Locals of 2 buildings owned by Jawl Properties will have a new measure to get around beginning Tuesday when the company triggers an automated bike sharing program.
Director of property management Karen Jawl verified on Friday that 20 shareable bikes will be offered– 10 at its downtown Atrium and 10 at Selkirk Waterfront, 2940 Jutland Rd.– with the foundation of its private, modern bike share network.
“It’s simply something we wished to provide for our occupants,” stated Jawl, whose company has partnered with nextbike, the Germany-based bike sharing business with 35,000 bikes available in 23 nations.
The timing was perfect for the firm to execute the system, which lets employees and occupants borrow a bike free of cost for approximately three hours.
“They do city bike-sharing networks like you would see in Europe, or in Montreal or Vancouver, so we just had to the back-end of their software,” said Jawl.
To examine among the blue bikes in or out, riders can utilize a mobile app or onboard computer system that unlocks a bicycle when you have been approved to receive an unlock code.
Extra time can be bought for $5-per-hour through a credit or debit card.
Depending on how the preliminary rollout goes at the Atrium and Selkirk, the private bike-share network could be broadened, Jawl said.
“It was just seeing the way the city has been entering in regards to being so bike-friendly,” she stated, describing the company’s motivation. “We’re likewise seeing an increase in parking expenses and traffic pressure downtown.”
Despite our recent severe weather condition, Jawl stated they figured out mid-March was as good a time as any to introduce the system.
“I believe there will be a sluggish uptake due to the time of year, which was rather deliberate,” she stated, noting it gives them time to exercise any kinks when there isn’t really likely to be big demand at one time.
Whether Jawl will get on one herself is yet to be seen, she said with a laugh.
“I bike with my boy to school in the early morning some days, however I’m not a passionate cyclist by any means.”
While there are no instant plans for the City of Victoria to carry out a public variation on the bike-sharing design, Mayor Lisa Helps gave the Jawl’s effort a thumbs-up.
