Press Release: Dropbike partners with City of Kingston to launch first dockless bike sharing service in a Canadian city
June 26, 2017 — Dropbike, Canada’s first dockless bike sharing company, will be launching a pilot in the City of Kingston this week, ahead of Canada Day celebrations.
This project makes Kingston the first city in Canada and North America to officially partner with and launch a smart, dockless bike sharing service.
On June 20, Kingston City Council approved a motion to allow Dropbike to launch the program. Ahead of July 1, the startup will deploy 100 bikes in Kingston for residents and tourists to use.
Dropbike, which launched its first pilot on the University of Toronto — St. George campus on June 15, uses a dockless system that allows riders to park the bikes within virtual Havens (parking spots), instead of using expensive and inconvenient docks.
To start their ride, users need to download the app at dropbike.ca and find the bike closest to them. For a promotional period, riders get 10 free rides — after that, Dropbike costs $1 an hour.
Given that the service is free of physical docks, it brings an innovative solution to the last-mile problem of Kingston commuters, while providing a fun transit option for the many tourists who visit the city in the summer.
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Qiming Weng, CEO of Dropbike: “Kingston has been the perfect partner. They have been fast in moving with us and they understand the pace of innovation. Cycling is a great transportation fit for Kingston’s diverse community of residents, tourists and students.”
Afraj Gill, Vice-President of Business Development and Government Relations at Dropbike: “A service like Dropbike would have saved me a lot of time and money in the four years that I spent in Kingston as a Queen’s University undergrad. I can’t wait for Dropbike to bring an affordable and green solution to the students, residents and tourists in the city. We’re fortunate to be working so closely with the government in making biking the future of transportation in Kingston and, as a Canadian startup, we’re honoured to launch this pilot during Canada Day celebrations.”
Bryan Paterson, Mayor of Kingston: “The bike share pilot program is an opportunity to build our reputation as an innovative city and a leader in environmental stewardship. We are happy to welcome Dropbike Inc. to Kingston as we explore bike share programs with the aim of making Kingston a greener, smarter, 21st century city.”
Paul MacLatchy, Environment Director at City of Kingston: “Community bike-share programs promote active transportation and support our community goal of reducing our carbon footprint. Bike-sharing systems are evolving rapidly, the experience and community feedback we hope to gain through the Dropbike pilot program will help us determine what kind of bike-sharing system we want to implement community-wide in the future.”
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For interview requests, please contact Farnia Fekri at farnia@dropbike.ca.
Report to Kingston council regarding Dropbike is here.