When shared e-scooter companies rolled into Canada in 2018, they hoped a few small pilots would quickly result in a country full of people zipping around on two wheels.
Since then, the companies which allow people to rent scooters through an app and park them along city streets have been banned from Montreal and Toronto and have barely made a dent in Atlantic Canada.
But recent wins in Western Canada and impending decisions in several Ontario municipalities could soon provide e-scooter companies the opportunities they need to establish themselves in the market.
91裸聊视频淭he wave is going to continue,91裸聊视频� said Jonathan Hopkins, director of strategic development and government relations in Canada for e-scooter company Lime.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檒l see how big it is and how far it goes and how fast it spread, but there91裸聊视频檚 not going to be a retrenchment against this. E-scooters are here to stay in Canada.91裸聊视频�
Lime, which currently operates in Edmonton, Victoria and Ottawa and held a 2020 pilot in Calgary, was among the first to attempt a shared model in 2018, where consumers locate and unlock e-scooters with an app and pick up or drop off on Canadian streets.
The San Francisco company entered the market with a pilot limited to Waterloo, Ont.91裸聊视频檚 private trails and university campuses.
Users had to be at least 18 years old with a driver91裸聊视频檚 licence and were charged a $1 unlocking fee and 30 cents per minute. The pilot ended in 2019 and Lime did not seek a renewal, but Hopkins said the company wants to return whenever Waterloo allows e-scooters region-wide.
During that trial period, Lime competitors Bird, Jump, Spin and Roll were expanding in Canada and Montreal decided to give Lime and Bird a shot with a summer 2019 pilot.
A city report found e-scooters in the Montreal pilot were only parked in designated zones 20 per cent of the time and police issued 333 tickets to riders, including 324 for not wearing a helmet.
Then, there was the Lime e-scooter spotted in the Lachine Canal 91裸聊视频� reminiscent of viral incidents in the U.S. and Asia, where scooters were lit on fire, tossed off buildings, snapped in half and even defecated on.
Montreal banned shared e-scooters in 2020, but Bird thinks the pilot would have gone differently with a greater number of parking zones in more convenient locations and a system locking e-scooters to permitted municipal infrastructure.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a use case for scooters in Montreal and I91裸聊视频檓 optimistic that the shared e-scooter program will be back (but) differently constituted,91裸聊视频� saidChris Schafer, Bird Canada91裸聊视频檚 vice-president of government affairs.
Hopkins agreed.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 definitely not a lost cause,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 only a matter of time. I think (e-scooters) will be back soon.91裸聊视频�
Raktim Mitra, an associate professor with Ryerson University91裸聊视频檚 school of urban and regional planning, doesn91裸聊视频檛 think Montreal91裸聊视频檚 experience will keep e-scooter brands with deep pockets out of the rest of the country, but he said they have their work cut out for them.
While many debuted in the U.S. by flooding the market and then seeking municipal partners, Canada91裸聊视频檚 transportation ministry has tighter controls, he said.
That means provinces have to permit e-scooter pilots and then individual municipalities must study and vote on whether to allow companies to operate there.
Provincial approval doesn91裸聊视频檛 always spur municipalities to move ahead. Toronto, for example, decided in May to opt out of a provincial pilot permitting e-scooter trials because of safety concerns.
Schafer, however, still thinks there91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频減ositive momentum,91裸聊视频� especially when people try e-scooters elsewhere.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 always that question of when are they coming here?91裸聊视频� said Schafer. 91裸聊视频淚 hear that in Toronto and in other cities where they may not exist yet.91裸聊视频�
But Mitra said Canada91裸聊视频檚 e-scooter market is a question mark. While the devices have become more popular than bikes in some U.S. cities, Canadians may use them because they91裸聊视频檙e 91裸聊视频渁 cool new thing91裸聊视频� or when they91裸聊视频檙e travelling, but not adopt them regularly.
91裸聊视频淲e don91裸聊视频檛 have a clear idea of what gap in the transportation landscape these e-scooters would fill,91裸聊视频� Mitra said.
Several provinces are on their way to determining that. Bird has permits in Kelowna, B.C., Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Windsor, Ont.and Schafer saidHamilton, Brampton and Mississauga, Ont. are considering e-scooters.
Calgary, which ran a pilot between 2019 and 2020, recently decided to let e-scooters stay and Edmonton is entering its third trial season.
B.C. said earlier this year that it will soon welcome the devices to Kelowna, Vernon, West Vancouver and North Vancouver and Ottawa will launch e-scooters this summer with Bird, Lime and Neuron Mobility.
Singapore91裸聊视频檚 Neuron Mobility wasn91裸聊视频檛 dissuaded by the rough ride e-scooters experienced elsewhere because chief executive Zachary Wang thinks it91裸聊视频檚 common with emerging technology.
91裸聊视频淚t does take some time, some effort to try to make this new type of infrastructure be well integrated in the city,91裸聊视频� he said, after calling the Montreal ban 91裸聊视频渦nfortunate.91裸聊视频�
He hopes Neuron will avoid quibbles because its e-scooters come with helmets, a button to call emergency services and topple detection capabilities that alert the company if they fall over.
Mitra will be watching how the pilot and others go, hoping they give him clues about the future.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a lot of demand and I can see there91裸聊视频檚 a lot of potential for it to become an important transportation option,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淏ut at the same time, it91裸聊视频檚 hard to really understand if it91裸聊视频檚 here to stay or just a fad that will slowly disappear from the market in the next five to 10 years.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频� Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
