Update - 2;01 p.m.
The head of Dropbike, one of North Americasa国际传媒檚 leading micro-mobility organizations, says the partnership with Kelowna on a pilot project for a new bike share program in the city could be the start of what the company calls sa国际传媒渁 micro-mobility future.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淲ith this partnership with the City of Kelowna, we want to ensure that bike share is made as accessible and affordable as possible to all residents,sa国际传媒� said Qiming Weng, CEO of Dropbike. sa国际传媒淭his program will not only provide a fun and flexible way to move across the city, but it will also serve as a stepping stone to what we call a sa国际传媒榤icro-mobilitysa国际传媒� future.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淥ur goal here is to ensure that our program is organized, reliable, and convenient,sa国际传媒� said Weng. Dropbikes can be parked at specially marked sa国际传媒渉avenssa国际传媒�, or anywhere you would park your own bike with their lock-to technology. Designated parking spots are marked in the app as well as physically.
Dropbike is also offering businesses the opportunity to engage in several different forms of partnership, from providing employees with a bike-share option to get to and from work to bulk memberships and private Haven location.
sa国际传媒淒ropbike offers a great solution for our city sa国际传媒� they are helping further propel environmental stewardship and they are giving residents and businesses across the city a good reason to embrace an active lifestyle,sa国际传媒� said Matt Worona of the City of Kelowna.
sa国际传媒淭he city is looking forward to continuing a strong working partnership with Dropbike and towards an exciting multi-modal future for our residents.sa国际传媒�
Original story:
Itsa国际传媒檚 only been up and running for two weeks, but Kelownasa国际传媒檚 new bicycle share program is off to a roaring success, says the city.
According to project lead Matt Worona, the citysa国际传媒檚 active transportation manager, the Dropbike dockless bike share program, with 180 distinctive orange and white bikes, saw 1,000 rides by 500 individual riders in the first week alone.
He said 1,000 people have downloaded the smart phone app that enables users to unlock and rent the bikes.
The 18-month pilot program is expected to see a ramp up to 500 bikes over the next few months.
The system, which does not use a central docking stand, but instead features the smartphone app that unlocks the back wheel, is currently centred in downtown Kelowna.
Worona said as the city learns more about the program and the desires of users, additional technology will be built into the system. For instance, the ability to allow users to lock and hold their bikes between trips is currently being worked on. That would allow for return journeys.
Currently the system allows for one-way trips but does not give the rider the ability to keep a bike from being taken by another rider with the app who can unlock it.
sa国际传媒淏ut the aim of the program is to never be to far from another bike,sa国际传媒� said Worona, not as is the case in other areas with dockless bike share systems, riders should not expect to return on the same bike they used to start their journey if they stop along the way for any length of time.
As for the roll-out of the program, he said it has been smooth, with only one instance of damagesa国际传媒攎inor breakage of a front light on one bikesa国际传媒� and no thefts. The bikes have GPS units and can be tracked if taken, use non-standard parts so have little salvage value and require the app to release the back wheel.
In addition to the hold feature, Worona said other technology being worked includes the ability to pay in other ways than just by credit card, such as with a credit-debit card and by cash and having information about a ride, such as distance and cost, sent by text to the ridersa国际传媒檚 phone.
Following the pilot project, Kelowna city hall hopes to have enough information to issue a competitive call for proposals for a permanent bike share program in the city, which could be a continuation of the existing Dropbike program or an entirely new program.
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