Vancouver city council has voted unanimously to spend $25 million over the next two years to build 55 kilometres of new bike lanes as part of a 10-year plan.

About four per-cent of commuters use bikes, but Mayor Gregor Robertson is hoping the investment will attract more people to hop on their bikes.

"The city had a goal to have 10 per cent of people riding by 2010, and we did not hit that. We got stuck at about four per cent some years ago, because there wasn't any investment in infrastructure," said Robertson.

"I'd like us to hit that ten per cent mark. It may take five or 10 years to get there, but we'll make a significant investment over the next two years and track the numbers really closely to see how close we are," said Robertson.

The city says the $25-million dollar outlay equals about a third of what will be spent on roads and bridges over the same period.

The plan includes cash for additional bike parking, a new east-to-west bike route along 45th Avenue, better connections to the Canada Line, and a trial of fully separated bike lanes along some busy routes.

In the past year the city has already added bike lanes to the Burrard Street Bridge and the Dunsmuir Viaduct, raising the total to about 415 kilometres of bike lanes already in Vancouver.