Bird Scooters has officially wrapped up its 2024 season of rentable electric scooters in Cochrane which saw over 10,000 rides this year.
Austin Spademan, head of government partnerships with Bird says Cochranites have really connected with the program over the past two seasons.
“This year in Cochrane has been fantastic by all measures, the amount of unique riders that were on the service this year is way up year over year by about 20 per cent.”
“The average distance was about 3.2 kilometers per trip. And with that, between the two years, you've done enough kilometers to have gone around the Earth well over one time.”
“All that equates to is over 2 tons of CO2 removed from the environment.”
He also highlighted the high usage rate, with nearly 25 per cent of riders using the scooters more than 50 times this year.
When it comes to where Cochranites are riding in town, Spademan says three locations are clearly the most popular.
“Probably no surprise, downtown's number one, specifically along Railway Street sees the most ride starts, then Sunset Ridge, and in third is pretty much everywhere along the river pathways.”
Bird is exploring the possibility of expanding its offerings in Cochrane to include e-bikes, further catering to the growing demand for alternative transportation options. The company is also planning to increase the number of scooters available to meet the needs of the community.
As the winter season approaches, the e-scooters are now stored and maintained for the upcoming year. Bird aims to relaunch the service as soon as weather conditions permit, likely in the spring of 2025.