Edmontonians may soon be able to go for a ride on a bike rented through an app.
The city is currently in the process of setting permits for companies to bring bike sharing to Edmonton.
A company named Lime is running a pilot project in Calgary, and it has its eyes set on Alberta’s capital.
“You can ride them year-round, even in the winter in Calgary, and we’d look obviously to do the same in Edmonton,” Lime Senior Director of Strategic Development told CTV News. “It’s intended to get people out of cars and more active on the existing bicycling infrastructure the city already has.”
Edmontonians do pedal around in the winter, though not as much as in summer. Data gathered by the city revealed about 900 bikes pass through a censor located downtown. That number goes down to about 200 per day during the snowy months.
Ward 1 Councillor Andrew Knack is confident bike sharing would work in Edmonton, no matter the weather.
“Have the studded tires with the fat tires on there as well,” Knack, who bikes in the winter, told CTV News. “People just want a choice in how they move throughout the city, so I think there’s going to be a fairly large market for this.”
The bike sharing rules could be in place by June.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
