Lime and Neuron selected to operate e-bike and e-scooter share services in Coquitlam starting this summer

Jun 5 2023, 5:48 pm

The Coquitlam City Centre area will be served by two public e-bike and e-scooter share services starting early this summer as a pilot project.

On Monday, Coquitlam City Council is expected to approve the City of Coquitlam staff’s recommendation to award e-mobility service contracts to multinational giants Lime Technology and Neuron Mobility.

Both companies will separately operate a combined total of 580 devices, including 130 e-bikes and 450 e-scooters.

“Engaging two contractors allows for a robust pilot, providing more consumer choice and competition with increased resiliency,” reads a City staff report.

“Allowing for both E-bikes and E-Scooters allows people to choose which vehicle they prefer. It has been observed in other communities that E-Bikes are more popular for longer trips and E-Scooters for shorter trips.”

The companies will operate within the Town Centre zone of the City Centre area using dockless parking stations. Similar to other communities where they operate, the app-based service enables users to park their device at existing public and private bike racks and within street furniture zones.

coquitlam city centre e-scooter e-bike zone

E-bike and e-scooter share zone in Coquitlam City Centre. (City of Coquitlam)

Lime’s fees in Coquitlam will begin with a $1.15 unlocking fee to start the trip, then the clock starts ticking at $0.35 per minute, while Neuron will begin with a $1.19 unlocking fee, before charging $0.39 per minute. Daily and monthly passes will be available, along with discounted fares for people on government subsidy programs.

If all goes as planned, Lime and Neuron’s services will launch in Coquitlam later in June or July 2023. The City is contracting their services for up to 18 months, ending in December 2024, at which point the municipal government will have information on usage, public safety, and demand.

Lime and Neuron were selected by City staff earlier this spring after the municipal government received five bids.

The municipal government has set aside $300,000 in capital funding for the pilot project, but the City’s costs for administration, oversight, and compliance enforcement are expected to be self-funded by the contractors through their fees paid per device deployed. The City-level pilot project is being conducted under the provincial government’s wider pilot project on e-scooters, which was achieved through amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act.

Lime first launched in BC in April 2021 with anĀ e-scooter share service in Kelowna. It subsequently further expanded by rolling out the provinceā€™s first e-bike share service on the North Shore in July 2021, and an e-scooter share service in Richmond in May 2022.

According to Neuron’s website, its e-scooter services are already found in more than a dozen locations across Canada, including Vernon, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Waterloo, and Ottawa.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, the municipal government is expected to launch its procurement process for an e-scooter share service provider by late this year. It is already part of the provincial government’s pilot project by permitting the legal use of private/personal e-scooters.

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