WATCH: Why new e-bikes and e-scooters are safer

After a controversial first year of their e-scooter program on the streets of Kelowna, safety changes had to be made.

This week, the city of Kelowna unveiled those modifications with the launch their new two-year program to encourage micromobility.

A permit process took place in the winter where the city received several competitive applications from service providers. They were scored on things like technology benefits for riders, commitment to sustainability and equity, and hiring practices.

Spin, and Lime Scooters will occupy the streets with their two-wheeled machines. According to Transportation Manager Cameron Noonan, they were picked because they feel they provide the best service in Kelowna.

“It’s all about giving our residents options to get around, so they can drive less,” he told Kelowna10. “It’s about giving people an option for trips that are too far to walk in the case of e-scooters, or also to cover longer distances in the case with e-bikes. “

He added the shared e-bikes and e-scooters have been very popular since they launched. But there were concerns about riders on the sidewalks and injuries caused by the machinery. Throughout 2021, there were 51 reported injuries at Kelowna General Hospital related to the use of the units.

Now, all e-bikes and e-scooters now have shared helmets among other safety-related improvements.

All e-scooters must have an enhanced sidewalk warning system for people to keep the vehicle on the road or in the bike lanes.

Spin has a camera on the front of their new e-scooters that uses machine learning computer vision to let the user know they’re riding in a restricted area, like a sidewalk and prompt them to go back to the road.

“The moment they [leave the lane], it starts making a beeping noise and eventually the scooter stops accelerating and slows down. That way it’s safer for sidewalk riding and we’ve curbed that behavior,” said Khalid Abdul Razak, Regional General Manager of Spin. “Sidewalks have a lot of foot traffic and for us we want to encourage and nudge riders to use the bike lanes.”

Razak added they have an exclusive partnership with some hotels and UBCO to engage tourists and students to use the product as a quick way of going from point A to B.

“We’re moving and nudging folks to use micromobility as a way to engage the city and be part of the fabric of transportation here,” he said. “It’s not just for joy riding but you can do your day-to-day activities.”

Lime scooters are launching their Gen4 e-bike and e-scooter which has over 100 sensors determining everything from brakeware to battery temperature. They also provide educational tools from rules of the road, to putting on your helmet, and helping ease into riding an e-scooter.

“We have something called training mode, which in Kelowna for the first three trips, it artificially lowers your top speed to 12 kilometers,” said Derek Robertson of Lime Scooters. “We know to become a long-term sustainable rider you need to gain comfort in riding and that’s a good way to do it.”