Calgary e-scooters used nearly 10,000 times per day in August

The City of Calgary says its e-scooter pilot program has been seeing nearly 10,000 trips per day for the month of August, between the two companies licensed to provide the short-term rentals.

Bird and Lime launched the electricscooters, which can be rented for a per-minute fee using a mobile phone, in Calgary in mid-July.

That month saw a total of99,075 trips, combined, according to data provided by the city.

Final figures were still being tabulated for August, but a city spokesperson said there had already been more than 250,000 trips as of earlier this week, working out to a "daily average" of nearly 10,000 rides for the month, up to that point.

Stewart Lyons, CEO of Bird Canada, said in an emailed statement the company has been "very pleased with the excitement around scooters" in Calgaryso far.

A spokesperson for Lime said in an email it has seen "tremendous demand" for scooters in the city.

The city says it has approved up to 1,500 scooters, combined, between Bird and Lime for use on Calgary sidewalks, pathways and bike lanes.

The pilot program, which began in July, is set to pause for the winter at the end of October, resuming on March 16, 2020,for another season.

At the end of the pilot, the city will re-evaluate its policy on the scooter-share systems.