Banff Town Council
Welcome members of the Banff Town Council and authorized stakeholders. This private page has been created to inform you about our proposed e-bike solution to the town's tourism and traffic challenges. We hope you enjoy reading our proposal and we welcome your feedback and suggestions for partnering with Banff in 2026.
Recommended Due Diligence Plan
In an effort to educate and keep you informed about the progress of this project, we have created this landing page and associated links to assist you with your research. This page will be a work in progress so do check back occasionally for updates. We attended the town council meeting on February 10, 2026 and presented our exciting proposal to you. We hope we gained your interest in our proposal and we welcome a letter of support from the city approving our plan to launch this project on or about May 1, 2026 for the upcoming tourist season.
Below you will find a copy of the latest PowerPoint Show and PDF version that was featured that day and subsequently updated with new data and some refinements. Feel free to view it again here and prepare any questions for us you may have.
The feedback form at the bottom of the page is a quick way for you to get in touch.
Critical Questions to be Answered
Q: Is ReeBike a peer-to-peer marketplace like AirBnB or Turo? A: No! The ReeBike Mobility Solutions (RMS) model is NOT a peer-to-peer marketplace, nor is it a Turo-style management arrangement. Rather, it operates under a limited liability Joint Venture (JV) structure, an extremely common form of business organization that consists of two or more individuals or businesses coming together for a common business purpose to make a profit from their collective efforts and financial contributions. A Joint Venture Ownership Pool (JVOP) bundles together multiple JV participants, commonly referred to as Joint Venture Equity Partners (JVEP’s), who all agree to fund the purchase of several e-bikes (such as the Okai EB300) and related accessories through the purchase of Royalty Units (RU) in the JVOP. Each RU represents a pro-rated share of the monthly JVOP net revenue from the operation of all bikes in the pool. RU holders have no underlying claim to the assets of the pool but only to a pro-rated share of the net receipts from the JVOP. RMS raises and holds “in trust” sufficient capital from the JVEP’s until a container load of bikes and accessories can be ordered from the suppliers (100 minimum units) and delivered to the operating theatre of the JVOP. In some situations, where any available post-purchase rebates or incentives are offered by town council to either local resident “bike sponsors”, JVEP’s, or directly to the JVOP itself, legal ownership of each e-bike unit is formally held by the JVOP. Council can set the rebate qualification terms as desired. From that moment on, each e-bike forms part of a centrally managed commercial fleet and is rented exclusively through licensed rental “host” outlets (e.g. bike shops and hotels) under RMS’s control, not by individuals acting from their private dwellings as with peer-to-peer operations. Importantly, all revenue, pricing, insurance, safety standards, and booking processes are handled by RMS and its licensed rental partners, not by individual owners or JVEP’s. The JVOP participants are more akin to limited business partners in a professionally managed fleet than to hosts on a peer-to-peer platform. They DO NOT set their own rental terms, negotiate directly with guests, hand over rentals to guests, or operate as independent rental businesses. However, this does not preclude employees or contractors of licensed hosts from being JVEP’s nor of JVEP’s subsequently working for such hosts. The roles are mutually exclusive. This structure should address the valid concern about "shadow rental operations" popping up in residential areas, which is at the heart of the peer-to-peer or Turo-model objection.
Q: How can the town of Banff ensure that the proposed $500 resident e-bike subsidy is really used for the intended purpose and that the bikes are used only in Banff, and are not simply purchased by outsider friends of residents at taxpayer expense? A: Under its current plan, there is no realistic way to guarantee that town residents purchase the bikes for themselves and then keep and use the bikes exclusively in Banff. The system is heavily flawed and open to abuse. Rather than residents buying and maintaining their own bikes, ReeBike Mobility Solutions (RMS) proposes to pool all subsidized e-bikes and then geofence them with app-controlled software. This ensures that all e-bikes can only be activated and used within the town of Banff and approved areas. These resident “sponsors” then rent ReeBikes at a heavily discounted rate of 75% off using their unique sponsor code. Sponsors must apply for the subsidy with forms approved by Banff and must agree to specific terms and conditions such as annual proof of residency and not-sharing of their discount codes. In lieu of self-purchasing a $2000 e-bike, sponsors effectively assign the subsidy to RMS for use in the Joint Venture Ownership Pool (JVOP) to purchase the e-bike inventory and related accessories. Resident sponsors thus avoid the costly $25/mo Atommobility software fee that is needed to geofence the bike. ReeBike usage increases since more riders will be able to utilize the bikes daily and the resident sponsors will enjoy fresh inventory, no maintenance costs, and $0 software fees. The only requirement will be a subscription to a Banff - Annual Bike Sponsor Membership with ReeBike which will require ongoing proof of residency to qualify. Sponsors will have the privilege of renting ReeBikes by the minute and not worry about returning the e-bike to the original host location. This encourages daily use of the bikes and accomplishes the original goal of the subsidy as set out by Banff. We then manage the balancing to shuttle inventory where needed. This is truly a win-win-win scenario for all involved.
Q: Should the town offer the $500 e-bike subsidy to residents without participation in the ReeBike Joint Venture Ownership Pool (JVOP)? A: That depends on whether or not the town wishes to ensure that the bikes stay and get used in Banff exclusively. If yes, then residents will be required to have the bikes geofenced with the Atommobility or equivalent software. Subscriptions to the needed app-controlled software typically run about $25/mo per bike. It is doubtful that residents would agree to such a requirement for long without turning off the commercial use software and running the bikes as unrestricted. If council is not concerned about whether or not the subsidy is truly used for local bike purchases and restricted to in-town use only, then it must be prepared for potential abuse of the system by non-locals. As a service to the town, RMS can offer to order these bikes for interested residents at a discounted rate. This will also help residents to save on the collective shipping costs. The minimum container size order is 100 e-bikes.
Additional Resources to Review
