‘There’s safety in numbers’: Manitoba commuting app matches beginner cyclists with experienced riders

GoManitoba app a possible avenue for bike pooling — if more cyclists join

Nov 14, 2022

GoManitoba app helps cyclists find commuting partners. (Supplied by Green Action Centre)

Looking for help navigating Winnipeg’s streets safely on a bike? There’s an app for that.

GoManitoba, a car-pooling platform created by Green Action Centre, matches skilled cyclists — called bike mentors — with less-experienced bikers who are looking to reduce their anxiety on their commute.

“It’s really fantastic for people who are just starting out because biking in this city is really iffy,” said Ariel Desrochers, Green Action Centre’s sustainable transportation coordinator. “It can be a little bit frightening.”

Think of the app like an online dating service: users create a profile and can match with others nearby who are going to the same place as them, at about the same time, and with the same mode of transportation.

“The city does not have great cycling infrastructure,” Mel Marginet said, who’s also part of Green Action Centre’s sustainable transportation department. Because of this, biking in the city can be intimidating for newer cyclists, which makes the bike mentor feature of GoManitoba so convenient, Marginet said.

The app launched in 2017 and is free to use. Cyclists can choose whether they’d like to be a mentor when setting up their profile.

The app can also match commuters with carpool, transit, or walking partners. It provides commuters with route alternatives, and hosts contests to encourage people to track their commutes.

“Sometimes it’s just that one person who can help you through that tricky spot or let you know that, ‘Ah, this is the route you’re taking, but have you tried taking this street?’” Marginet said.

Bike pooling: Like car-pooling, but for bikes

In some cities, bike pooling is becoming a way for cyclists to navigate their commute. The idea is simple: cyclists bike together in groups, or pods, so that they take up more space on the road, making for a safer, less stressful ride.

Although GoManitoba is not marketed as a way to bike pool, the app essentially encourages the same thing — cyclists can reach out to as many other riders as they want and find a time to commute together, Marginet said.

“There’s safety in numbers and there’s more opportunity in numbers as well,” she added.

Biking in groups, or bike pooling, can make drivers notice cyclists on the road more easily. (Supplied by Green Action Centre)

But to have a successful bike pool, there needs to be enough cyclists. Bike mentor Maureen Peniuk has been struggling to find them.

“If not enough people join, the chances of you finding anybody — who’s living in the same area and working in the same area and travelling at the same time — are kind of small.”

Peniuk, 55, has been using GoManitoba since shortly after it launched. She’s never been asked to cycle with someone.

“I was really hoping to find somebody,” said Peniuk, an avid cyclist since 2004. “After you [cycle] for a while, you figure ‘Oh, maybe I would be able to help encourage other people to do it.’”

Now, Peniuk said she only uses the platform to log her commutes for a chance to win contests.

“There needs to be more people using it,” she said. “The way to help make cycling safer on our streets is partly to increase numbers.”

Goal is to reach 5,000 users

Both Desrochers and Marginet said they’d like more cyclists to use the app.

“I think people don’t really realize that they have the option to find others to cycle with,” Desrochers said.

Before the pandemic, GoManitoba was just starting to grow, Marginet said. But with COVID-19 forcing many people to work from home, the platform lost momentum.

“The more people that are on it, the more likely it is that you’re going to find a good match,” she said.

GoManitoba ran a user survey in November 2021 to gauge both interest in the app and changes in users’ commuting styles.

Eleven per cent of the 96 respondents said they commuted via bicycle in 2021, and about five per cent said they used the app to connect with a bike mentor. Overall, the majority of respondents only used the app to track their commute, not find a commuting partner.

Marginet said she’s noticed more people using the platform since gas prices have risen, but she said she would like to see at least 5,000 Manitobans using the app. Right now, the app has just over 2,000 users.

“Now’s a great time if people are looking to start using the tool,” she said.