CBC Report: Calgary Getting eBike Sharing Service

November 1 2018 MEDIA COVERAGE

The CBC has reported that Calgary plans to bring in a city-wide electric bike sharing service this week owned by U.S. company Lime. It joins a handful of similar electric bicycle offerings in Canada, including one in Montreal that runs under the Bixi brand.

The difference between Lime and Bixi is that the 375 Lime ebikes will be dockless, meaning once a customer has finished a ride, they can leave the self-locking bike anywhere within the home area, whether on the sidewalk, a parking garage, etc. It’s then available for another user to rent by the minute. The whole model is similar to Car2Go in that a mobile app is required to determine the ebike’s location and then to unlock it.

The CBC goes on to quote Scott Harvey, Lime’s operations manager for Calgary, who spoke of his “commitment to reducing barriers for active modes of transportation and are looking forward to helping empower Calgarians with this greener, more efficient, and affordable transportation options.”

There are only a handful of electric bike sharing services throughout Canada including the Bixi model in Montreal, as seen in the video above.

After reading the CBC story, a friend called us here at Pedego Canada to ask us our thoughts about the electric bike sharing services. We only had one thing to say: They’re great!

Some might assume that services such as Lime and Bixi are disruptive to our business model but in fact it’s the complete opposite. Our goal is to get more people out of cars and off their couches and riding electric bikes. And Lime and Bixi do exactly that.

Tourists to Calgary and even residents will now have the opportunity to experience how much fun electric bicycles actually are and they only have to rent by the minute to do it. Of course, if you’re planning on spending an hour or more on the ebike, we suggest you rent one at Pedego Calgary because it will be cheaper and there’s more variety to choose from. Likewise, if you’re going to use the dockless ebikes regularly, we recommend you purchase your own electric bike from Pedego Calgary.

Vancouver is the next Canadian city that’s looking at an electric bike sharing service and Victoria may not be far behind. For residents and visitors to those cities, we encourage you to enjoy taking those electric bikes for a spin to see how much fun they are. But again, if you’re planning on a trip longer than an hour, consider renting electric bikes instead at Pedego Vancouver and Pedego Victoria.

Alternatively, drop into the stores and enjoy free test rides and chat with the owners and staff about what makes a great ebike. You may find that you like them so much, you need to have one of your own.

No matter what you decide, though, we guarantee you’re going to have fun.

The lime green Interceptor electric cruiser bike with Calgary in the background.