Electric Scooters

[zzptichka]

Last year it was not allowed to ride on NCC MUPs. Hopefully, they figure it out in 2021.

[Brannwagon]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Last year it was not allowed to ride on NCC MUPs. Hopefully, they figure it out in 2021.

This is crucial... the NCC tends to be late to the game on everything but I'm still optimistic.

[rocketphish]

Accessibility advocates call for constant noise emitted by Ottawa e-scooters in 2021

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 01, 2021 • 3 hours ago • 3 minute read



Electronic scooters, which could hit Ottawa streets in greater numbers this spring, are receiving a tough ride from accessibility advocates as councillors decide if rental companies should be allowed to operate again in 2021.

The city’s transportation department is pleased with the results from the first year of the pilot project in 2020, leading staff to suggest an expanded e-scooter program in 2021. Council’s transportation committee on Wednesday will make a recommendation on the staff proposal to continue the e-scooter program this year.

But Phillip Turcotte, chair of the city’s accessibility advisory committee, said a majority his members don’t want the e-scooter program to continue under the current recommendations from staff.

“Our point of view at this time is it’s something that transportation committee should not adopt,” Turcotte said, adding that people with disabilities get no benefits from the e-scooter pilot project but they’re impacted the most.

The accessibility advisory committee has two main criticisms of the e-scooter rental program: the devices make no sounds and the complaint process for improperly parked e-scooters is arduous.

Since battery-powered e-scooters are virtually silent, there’s no way for someone who’s blind or visually impaired to know if one is approaching, Turcotte said.

The advisory committee wants the city to require rental companies to make sure their e-scooters emit a constant sound, especially since some users illegally operate e-scooters on sidewalks, he said.

Turcotte said improperly parked e-scooters, such as one blocking a sidewalk, involve a cumbersome two-step reporting process to make sure the devices are moved. A company has an hour to move the e-scooter after receiving the call, and if that doesn’t work, the city needs to be notified to impound the e-scooter.

City staff are recommending for 2021 that rental companies be required to proactively monitor and move improperly parked scooters in high-use areas and provide a reporting option in their apps so people aren’t waiting on the phone for a response. A call to 311 would also trigger an email to e-scooter companies for quick response.

Kathleen Forestell, CNIB’s local lead for advocacy and community outreach and also a member of the city’s accessibility advisory committee, said the quiet nature of e-scooters is a top concern for people who are blind or partially sighted.

E-scooters must be equipped with a bell left up to the rider to use, but it’s not fair to compare e-scooters with bikes, Forestell said.

“A bicycle in some ways makes more sound than an e-scooter does because of the mechanical components on it,” she said..

“For me as a blind pedestrian, having a constant noise emitted by the e-scooter would allow me to know where it is in the vicinity and just have a greater awareness if it’s navigating near me and at what speed.”

Forestell said the technology is available, since a German company called Tier has been working with a U.K.-based charity to add sounds to its e-scooters.

So far, the city isn’t recommending e-scooter companies make their devices have constant sounds for the 2021 season.

If approved by committee and then council, the city will allow three e-scooter rental companies to operate in Ottawa this year, making available a total of 1,200-1,500 e-scooters for the paying public in an expanded area, which could include a community outside the Greenbelt. The 2020 season involved 600 e-scooters in the downtown region.

Turcotte said the increased number of e-scooters could present a bigger problem when it comes to accessibility barriers.

Coun. Matthew Luloff, the council liaison to the accessibility advisory committee and a member of council’s transportation committee, said he’s encouraging e-scooter rental companies to speak with Turcotte about accessibility improvements to their programs.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ooters-in-2021

[Harley613]

They should take 25 cents off someone's ride if they snap, scan, and move another scooter that they see improperly parked during their ride. Hardly anyone would cheat and stop, move a scooter onto the sidewalk, snap, scan, and move it back to where it should be (or leave it out), but I think a lot of people would stop here and there to snap, scan, and move just to be a good samaritan and save a few pennies on the ride.

[rocketphish]

Transportation committee wants more e-scooters in 2021 despite 'higgledy-piggledy' placings

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 03, 2021 • 3 hours ago • 3 minute read

Council will consider an eight-month season for rented electric scooters after the transportation committee on Wednesday recommended an expanded program in 2021.

While accessibility advocates warned the committee about the pitfalls of the e-scooters, especially when it comes to creating sidewalk barriers, the committee voted unanimously to make even more e-scooters available in 2021, and in more areas of the city, as part of the second year of a pilot project.

Councillors mostly agreed that the biggest problem with rented e-scooters are devices being improperly parked, and sometimes tumbled over, in the middle of sidewalks and people illegally riding e-scooters on sidewalks.

Under the city’s rules, e-scooters must be parked in the “furniture zones” of sidewalks along the street curb. The city might also create designated parking areas this year.

Coun. Catherine McKenney struggled with approving a second year for e-scooters, explaining that it’s “frightening” for people with visual impairments to move around their neighbourhoods with the threat of the devices causing trip hazards.

Coun. Jeff Leiper, a regular e-scooter user, considered the committee’s vote “a referendum on whether things can get better” when it comes to rental companies addressing concerns from the accessibility community.

“This is probably the last season for them to prove (themselves) to make this project successful,” Coun. George Darouze said, urging the e-scooter companies to be aware of the accessibility issues.

The Ontario government started a five-year pilot program for e-scooters at the beginning of 2020, allowing municipalities to participate and observe the impact of the devices on their transportation networks. The City of Ottawa is running its e-scooter pilot project on a year-to-year basis.

Bird, Lime and Roll operated in Ottawa last year and reps from each of the e-scooter rental companies addressed the committee.

Those companies will likely be applying for one of three contracts for rental e-scooter services in the 2021 season, which is proposed to run between April 1 and Nov. 30.

The city wants to allow between 1,200 and 1,500 e-scooters to be available in Ottawa, a big jump from the 600 e-scooters that were available in 2020.

The city is giving the top-rated proponent in the competitive procurement the option to deploy rental e-scooters in one suburban community.

The results from the 2021 season could ultimately decide if e-scooter rentals will remain in Ottawa.

Phillip Turcotte, chair of the city’s accessibility advisory committee, said eight of the 10 members of his committee don’t want the city to continue with the e-scooter pilot in 2021 under the program recommendations.

Downtown resident Linda Williams told the committee e-scooters have been cluttering and blocking sidewalks, especially later in the day.

“In the morning you would see a nice row of scooters all laid out, and you come back a few hours later and they’re all higgledy-piggledy all over the place, generally right at intersections,” Williams said.

The city, however, was generally happy with how quickly e-scooter companies responded to complaints of improperly parked devices in 2020. Results from a public survey were also largely supportive of the e-scooter program.

Rented e-scooters, so far, will continue to be banned from National Capital Commission property, including the federal pathway network. E-scooters stop working on NCC land, thanks to GPS technology that tracks where the devices are located.

Coun. Tim Tierney, chair of the transportation committee, said many people who sent feedback to the city about the e-scooter program expressed hope that the NCC will allow the devices on the federal land.

Council will vote on the transportation committee’s recommendation next Wednesday.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...gledy-placings

[rocketphish]

E-scooters receive another green light; city cuts tether from Carp airport

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 10, 2021 • 38 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Electronic scooter rental companies have the green light from city council to operate in 2021.

The city will select three rental companies to operate in Ottawa between April 1 and Nov. 30, with between 1,200 and 1,500 e-scooters available in total in central areas. An undetermined community outside the greenbelt could also see e-scooter rentals available this year.

Accessibility advocates warned councillors that the e-scooters present barriers for people if the devices are parked and operated on sidewalks.

E-scooters must be parked on their kickstands in the “furniture zone” of sidewalks or dedicated parking areas marked by the city.

The National Capital Commission doesn’t allow e-scooters on its pathways. GPS technology powers down rented e-scooters when they enter forbidden zones.

Ontario allowed municipalities to run e-scooter pilot programs starting in 2020. The provincial pilot lasts five years, but the City of Ottawa is operating on a year-to-year basis with its own trial program.

Coun. Catherine McKenney was the only council member on Wednesday to vote against continuing the pilot project, noting the concerns about accessibility barriers.

OC Transpo is prepared to allow personal e-scooters to be guided manually onto trains starting this year. The city believes transit customers could use e-scooters, either personal devices or rented ones, to reach O-Train stations.


<snip>


jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...m-carp-airport

[mykl]

Catherine McKenney, who is known to ride a scooter often, was the only councilor to vote against scooters. WHAT THE F*CK

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by mykl

Catherine McKenney, who is known to ride a scooter often, was the only councilor to vote against scooters. WHAT THE F*CK

I get it though - there's a huge gap between owning a scooter and a dockless scooter rental scheme. Owning a scooter is analogous to having a bike. Dockless scooter rentals have real concerns, including accessibility when they're dumped on sidewalks. I watched someone ride up to Lyon station last summer and literally drop their scooter right in front of a station door. While I like the idea of these systems, I can't help but feel like we're letting a bunch of VC backed tech companies roll in to "solve" problems while ignoring the side effects.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

E-scooters receive another green light; city cuts tether from Carp airport

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 10, 2021 • 38 minutes ago • 2 minute read

. . .
An undetermined community outside the greenbelt could also see e-scooter rentals available this year.
. . .

I think Kanata North would be a strong contender. People could use them for the last mile getting to/from work as well as on their lunch break and traveling between offices for meetings.

[Lakeofthewood]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I get it though - there's a huge gap between owning a scooter and a dockless scooter rental scheme. Owning a scooter is analogous to having a bike. Dockless scooter rentals have real concerns, including accessibility when they're dumped on sidewalks. I watched someone ride up to Lyon station last summer and literally drop their scooter right in front of a station door. While I like the idea of these systems, I can't help but feel like we're letting a bunch of VC backed tech companies roll in to "solve" problems while ignoring the side effects.

Yeah I would assume a big reason that they voted against it is that they are also a huge accessibility proponent, and accessibility groups seemed to be against the scooters due to blocking sidewalks, etc.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa chooses scooters over bikes, opting not to revive a bike-sharing program
As the city pointed out in a report, there has been a trend in North America of decreasing bike-share programs with the growth of e-scooter programs.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 25, 2021 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read



Ottawa’s e-scooter program has deflated any potential for the return of a bike-share program, at least one run by city hall.

The City of Ottawa’s public works and environmental services department is recommending not proceeding further with an assessment of a bike-share program because it would be too expensive to manage.

Plus, its focus has turned to shared e-scooters as a “microtransit” option.

Coun. Shawn Menard won support last year to have staff investigate the potential for returning a bike-share program to Ottawa, and run by the municipal government, as part of a new bike-parking strategy.

But the results of the strategy, which were released Thursday ahead of a transportation committee meeting on April 7, conclude it would be too expensive for the city to operate a bike-share program.

The city’s consultant, Stantec, considered four options for the return of a bike-share program in Ottawa, but the best model identified, one which the city owns but contracts the management, would require a one-time $4-million expense to buy 700 bikes and infrastructure for parking stations and $3 million annually for a company to manage the program. Rental revenues wouldn’t cover the costs.

Ottawa has seen bike-share programs come and go.

There was the Capital Bixi Bike program overseen by the National Capital Commission between 2009 and 2013. Then Bixi filed for bankruptcy.

The not-for-profit Right Bike service lasted between 2012 and 2017.

VeloGo was launched in 2015 after CycleHop’s acquisition of Bixi, but the company decided not to deploy in Ottawa in 2019.

The city has been willing to entertain pitches from bike-share providers since then but there has been no interest.

As the city pointed out in its report, there has been a trend in North America of decreasing bike-share programs with the growth of e-scooter programs. There’s more money to be made with e-scooter rentals, the report suggests.

The city is currently accepting proposals from companies interested in operating shared e-scooter programs. The city will select three companies to operate in Ottawa in 2021. Shared e-scooter programs were first permitted in Ottawa in 2020.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...haring-program

[rocketphish]

Shared e-scooters will make Ottawa's streets and sidewalks more dangerous
Sharing public space with these devices will lead to injuries, especially among the disabled and visually impaired.

Author of the article: Wayne Antle
Publishing date: Apr 10, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read



Recently, Ottawa Council passed a motion to allow and expand the use of e-scooters on our streets in the downtown and some suburbs, putting blind people, other persons with disabilities and all pedestrians at risk. Despite the very real safety concerns raised by various groups, council did not even require the e-scooter companies to implement measures to lessen the risks.

Last summer, the city ran its first e-scooter pilot project in the downtown area. Of course, there were far fewer pedestrians in the city’s core because of COVID-19. Nevertheless, there were many cases of e-scooters illegally parked, blocking pedestrian traffic, and instances of e-scooter users driving along the sidewalks.

These e-scooters are motorized vehicles that can travel at 20 km/hr, and can be rented by anyone over the age of 16 with a smartphone app. There are no insurance requirements, and helmets do not have to be worn if the driver is 18 or over. To make matters worse, e-scooters are a silent menace, emitting no sound.

This pilot project was tried in Montreal and had to be discontinued because of widespread disregard for the rules. Toronto city council is also considering allowing e-scooters to operate there, but the city’s accessibility advisory committee has unequivocally come out against this proposal because of the safety threats that would be imposed on Toronto pedestrians.

As shared e-scooters become more prevalent in cities around the world, there have been corresponding increases in the number of injuries associated with these devices. For example, Calgary, which currently allows shared e-scooters, has seen hundreds of emergency room and urgent care visits attributed to injuries caused by use of these vehicles.

I am a blind Ottawa resident and lead the Ottawa-Gatineau chapter of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC). Our chapter is very disappointed with council’s disregard for the safety of disabled persons, and indeed all pedestrians. Imagine walking along the sidewalk with your child as a silent e-scooter approaches from behind while your child inadvertently sidesteps into its path, unaware of it. The risk is even more pronounced if you are a blind person walking with a white cane or guide dog, and have no warning of an e-scooter’s approach.

This is not an acceptable risk to impose on pedestrians, especially pedestrians who are blind, disabled or elderly. Ottawa’s sidewalks should be pedestrian-friendly and not allow people to be put at risk by e-scooters.

At the very least, if council is determined to allow e-scooters, it should follow the advice put forward by the AEBC and other groups representing persons with disabilities. E-scooters should be equipped with a device to emit a sound so that pedestrians are aware of the scooter’s approach. A bell is not sufficient since it depends on the user ringing it. These scooters should also have to be parked at designated docking stations before the user’s billing period ends. Finally, they should be prevented from riding along sidewalks by either electronic means, if possible, or through increased enforcement and penalties.

I don’t think that many people realize how much these e-scooters will increase congestion, and the safety threats they will pose to both riders and pedestrians. If you are as concerned as I am, please contact your councillor to re-visit this decision and require, at the very least, the mitigation measures outlined above. I would like to thank Somerset ward’s Catherine McKenney for being the only councillor to recognize the risks and vote against council’s motion.

Wayne Antle is President, Ottawa-Gatineau Chapter, of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (blindcanadians.ca). Twitter: @wantle1

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/an...more-dangerous

[rocketphish]

City names three e-scooter providers for 2021 season, but COVID-19 delays launch
Bird Canada, Lime and Neuron are the preferred e-scooter companies selected by the city.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: May 13, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 2 minute read

The City of Ottawa on Thursday identified the three companies permitted to unload more than 1,000 rentable e-scooters across central communities, but COVID-19 restrictions are delaying the start of the scooting season.

Bird Canada, Lime and Neuron are the preferred companies selected by the city after a competitive procurement process. The contracts will be issued to the companies once the city confirms insurance, fee payments and performance securities.

The launch date for the e-scooter rental program is on hold because of the provincial stay-at-home order, which on Thursday was extended until at least June 2. Because of the uncertainty, the city can’t say when the season will begin for the e-scooter program and it will be working with Ottawa Public Health to figure out a start date.

Council authorized the 2021 e-scooter season to run between April 1 and Nov. 30. The procurement process closed earlier this month.

The three companies combined will make 1,200 e-scooters available during the season, doubling the number available during the first season in 2020.

E-scooter rentals will be available between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.

They will continue to be “dockless,” meaning they can be left upright in appropriate areas after users end their rides. Those areas include the furniture zone of the sidewalk where benches and street light poles are installed, near the curb. Users pay to use the e-scooters with an application on their mobile phones.

The e-scooter rentals are for people 16 years old and older. Teens younger than 18 years old must wear helmets.

Pathways run by the National Capital Commission, such as those along the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal, and anywhere in the City of Gatineau, are off limits for the Ottawa-based rentable e-scooters. The e-scooters will slow to a stop if they roll onto those areas, thanks to geofencing technology.

The city didn’t say if it has identified a community outside the greenbelt where rentable e-scooters could be distributed. Staff floated the idea during council’s approval for the 2021 e-scooter season. The city is still discussing the idea with the selected companies.

The city said its search for e-scooter providers emphasized measures to reduce riding on sidewalks and parking in inappropriate spots. Misplaced and toppled-over e-scooters creating accessibility barriers were identified as main concerns by councillors as they debated the future of the e-scooter program.

Council authorized a maximum of three companies to provide rentable e-scooters in 2021 and the city received more bids than available contracts.

Results listed on the procurement website Merx identified six ranked bidders in the city’s contract competition. The other three that were part of the competition were Roll Technologies, Boaz Bikes and Spin Mobility.

Lime and Bird Canada also offered e-scooters in Ottawa last year. According to its website, Neuron’s e-scooters are equipped with helmets that can lock onto the devices between trips.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-delays-launch

[trhgr]

Will scooter rental services be allowed in step 1 of the province’s reopening plan?

[rocketphish]

Police issue warnings in downtown e-scooter blitz

Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jul 29, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 1 minute read

Ottawa police traffic officers turned their attention to e-scooter riders Wednesday afternoon with a downtown blitz that yielded 19 warnings for offences including riding on the sidewalk.

That can carry a $180 fine, but riders were issued tickets with written warnings and no fine payable as “officers were using this opportunity for education,” Ottawa police said.

“Many of those stopped were first time users or visitors to the city.”

Other offences included having more than one rider aboard, disregarding lane lights and failing to wear a helmet if the rider was under the age of 18. E-scooter riders have to be aged 16 or older.

In Ottawa, e-scooters are allowed on streets with speed limits of 50 km/h or less and on bike lanes, cycle tracks and multi-use pathways. They’re prohibited on National Capital Commission pathways and on city sidewalks.

A total of 1,200 shared electric kick scooters operated by Bird Canada, Lime and Neuron rolled out at the end of May and can operate until Nov. 30 under the City of Ottawa 2021 pilot project.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-scooter-blitz

[Truenorth00]

Requiring a helmet and not being allowed to Ride on the sidewalk. That's some dumb rules. They really do want to make every other mode of transportation so cumbersome, that people drive.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Requiring a helmet and not being allowed to Ride on the sidewalk. That's some dumb rules. They really do want to make every other mode of transportation so cumbersome, that people drive.

Helmets are only required for the few riders that are 16-18. Do you really think people should be riding on the sidewalk on e-scooters? That would be an absolute disaster. I say this as an avid e-scooter rider and owner of two of my own. Sidewalks are not the place for e-scooters.

My biggest complaint about our city's e-scooter policy is the ban on NCC pathways. Our MUP system is a mixture of City and NCC pathways, you really can't get around without using both in a lot of cases. I ride NCC pathways almost every day because I have to to get around, but I would love it if I wasn't always worried about getting a fine.

[OTSkyline]

Agreed. Especially that the multiple parkways around the city would probably be the nicest, safest, most enjoyable e-scooter rides. Yet, bicycles can zoom by on them..

Instead, we force people to navigate between traffic and parked cars on Bank Street.

[rocketphish]

Fix the e-scooter parking problem and give everyone more space
For Ottawans pushing baby strollers or navigating the path in wheelchairs, being faced with a scooter blocking the way is a nightmare on locked wheels.

Brigitte Pellerin, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Sep 13, 2021 • 38 minutes ago • 3 minute read



While people all over the country are consumed by electoral questions such as should we cancel day care programs so we can have semi-automatic weapons in our cities, the winner of the Sleeper Issue of the Summer contest is the scooter plague. Specifically, how so many of them are abandoned by their users exactly where they shouldn’t be, in the middle of pathways.

According to the city of Ottawa, there have been an average of more than 1,000 trips done daily by dockless scooters in our city over the summer. Most of them were short — under two kilometres.

It’s interesting how little we have heard about this problem in recent months. Personally, I have tripped over plenty of those contraptions during my runs around Westboro and the Experimental Farm area. I often wonder why someone would suddenly drop off a scooter half-way between one copse of trees and another, in front of nothing whatsoever. I imagine all sorts of stories featuring alien abductions with lugubrious soundtracks. But that’s because I’m weird. Most likely, abandoned scooters in odd places were caused by Sudden Dead Battery Syndrome.

I’m also pretty nimble on my feet, and to me they are nothing more than a mild annoyance. But for Ottawans pushing baby strollers or navigating the path in wheelchairs, being faced with a scooter blocking the way is a nightmare on locked wheels.

Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carole Anne Meehan recently tweeted a picture of an improperly parked scooter, and that was a teachable moment for the former broadcaster-turned-politician. The replies to her tweet were full of photos of trucks and cars improperly parked in bike lanes. You think you have a sidewalk problem, councillor? Wait until you hear about those lanes.

Maybe, just maybe, active transportation users in Ottawa are sick of fighting over scraps, with the least mobile among us shouldering the heaviest burden.

I get that scooters are a lot of fun to ride. It’s the “dockless” part that bugs me, the fact that people are free to leave them wherever, like a toddler drops a wrapper that has ceased to amuse.

Also that the fleet is managed by a small army of workers in motor vehicles criss-crossing the city picking up stranded scooters and making sure they’re powered up. I’m not sold on the environmental benefits just yet.

There are solutions. Geofencing could be used to permit parking only in certain approved spots, for instance. American cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver and Portland already do that. But mostly we need more space for folks on various sets of wheels and on foot.

Starting with wider sidewalks everywhere, and pedestrian-crossing lights that turn on without anyone having to press a stupid button, please.

And of course we need to make more streets open to people. And for those who fret, a recent article in Forbes reported that far from causing traffic congestion elsewhere, removing cars from city streets is causing traffic simply to evaporate. No doubt because when there are safe alternatives, people use them.

Right here in Ottawa, every single time a road is open to people, we use it — lots. The National Capital Commission, after leaving a stretch of Colonel By open to active users all summer, just returned it to cars after Labour Day for reasons I cannot understand. More than 92,000 of us used it between July 1 and early September. In total, NCC parkways open to active transportation saw more than 650,000 visits in 2021, up more than 25 per cent over 2020.

There is obviously huge demand for more space. And if we had it, we wouldn’t need to fight over how many inches of pavement should be reserved for which users. We wouldn’t be prisoners of our scarcity mindset. We’d smile more, too. And who knows, we might even have time to think of more uplifting election issues to discuss — which shouldn’t be that hard to find.

Brigitte Pellerin is an Ottawa writer.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/pe...one-more-space

[eltodesukane]

How much $ to ride those e-scooter?