Evolve e-bikes and scooters launching in Parksville, expanding in Nanaimo

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Focal points will be the city’s downtown, as well as the resort areas and near Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park.

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Riders can go up to any station and use their smartphone and the Evolve app to connect to a bike or scooter and start a rental period.

The service is charged at a certain rate per minute.

The rollout in Parksville will be somewhat different than in other, more dense areas, such as major cities.

“This is a fairly small pilot that we’re operating in Parksville. Shared micro mobility systems do really well with lots of people and lots of different kinds of users and travel needs, so that’s reflected in a little bit of the design of at least the pilot period for Parksville.”

At the present time, the devices are planned to be removed by the end of October, however adoption of the program could see service extended into the winter months.

Rider acceptance and usage will be key indicators Buhler and her team will look for.

Growth in Nanaimo has been steady since the service launched in May 2024.

Buhler said around 100 devices are currently deployed at dozens of stations in the downtown and areas to the north.

“We saw double the use last year in 2025 over our launch year in 2024, and our e-scooters drove a 377 per cent increase in trips during that peak season, which was really incredible to see how much people wanted to use e-scooters and how that opened up a new type of trip and a new type of user to using shared micro mobility.”

Evolve will expand to roughly 175 devices in Nanaimo this year and is hoping to see ridership double once more.

After originally starting in and around downtown Nanaimo, growth has primarily been to the north, including Country Club, Rutherford, Metral Dr., and north Nanaimo neighbourhoods.

Buhler said they’re following public feedback in determining where to deploy stations.

“We’ve not heard as much in the south area of Nanaimo, but these programs are ever-evolving…and I think there’s definitely opportunity to continue expanding south and even further northward. Creating more density in some of the areas so that we’re providing services to not just main commercial hubs and dense residential areas but also finding pockets of residential areas that would support parking zones.”

Free rides are being offered across the entire Evolve e-bike and scooter network on April 22, which is also Earth Day.

Monthly subscription services are also available for regular riders.

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