Here's Vancouver-based Velometro Mobility with their "Veemo" service, yet another take on dockless bike share programs. This one is based on fully-enclosed, electric-assist velomobiles. This article in the Kitsilano blog announces the start of the public deployment of five vehicles - evidently the first public deployment - at the UBC Vancouver campus, following a brief private pilot:
https://www.kitsilano.ca/2018/02/27/veemo-at-ubc/ More information about the vehicles, which will eventually be offered for retail purchase, is available here: https://www.velometro.com/veemo/ There, we learn that they plan to eventually expand the service to the (relatively distant) urban core - where it will be interesting to see how parking works out. Handy features include regenerative braking, such as many hybrid automobiles have, and roof-mounted solar panels, which I don't think any hybrid automobiles have. Presumably riders can't end a trip off campus, but it's a big (and quite flat) campus, so there should be plenty of multi-kilometer trips to be availed. Like other dockless systems, the rental process is based on a dedicated smartphone app. All they say about pricing is that it's $.10CA/min ($.077US) during a promo period of indeterminate length. Part of the charm of these things is that they are easy to park and the operator doesn't need a driver license - driver licenses are much harder to get in BC than in USA and many university students don't have one. Five vehicles, 65,000 people on campus - that's one vehicle for every 13,000 potential users. I don't think it will change lives at this scale. Membership is (at least initially) free, though, so they shouldn't have trouble finding customers. -- S. Rose
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