Electric Scooters

[rocketphish]

Ottawa eyed by dockless scooter-sharing company with controversial history in States

Trevor Oattes, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: March 27, 2019



A scooter-sharing company that has courted controversy in the U.S. could become the newest method of public transportation in Ottawa by the end of the year, as long as provincial laws are changed to accommodate the vehicles.

Lime, a California-based transportation company formerly known as LimeBike, allows users to rent electric scooters that are available through the Lime app. A single ride costs a $1 flat fee plus 30 cents per minute, which is paid through the app.

One of the key selling points of the service is that the scooters are dockless, which means they can be left parked wherever the user decides to end their ride. From there, other riders pick up the scooter using a GPS feature that locates the closest vehicle. This has led to some controversy in U.S. cities, with pedestrians complaining the poorly-parked scooters are nuisances or even dangerous obstacles on the street.

A representative for Lime met with councillors in Ottawa this week to discuss the potential for a future partnership. Several councillors posted videos to Twitter showing them taking the bright green electric scooters for a test drive at city hall.

There is no concrete plan in place for Lime’s vehicles to make their way to Ottawa’s streets any time soon. Electronic scooters are currently illegal on public roads in Ontario — a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation said the vehicles “do not meet any federal or provincial safety standards for on-road use.”

Some organizations, however, believe this may not be the case by the end of the year.

Coun. Riley Brockington, a member of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, said the think-tank believes changes to the province’s rules regarding e-scooters may be on the the horizon.

“There’s quite an ambitious legislative schedule this spring,” said Brockington. “There’s a belief that there will be some consultations about proposed changes to the legislation in late 2019, and Ottawa would be privy to these discussions.”

Chris Schafer, a spokesman for Lime, said the reason electric scooters are not allowed on public roads is because the vehicles are a recent invention, not because of safety issues.

“Historically, provincial governments have permitted things like horses, cars, bikes, e-bikes and other devices that were around at the time,” said Schafer. “The electric scooter is pretty new. So provincial governments just haven’t turned their minds to it. And as a result, they’re not on the roads by default, not because they have consciously decided to ban them.”

According to Schafer, there are examples throughout the country of cities and provinces getting on board with road-legal electric scooters. Calgary and Quebec have designed pilot projects that will allow residents to use e-scooters on public roads, with some restrictions. The only place in Ontario where Lime’s scooters are permitted is a 6.5-kilometre long trail route in Waterloo, which connects a local technology park to the main campus of the University of Waterloo.

“I would certainly support having staff take a look at this and being ready,” said Coun. Allan Hubley. “So that when the province approves them for our roads, Ottawa could offer them right away. I’d like to see staff ready to do that now.”

While Schafer said Lime’s scooters have benefits — they’re environmentally friendly and somewhat active alternatives to taking a car or bus — they also have a complicated history in the U.S. Several cities have complained or enforced cease-and-desist orders against Lime and other scooter companies.

One of the main complaints against the scooters stemmed from one of Lime’s key features: the dockless tech that allows riders to leave the scooters freely throughout the city. In San Francisco, people became so infuriated by the haphazard scattering of scooters — some of which were left blocking sidewalks and other areas with high foot traffic — that pedestrians took to vandalizing the vehicles, including tossing them into nearby bodies of water.

Brockington said he would support Lime if it had dedicated docking stations throughout the city, where scooters could be left safely out of the way of pedestrians and vehicles. Hubley echoed the idea, claiming it would be essential to “safely store them so they wouldn’t be in anybody’s way.”

Schafer responded that Ottawa already has a bike-sharing system — VeloGO — that doesn’t require docking and claimed it has not caused much of a hassle.

According to Court Curry, the manager who oversees the city’s urban design services, several staff members have opened a discussion with the ministry and are waiting for the next steps in the process to bring about regulatory changes.

“I think there’s definitely an opportunity, at least in the urban core of the city,” said Brockington. “It’s where you have density but also people who don’t own a car and need to make trips between point A and point B. It’s an interesting model and an interesting idea.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...bike-in-ottawa

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Ottawa eyed by dockless scooter-sharing company with controversial history in States

Trevor Oattes, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: March 27, 2019

This has led to some controversy in U.S. cities, with pedestrians complaining the poorly-parked scooters are nuisances or even dangerous obstacles on the street.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...bike-in-ottawa

That would be a concern for me too. Not saying we shouldn't allow this new concept in our city, but penalties for such behaviours should be enforced.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

That would be a concern for me too. Not saying we shouldn't allow this new concept in our city, but penalties for such behaviours should be enforced.

How would we enforce it? It is no different than the ones who leave their shopping carts in the middle of a parking space at the grocery store or park in a fire lane. There is no accountability.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

How would we enforce it? It is no different than the ones who leave their shopping carts in the middle of a parking space at the grocery store or park in a fire lane. There is no accountability.

Just like ByLaw giving out tickets to those illegally parked on the street, they could do the same to anyone randomly throwing the scooter on the sidewalk. Or gather complaints and fine the company. The company would then hold their clientele to account.

[zzptichka]

The problem is overblown and pales in comparison with cars blocking crosswalks that's never enforced for example.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Just like ByLaw giving out tickets to those illegally parked on the street, they could do the same to anyone randomly throwing the scooter on the sidewalk. Or gather complaints and fine the company. The company would then hold their clientele to account.

Bylaw enforcement is hit and miss. It is complaints driven. Are we going to build a whole bureaucracy to deal with this? If someone threw a scooter on my front lawn, I would probably throw it in the garbage. I have much better things to do with my time than to be dealing with a nuisance.

I already deal with this from time to time, with people attaching yard sale signs to a municipal sign on my front lawn which eventually falls off and is left up to me to dispose of. Or shopping carts left on my lawn. Thankfully, automatic brakes have made this less of a problem.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

The problem is overblown and pales in comparison with cars blocking crosswalks that's never enforced for example.

That should also be addressed of course. Not saying we should have dedicated bylaw for this, just impose the rules as part of the approval process and if bylaw happens to walk by and sees someone blocking the sidewalk with a discarded scooter, or a car, wright a ticket.

[danishh]

schaeffer is continuing to lobby aggressively for this - latest has been a series of emails to city staff:
http://ottwatch.ca/lobbying/files/2118

[CityTech]

Across the pond, Lime recently came to a regulation deal in Prague where scooter parking is regulated. Parking is permitted for basically any sidewalk space that is not blocking a crosswalk and is at least a metre or two away from a door and is away from the centreline of the crosswalk. The permitted areas are manually defined for each street and enforced with the GPS devices on the scooters--users will be fined and eventually kicked off the service if they fail to comply. The permitted areas will be displayed in the app and a light on the scooter will turn green when its in a permitted area.

[OTownandDown]

I can attest that in Detroit, these things litter the streetscape, but usually they're off to the side. The scooter app reminds users to not be dicks when parking, and also requires a photo taken of the parking location.

I can also attest that these scooters are super fun, convenient, easy to use, and much faster than waiting for an uber, especially during rush hour. I can't wait!!!

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by CityTech

Across the pond, Lime recently came to a regulation deal in Prague where scooter parking is regulated. Parking is permitted for basically any sidewalk space that is not blocking a crosswalk and is at least a metre or two away from a door and is away from the centreline of the crosswalk. The permitted areas are manually defined for each street and enforced with the GPS devices on the scooters--users will be fined and eventually kicked off the service if they fail to comply. The permitted areas will be displayed in the app and a light on the scooter will turn green when its in a permitted area.

Good Luck! I was in Prague a few years ago and pedestrian congestion was a major problem even in April. They had segways there, which I considered a nuisance in the crowds of people. I can just imagine scooters everywhere. It might work away from the main tourist zone but I am sure scooters would littered everywhere particularly in the tourist zone.

[Harley613]

I was in Mexico City in March, the biggest city in the Americas and one of the biggest megalopolises in the world. They have scooters EVERYWHERE, there are three competing companies including Lime. I got around almost exclusively by scooter and the ease, convenience, fun and practicality of the scooters made it one of the best trips of my life.

In the heart of Mexico City I never once saw someone inconvenienced by a scooter parked or rode, even in the busiest areas of town. They are just there, off to the side usually, nobody was tripping over them, nobody was getting run over by them. You can ride them on sidewalks, bikes lanes, on the road...and yet not mayhem at all. It all just works. It's become a part of the city, everyone is used to it and I am under the impression that everyone loves it.

[OTownandDown]

I do like the idea that with modern (and hopefully accurate) GPS built into the app on your phone, the scooters can be locked-out in zones designated for parking, instead of just in the middle of the sidewalk. Like, if there's a widened sidewalk area, they can be identified for parking.

In detroit, my gps went haywire, and i had to scoot an extra city block, because Lime thought I was inside a public library with the scooter, even though I was out on the street...so there are limitations.

OH, and there's a state park on the waterfront next to downtown, and it's an 'exclusion zone' for scooters, so they lock-up when you enter the exclusion zone. The app prompts a map showing where you can't go, and there's a small sign on a post.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Good Luck! I was in Prague a few years ago and pedestrian congestion was a major problem even in April. They had segways there, which I considered a nuisance in the crowds of people. I can just imagine scooters everywhere. It might work away from the main tourist zone but I am sure scooters would littered everywhere particularly in the tourist zone.

Prague recently banned segways in the city centre for this reason.

In addition to the defined zones used for parking, Prague will also have defined "ban zones" where Lime scooters are not permitted to be operated they will be enforced by GPS similar to the parking, where the scooter light will turn red and automatically lock its wheels when going into a prohibited area. (Didn't mention that in my first post as I figured it wouldn't be relevant to Ottawa). Prague plans on designating all pedestrian corridors in the medieval core of the city as banned zones.

I've never been to Prague but I've heard that the city's medieval core suffers from severe pedestrian congestion stemming from overtourism.

[rocketphish]

Here come the e-scooters, probably
A thousand electric rental scooters could hit the streets in Ottawa next spring, now that Ontario says they're legal.

Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: November 28, 2019


Lime electric scooters are seen outside of City Hall in downtown Edmonton, on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.

A thousand electric rental scooters could hit the streets in Ottawa next year, now that Ontario says they’re legal.

Details are still uncertain, but Lime Electric Scooter Rentals, a major operator of e-scooters in more than 130 cities, hopes to operate in Ottawa from spring through fall, largely in the area between Little Italy and Chinatown on the west, and the ByWard Market to the east.

Lime began with a pilot project in Waterloo, on a five-kilometre trail (not a city street) and the campus of the University of Waterloo. Operations spread to Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal, “and Ottawa is for sure on the list,” said Chris Schafer, senior director of strategic development for Lime Canada.

“Spring 2020 would be our goal” although this could change, he said.

Ontario cities can still decide individually whether to let Lime operate. The province’s approval is for a five-year pilot project.

“It has already gone through their (City of Ottawa) committee and council. If you look at their transportation master plan… scooters are mentioned along with cycling and all the work the city is doing on active transportation,” Schafer said. The master plan has a general statement that Ottawa will “work with partners to accommodate emerging space-efficient modes, such as electric bikes and electric scooters…”

City hall said it will think about e-scooters, but not until later next year: “Staff are currently reviewing the provincial framework. Following consultation with affected City stakeholders, the public, the National Capital Commission, and the City of Gatineau, staff will provide a recommendation to Council in Q3 2020 regarding the City’s participation in the pilot program and the steps required to allow scooter operations in Ottawa.”

Lime’s policy is about one e-scooter for every 1,000 residents. But that figure is flexible.

“The service works particularly well in the denser parts of cities, so typically it’s the urban core,” Schafer said.

The price of a ride “can vary by city, but generally it’s a dollar to unlock” the scooter, “then 30 cents a minute. And the average ride is about three to four dollars,” he said.

Customers are often people who live near downtown and don’t have a car or don’t want to drive and park in a congested area.

Lime, formerly known as LimeBike, does not keep its scooters in “docks” where they are all parked together. This has led some cities to complain that the scooters are left scattered around the city.

Ontario’s new five-year trial run, announced Wednesday, specifies that scooters must be parked in municipally-approved parking areas.

But the province is recommending that people try e-scooters. Conservative MPP Vijay Thanigasalam, representing the Ministry of Transportation, tweeted a short video praising the service.

The province announced Wednesday that “the Ontario Government is committed to supporting new and emerging technologies that can help move people safely and efficiently while limiting environmental impacts. As new and emerging transportation modes evolve, new forms of electric vehicles present an opportunity to reduce traffic congestion, provide first and last mile connections to transit and present a new way for residents to get around their communities.”

Scooters have also created controversy when riders park them on private property or block sidewalks. Lime asks people to park them in municipally-approved locations and to leave a clear path two metres wide for pedestrians.

People can also be hurt in falls.

The Calgary Herald reported that Alberta Health Services counted 477 scooter-related injuries in Calgary emergency rooms last summer — mostly injuries to riders, but also some to pedestrians.

tspears@postmedia.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...oters-probably

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Here come the e-scooters, probably
A thousand electric rental scooters could hit the streets in Ottawa next spring, now that Ontario says they're legal.

Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: November 28, 2019


Lime electric scooters are seen outside of City Hall in downtown Edmonton, on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.

A thousand electric rental scooters could hit the streets in Ottawa next year, now that Ontario says they’re legal.

Details are still uncertain, but Lime Electric Scooter Rentals, a major operator of e-scooters in more than 130 cities, hopes to operate in Ottawa from spring through fall, largely in the area between Little Italy and Chinatown on the west, and the ByWard Market to the east.

Lime began with a pilot project in Waterloo, on a five-kilometre trail (not a city street) and the campus of the University of Waterloo. Operations spread to Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal, “and Ottawa is for sure on the list,” said Chris Schafer, senior director of strategic development for Lime Canada.

“Spring 2020 would be our goal” although this could change, he said.

Ontario cities can still decide individually whether to let Lime operate. The province’s approval is for a five-year pilot project.

“It has already gone through their (City of Ottawa) committee and council. If you look at their transportation master plan… scooters are mentioned along with cycling and all the work the city is doing on active transportation,” Schafer said. The master plan has a general statement that Ottawa will “work with partners to accommodate emerging space-efficient modes, such as electric bikes and electric scooters…”

City hall said it will think about e-scooters, but not until later next year: “Staff are currently reviewing the provincial framework. Following consultation with affected City stakeholders, the public, the National Capital Commission, and the City of Gatineau, staff will provide a recommendation to Council in Q3 2020 regarding the City’s participation in the pilot program and the steps required to allow scooter operations in Ottawa.”

Lime’s policy is about one e-scooter for every 1,000 residents. But that figure is flexible.

“The service works particularly well in the denser parts of cities, so typically it’s the urban core,” Schafer said.

The price of a ride “can vary by city, but generally it’s a dollar to unlock” the scooter, “then 30 cents a minute. And the average ride is about three to four dollars,” he said.

Customers are often people who live near downtown and don’t have a car or don’t want to drive and park in a congested area.

Lime, formerly known as LimeBike, does not keep its scooters in “docks” where they are all parked together. This has led some cities to complain that the scooters are left scattered around the city.

Ontario’s new five-year trial run, announced Wednesday, specifies that scooters must be parked in municipally-approved parking areas.

But the province is recommending that people try e-scooters. Conservative MPP Vijay Thanigasalam, representing the Ministry of Transportation, tweeted a short video praising the service.

The province announced Wednesday that “the Ontario Government is committed to supporting new and emerging technologies that can help move people safely and efficiently while limiting environmental impacts. As new and emerging transportation modes evolve, new forms of electric vehicles present an opportunity to reduce traffic congestion, provide first and last mile connections to transit and present a new way for residents to get around their communities.”

Scooters have also created controversy when riders park them on private property or block sidewalks. Lime asks people to park them in municipally-approved locations and to leave a clear path two metres wide for pedestrians.

People can also be hurt in falls.

The Calgary Herald reported that Alberta Health Services counted 477 scooter-related injuries in Calgary emergency rooms last summer — mostly injuries to riders, but also some to pedestrians.

tspears@postmedia.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...oters-probably

I took e-scooters all over Los Angeles when i went and i loved it, it's so easy and so useful. I didn't try the Lime service, i tried the Uber version and hopefully we would have more than just one company to select from in Ottawa if this launches! this would be really good for the city

[rocketphish]

City wants to kickstart e-scooter pilot this summer, but NCC not on board

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 1 hour ago • 2 minute read

The City of Ottawa wants to allow two-wheeled electric kick scooters on municipal pathways and many streets starting this summer, but the National Capital Commission isn’t ready to make the devices street legal on some of the most popular pathways in the city.

With the Ontario government starting an e-scooter pilot project at the beginning of 2020, the city is eager to sign up as a participating municipality — for one year, anyway — with an initial fleet of 600 battery-powered shared scooters provided and operated by companies paying a fee to the city.

The city’s plan is outlined in a report to the transportation committee, which will consider the recommendations on June 3.

City staff have crafted a proposed bylaw that would apply to shared e-scooter services and people with their own e-scooters. The e-scooters would be banned from being operated on sidewalks but they would otherwise be allowed on all city-owned cycling lanes, multiuse pathways, footbridges and roads with speed limits of up to 50 km/h.

Only people 16 years old or older would be allowed to operate an e-scooter, and if you’re under the age of 18, you’ll have to wear a helmet.

When it comes to ditching the e-scooters after a customer’s ride is over, the city wants the devices to be parked in the “furniture zones” of the sidewalks, which is the part of the sidewalk closest to the street that typically has benches, bike racks and trees. The city is also considering using on-street car-parking spaces as e-scooter parking.

The e-scooting season would end Oct. 31 under the city’s proposed rules. If the program continues after 2020, the season would begin on May 1 or after the spring street sweeping operations.

The city wants to have a regional approach to regulations to help with tourism, but the NCC and the City of Gatineau aren’t quite there.

The NCC has told the city it’s already studying electricity-powered vehicles on the federal pathways and it “cannot predict the outcome of our review.” The City of Gatineau has indicated it’s waiting for results from another e-scooter pilot project in Quebec.

Because of the awkward nature of road and path governance in Ottawa, the city would require e-scooter providers to apply “geofence” technology to the NCC pathways; that is, the scooters won’t actually operate on those paths.

Geofencing would also apply to all of Gatineau under Ottawa’s proposed e-scooter pilot.

E-scooters usually travel at a maximum speed of 24 km/h, but the city wants shared e-scooter providers to set the maximum speed at 20 km/h and drop the speeds between 8 km/h and 15 km/h through high-pedestrian zones. The geofencing technology can be used to control the operating speeds in any location.

Any shared e-scooter providers operating in Ottawa would have to share their trip data with city hall so the city can properly assess the pilot project.

Bird Canada and Lime have already expressed interest to expand their shared e-scooter services to Ottawa.

Ottawa Public Health has been tapped to provide guidance for e-scooter operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health unit also researched the injury risks that come with e-scooters before city staff made a recommendation to allow e-scooters as a pilot project.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-3d475a1b2ee2/

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

City wants to kickstart e-scooter pilot this summer, but NCC not on board

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 1 hour ago • 2 minute read

The City of Ottawa wants to allow two-wheeled electric kick scooters on municipal pathways and many streets starting this summer, but the National Capital Commission isn’t ready to make the devices street legal on some of the most popular pathways in the city.

With the Ontario government starting an e-scooter pilot project at the beginning of 2020, the city is eager to sign up as a participating municipality — for one year, anyway — with an initial fleet of 600 battery-powered shared scooters provided and operated by companies paying a fee to the city.

The city’s plan is outlined in a report to the transportation committee, which will consider the recommendations on June 3.

City staff have crafted a proposed bylaw that would apply to shared e-scooter services and people with their own e-scooters. The e-scooters would be banned from being operated on sidewalks but they would otherwise be allowed on all city-owned cycling lanes, multiuse pathways, footbridges and roads with speed limits of up to 50 km/h.

Only people 16 years old or older would be allowed to operate an e-scooter, and if you’re under the age of 18, you’ll have to wear a helmet.

When it comes to ditching the e-scooters after a customer’s ride is over, the city wants the devices to be parked in the “furniture zones” of the sidewalks, which is the part of the sidewalk closest to the street that typically has benches, bike racks and trees. The city is also considering using on-street car-parking spaces as e-scooter parking.

The e-scooting season would end Oct. 31 under the city’s proposed rules. If the program continues after 2020, the season would begin on May 1 or after the spring street sweeping operations.

The city wants to have a regional approach to regulations to help with tourism, but the NCC and the City of Gatineau aren’t quite there.

The NCC has told the city it’s already studying electricity-powered vehicles on the federal pathways and it “cannot predict the outcome of our review.” The City of Gatineau has indicated it’s waiting for results from another e-scooter pilot project in Quebec.

Because of the awkward nature of road and path governance in Ottawa, the city would require e-scooter providers to apply “geofence” technology to the NCC pathways; that is, the scooters won’t actually operate on those paths.

Geofencing would also apply to all of Gatineau under Ottawa’s proposed e-scooter pilot.

E-scooters usually travel at a maximum speed of 24 km/h, but the city wants shared e-scooter providers to set the maximum speed at 20 km/h and drop the speeds between 8 km/h and 15 km/h through high-pedestrian zones. The geofencing technology can be used to control the operating speeds in any location.

Any shared e-scooter providers operating in Ottawa would have to share their trip data with city hall so the city can properly assess the pilot project.

Bird Canada and Lime have already expressed interest to expand their shared e-scooter services to Ottawa.

Ottawa Public Health has been tapped to provide guidance for e-scooter operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health unit also researched the injury risks that come with e-scooters before city staff made a recommendation to allow e-scooters as a pilot project.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-3d475a1b2ee2/

Typical City run project...lots of rules and only a test program which makes it difficult to get private sector partners who want some permanence.

[rocketphish]

Committee OKs battery-powered scooters in Ottawa for at least one year

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 13 minutes ago • 2 minute read

The transportation committee is recommending council let e-scooters on municipal paths and many roads, in addition to allowing share programs to operate in the city for a fee.

The committee signed off on the plan during a meeting Wednesday.

It would be a one-year trial with the potential for extensions. The province has allowed cities to see how well e-scooters work on the transportation networks.

The battery-powered scooters would be banned from National Capital Commission pathways, like those along the Ottawa River and Rideau Canal, since the agency is currently working on its own study. The same restriction for Ottawa-based share programs would apply to the City of Gatineau.

E-scooters connected to share programs wouldn’t be allowed to operate over 20 km/h.

The total number of e-scooters connected to share programs would be capped at 600 for now.

Making e-scooters street legal comes with potential downfalls.

Phillip Turcotte, chair of the city’s accessibility advisory committee, said e-scooters risk being “accessibility barriers” if they’re improperly parked on sidewalks.

“This is not just an inconvenience for us,” Turcotte said, calling for strong enforcement as part of the program.

The city would require e-scooters to be parked in the “furniture zone” of sidewalks closest to roads where benches and trees are located.

At least two e-scooter companies are interested in operating in Ottawa.

Sam Sadle of Lime addressed the committee, saying it’s the responsibility of the share companies to make sure Ottawa gets the best e-scooter service.

Bird Canada CEO Stewart Lyons told the committee that his company would put about 30 people to work in Ottawa to take care of the e-scooter fleet.

Some councillors expressed worry that the proposed regulations would stifle the success of the e-scooter pilot project in the larger transportation network. For example, the e-scooters wouldn’t be allowed on buses and trains.

Sharing services for e-scooters and bikes are proposed to fall under the same city pilot project and fee schedule.

The city started allowing dockless bike-share programs in 2018 as a pilot.

In 2018, VeloGo used city property for bike-share docking stations and dockless bike parking. However, no company approached the city to run a bike-share program in summer 2019. The city has spoken with a company showing interested for a docked bike-share service in 2020.

The committee agreed with a proposal from Coun. Shawn Menard to have staff explore the possibility of starting a city-run bike-share program.

Council will consider the committee’s recommendations next Wednesday.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-d24c8be55747/

[rocketphish]

First shared e-scooters roll out in Ottawa

Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jul 16, 2020 • Last Updated 4 hours ago • 2 minute read

The first shared e-scooters hit Ottawa’s multi-use pathways, bike lanes and streets on Thursday.

The City of Ottawa said that three operators — Bird Canada, Lime, and Roll — will ultimately bring up to 600 scooters to Ottawa in what’s billed as “a form of mobility that supports physical distancing and reduces car trips on our streets and crowding on transit.”

The pilot project approved by city council last month and running through October aims to “gauge public interest and evaluate safe and courteous riding and parking.”

Companies interested in providing e-scooters were asked to submit applications by June 26. City Hall now has an agreement with Bird Canada and is finalizing contracts with Lime and Roll.

The first shared e-scooters from Bird Canada can be picked up between Parkdale Avenue and Nelson Street. The e-scooters are dockless, which means they can be picked up and dropped off anywhere they can operate.



Privately owned e-scooters have been allowed in Ottawa since June 29.

Like private e-scooters, the shared fleet is not allowed on sidewalks, National Capital Commission pathways, across the river in Gatineau, in any OC Transpo vehicle or facility and on streets with posted speed limits of more than 50 km/h.

Providers will use “geofencing technology” to slow the scooters to a crawl and prevent them from being parked in these areas.

Shared e-scooters must have bells, brakes and lights, a speed limit of 20 km/h and can only be used by one rider 18 or older.

The private companies provide fleets of e-scooters with a mobile app to unlock them and pay for rides.

E-scooters have to be parked upright in the sidewalk “furniture zone” closest to the curb in line with trees, benches and bike racks.

Improperly-parked e-scooters should be reported to the providers, which must move them within an hour, because they can clutter sidewalks, create barriers for people with disabilities and block homes and businesses, the city warned.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-28d7b17e6bd7/