start an account by loading $5.

Cost to park a bike in the locker is 5 cents per hour for up to 10 days, and 12 cents per hour after time expires. There’s a 6% transaction fee and a 30 cent fee per transaction, according to information about the program at the city’s website.

“Basically, we are asking people to pre-load $5 into their account, then the rental rates would pay out of that until it needs to be charged up again. Think of it like a Starbucks gift card — you put money on the card and buy coffee with it until you need to add more to the account,” Monro said.