November 24, 2018 (Calgary, AB) – LimeBikes new bike sharing dockless program has arrived in Calgary with a fleet of 375 lime green pedal-assist electric bikes launched in the downtown core at the end of October reports Global News and the Calgary Herald, with no cost to the city.

Lime is a worldwide company with hundreds of locations, including cities and university campuses, already using their unique bike-share system that does not utilize a traditional docking platform to park and charge the bikes.

The first phase of Lime’s program in Calgary will initially blanket the city’s core with more bikes planned in the spring. The bikes are located and rented by using a Smartphone App that unlocks the bike and then tracks the user’s riding distance. The App then charges based on the mileage. Users can drop off the bikes anywhere in a central city zone during the pilot program.

According to reports the new eBikes have been a hit with Calgarians, as 2,769 riders have tried them out in the first week. Lime expects ridership to drop over the winter, but hopes to see numbers rise and fall with the temperature as Calgary’s warm Chinook winds could see   upward spikes.

Lime hires local crews to pick up the bikes and service / charge them aiming not to let any bike fall below a 40% charge level. In this way they create jobs, promote mobility and enhance tourism locally which makes the program favourable to cities like Calgary.

Riders do need to provide and wear their own helmet when using the new bike share system. As part of the Calgary launch, Lime gave away 120 helmets and plans to give away more product during future phases as they roll out the program.

Apparently four units were vandalized but Scott Harvey, operations manager of Lime Calgary noted that people occasionally try to salvage parts. “Often times people are trying to gain themselves a free electric bike or maybe recycle the battery,” Harvey told Global News. “But all the components of the bike work together and once they’re separated from each other they become virtually useless.”

Calgary’s successful car share program, car2go, signaled that the city is ready for more transportation sharing systems. With inner city bike lane infrastructure in place, Lime looks like it is ready to succeed. The pilot program will run until 2020 and expand in the future. Another company ULock, also approved by the city, is slated to come on board next spring.

Global News here.

Calgary Herald here.

Lime Bikes here.