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Kelowna loves its e-scooters as they go mainstream

City among nation’s top riders

The initial and at times, hazardous novelty is over.

Kelowna residents and visitors have embraced the use of e-scooters as a regular mode of micro mobility.

And things have become safer, according to city staff.

Despite some ongoing challenges around unsafe use and how e-scooters are parked, the current program that sees the devices on offer all over the city appears to have been a big success.

“Micro mobility is moving away from being a novelty to a regular transportation option, particularly in the summer, when the pressure on our road network is the highest,” transport planner Cameron Noonan told city council. He was giving an info update midway through the two-year permit period sole operator Lime has with the city.

He said the roll-out of the initial program back in the spring of 2021 had been “challenging”, given numerous safety issues and injuries, but … “shared e-bikes and e-scooters are reducing congestion and emissions by giving people an alternative to driving for short trips.”

The average trip is two kilometres in length, taking around ten minutes. These riders report they’d used the e-scooter or e-bike rather than drive, use a taxi or ride-hailing service, walk, or wait for a bus.

More riders than most other cities

Kelowna’s ridership figures are impressive, with over 600,000 trips taken since the inception of e-scooters in 2021. Only Montreal has a higher per capita ridership, while Kelowna outrides Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. For example, Kelowna had 67,000 trips in May this year.

Ridership in 2023 is about four times higher (year-over-year) than in 2022. Midweek usage is up by five times year-over-year and in Rutland that growth is up six times.

Lime is allowed to operate a maximum of 1,000 e-scooters and e-bikes across the city and there can be no more than 200 in the downtown. The permit ends in April 2024 coinciding with the end of the provincial pilot in April 2024.

If the Province and Kelowna city council decides to continue the e-scooter pilot beyond April 2024, staff will begin a competitive selection process for new permits in December 2023.

Public safety campaign coming

During the first 18 months of the micro mobility program - between April 2021 and September 2022 - there were an alarming 110 injuries reported at the KGH Emergency Room. However, that number dipped by 30 per cent last year and the numbers are now comparable with bicycle injuries, according to city staff.

Meanwhile operator Lime said it would be investing $30,000 this summer on a public safety campaign aimed at areas of concern such as sidewalk riding, helmet use and having more than one rider on the device. These are all issues city council continues to hear complaints about.

“In addition to that we’ll be deploying our street teams… they should be on the streets enforcing good riding behavior though this summer,” company spokesperson Sonia Kandola said.

There have been several key improvements since e-scooters and e-bikes showed up. These include sidewalk detection technology, parking audits and fines, and an ID verification to try to stem underage riding.

Also, a 10:30 p.m. curfew was introduced for downtown service to curb intoxicated riding, and helmets now come with the ride with a discount offered if the rider takes a selfie showing they’re wearing it.

Published 2023-07-11 by Glenn Hicks

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