E-bike Sharing is Launched in New Westminster

Late August, the City of New Westminster launched an e-bike sharing program. They started with 80 e-bikes with stands from uptown to downtown and from from 12 Street to 2nd Street.

Susan Millar – Local Journalism Initiative

The uptake was immediate. In the first week, 500 people used the city's e-bikes despite unpleasant weather. It was a good surprise for the city to see that the launch was so successful.

In this program, senior transportation planner Gavin Hermanson explained the plans for rolling out the e-bike system in every corner of the city. By fall, it's expected that there will be many more e-bikes and stations out there.

The e-bikes will be found in areas that are secured by geo-fencing – in other words, you can't see the 'fencing'. The bikes are pretty smart and Gavin showed how you unlock your bike and head out to tackle the city streets. While smart, the e-bikes are easy to use, and they are set up to be accessible to even those with no credit cards.

Hermanson joined the transportation planning group just two years ago, having worked on similar system in other cities. He explains all the aspects that were considered in setting up the system, which is now run by a service provider called Lime – they service cities across North America.