Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The Canadian comedian running a free bike hire scheme for performers

Dion Owen, who lives in Montreal, Quebec, where he runs a bike maintenance shop alongside his comedy career, is in his third year running the Cyclopath Free Bike Programme for Fringe Artists. The scheme involves him renovating dozens of used bikes to hand out to artists and producers during the festival season.

He said he was set to give out around 120 bikes this year, up from 70 last year. However, he has had more than 300 requests from would-be cyclists.

Mr Owen estimates the scheme removes thousands of car trips from city roads and saves artists thousands of pounds in public transport and taxi fares.

He said: “The programme has successfully supported artists of diverse ages, experience levels and cycling abilities, including those who required custom-built balance bikes to participate.

“Most artists lose money coming here. We try to gear our offer towards those who are facing financial barriers. For those young, ambitious artists who are doing numerous shows a day, it’s invaluable for them to be able to get around - they get there in two minutes. Others are taking their kids around Edinburgh, they can cycle past the beautiful lake near Arthur’s Seat, it’s wonderful.

“My favourite quote from last year was a lady who told me when she returned her bike ‘the Fringe was awful. I lost a lot of money, but the bike was amazing’.”

Mr Owne added: “It's just a lovely way to get around in the city. Also, it is good for people's mental health.”

This week, Edinburgh City Council revealed a “soft launch” of its own cycle hire scheme of electric bikes, set to be brought in four years after a previous system, known as Just Eat bikes, collapsed due to a range of issues.

Mr Owen, who funds his scheme through £1,000 from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, with additional match funding from The Counting House, where he uses buildings to store his bikes and also performs his comedy sets, said more was required to expand the organisation to meet demand.

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Working in partnership with the Bike Station, Mr Owen, who has a bike themed show, Cyclopath - Stand Up and Songs, hires a second mechanic to help work on the renovated machines.

He said he hoped any increase in funding could see him hire a storage facility, where the bikes could be stored year round and potentially utilised by the Bike Station in between Fringe seasons.

“It seems the demand is there for at least 300 bikes that are stored year round and they could be loaned out to members of the Scottish community, but then during [the] Fringe would be made available. So I'm trying to find funding and a location specifically to be able to store the bikes. The fleet could slowly build.”

Under the council-led scheme, a small number of dockless electric hire bikes are expected to be on city streets by the week of August 18, with the scheme expanding from there. It is understood two companies, Dott and Lime, are in the running to operate the city’s cycle hire service, both of which operate similar schemes across the UK.