Hoping to spend less time in your car this summer?
The Evolve E-Bike Share program is returning to Whistler in 2023, offering easy access to electric bike rentals for anyone looking to get around town without getting behind the wheel—or breaking a sweat.
The British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) will once again operate its summer e-bike share service in partnership with the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW). The municipality contracted BCAA to bring back the Evolve pilot for a two-year term after the project's successful introduction last summer. According to a release, hundreds of people used 60 shared e-bikes to take more than 1,000 trips in the 12 weeks following the program's August 2022 launch.
"The project proved more popular than we had expected, with people enjoying the choice of a flexible, active way to take short, everyday trips," Leanne Buhler, senior manager, strategic ventures at BCAA said in the release. "We’re glad to be kicking off earlier this year for a full season and to be able to offer a longer-term program."
This time around, the expanded pilot program will run until October, before starting back up in April 2024 for another six-month period.
Here's how it works: a total of 100 e-bikes will be available to the public at several pick-up and drop-off zones throughout the resort, including Whistler Olympic Plaza, the Fitzsimmons Connector, Function Junction, Alpha Lake, the Meadow Park Sports Centre, Rainbow Estates, Whistler Community Services Society and Whistler's Howe Sound Women’s Centre. BCAA expects to add more locations to that list throughout the coming months. The bikes are intended to be ridden on paved biked trails or streets, not off-road.
The Evolve E-bike Share program is designed for short trips and priced accordingly. After signing up for BCAA's free Evo Car Share app, users can open the app to locate the closest available e-bike and reserve their wheels by either selecting a pin, or scanning the bike’s QR code—"starting and ending each trip at the push of a button," as the release described.
Rides cost $1.25 per trip, plus $12.99 per hour or 35 cents per minute—that works out to $6.50 for a 15-minute pedal. Subscribers who fork out $9.99 for a monthly Evo membership can access the e-bikes for a discounted rate of $0.10 per minute, but the $1.25 fee to "unlock" the bike still applies.
Each Evolve rental includes a helmet to wear during your ride, unless you'd rather use your own.
The e-bike share program aligns with the RMOW's goal of getting more vehicles off Highway 99, Whistler Mayor Jack Crompton said in the release.
“Active transportation is an important part of our Big Moves climate action strategy, and we have a strong partner in BCAA,” he explained. “The Evolve E-Bike Share program is a key initiative to provide a convenient choice for short trips, and another way that we can make progress toward reducing emissions, the need for parking in the Village and at our busy destination parks.”
Last year, the pilot project sparked concern among some Whistler councillors about the service's potential impacts on local rental outlets, after several Whistler bike shop owners submitted a letter to council laying out their own concerns with the Evolve program.
“I'm hopeful that it's not going to take business away from anyone," Coun. Ralph Forsyth said at the time. "If it does, we won't do it again. It's a test."
During the July 2022 council meeting, Crompton said his “hope is that the operators in this town will engage with this pilot, they'll work with our team, and we will come up with evidence that we can take forward to make good decisions about how we can see fewer car trips, rather than fewer bike rentals.”
E-bike safety information, riding tips and more advice is available on the Evo app.
- With files from Robert Wisla
