E-scooters look to be on path to success
Pilot project in Ottawa has garnered a positive response from citizens
OTTAWA— The Birds (and the Limes and the Rolls) descended like a flock onto the streets of Ottawa in the middle of July.
Overnight, the city’s downtown was filled with electric scooters carting people from the shops of the ByWard Market to the restaurants of Elgin Street to the grounds of Parliament Hill.
It was the start of a three-anda-half month test of the viability and safety of the trendy devices — a pilot project that one municipal politician calls “the Hunger Games” because the three e-scooter companies engaged in a head-to-head survival contest to determine which, if any, will be invited back next year.
Although the final assessment has yet to be completed, the project appears to have been a success, both anecdotally and numerically. The number of rides taken on e-scooters in Ottawa exceeded expectations, while the complaints lodged against them were relatively few.
“There’s a been a lot of thought put into this and, touch wood, it’s probably been one of the more successful pilot scooter projects across the country if not throughout North America,” said Tim Tierney, the city councillor who chairs the municipal transportation committee.
“I like the ‘Hunger Games’ approach,” said Tierney, “because it keeps them (the e-scooter companies) honest and it makes sure it works, and they’ve been doing a tremendous job.”
Bird and Lime were each permitted to deploy 260 of the rechargeable scooters, while Roll was allowed 80. Over the course of the pilot project, more than 200,000 rides were taken by more than 50,000 individual riders.
The vehicles are aimed at several demographics, from tourists to students to commuters travelling the last mile from the transit station to their office towers.
The concept is simple: Hop on any scooter in the place it is found, set it in motion with a smartphone app, then leave it at your destination for the next rider’s use. Trips generally cost $2 to $5.
When the scooters reach the boundaries of their allowed range, which in this case did not extend past the city core, or when they meander into no-go zones like private property, they automatically shut off.
Every night, they are picked up, recharged and set back in the most accessible locations.
“We want people to look at it as a viable transportation option, something they can use for commuting not just as a toy,” said Stewart Lyons, the CEO of Bird Canada, the Canadian partner of the U.S. company that began on the streets of Santa Monica, Calif., and has made e-scooters popular around the world.
“You’ve got to show (municipal politicians) that you’re serious about being responsible,” said Lyons, “and we’ve done that in Calgary, and we’ve done that in Edmonton and now we’ve done it in Ottawa.”
The scooters are also under consideration in Toronto, where city council will soon debate their potential deployment.
They are enticing to cities that want to reduce emissions and traffic on downtown streets or ease parking congestion. And, in this era of COVID-19, they provide short-trip riders with options that may feel safer than public transit, taxis or rideshares.
But there are also concerns. Irresponsible riders drive them on sidewalks, where they can cause havoc for pedestrians. Those who are caught doing so in Ottawa pay a $180 fine.
And they are sometimes left in places where they impede foot traffic and wheelchairs. Officially, they may be parked only in what is known as the “furniture zone,” which is the area of a sidewalk closest to the street or where benches and bike racks are located.
But, out of the more than 200,000 rides in Ottawa between July and October, there were just slightly more than 150 complaints about inappropriately parked scooters, and Tierney says the scooter companies responded to them immediately. Clients who park improperly can have their accounts terminated.
“If you’re trying to be a responsible member of a community, you go to the extra effort,” said Lyons. “We want to have a longterm relationship with the city. We don’t want to be a one-anddone organization.”
There are safety issues. The scooters don’t come with helmets so customers are expected to provide their own. A handful of injuries were reported in Ottawa, but all were minor.
And when the scooters are in crowded areas like the ByWard Market, they automatically ratchet down from their maximum speed of 21 km/h to eight km/h.
“They don’t go that fast,” said John Borsten, the owner of five Ottawa restaurants who was among a number of business to endorse the project in a letter to city council. Borsten uses the scooters to get between various locations of his Zak’s Diners.
“They are fun for tourists and really great for scooting around seeing the sights,” he said. “As a form of transportation, it’s useful for getting around downtown short distances.”
The scooter companies have their sights set on expanding the program next year, perhaps taking them into the residential neighbours so they can be used by commuters.
Kathleen Wilker, a transportation project officer with the city of Ottawa, says the project, which ends Oct. 31, is now in its final stages with a survey to be completed next month to assess whether it has been a success or failure.
But Tierney says some of his fellow council members are already suggesting that the escooters should be allowed outside the core.
“Let’s face it, Ottawa doesn’t have a super cool factor like Toronto or Montreal,” he said. “But this is one of those things that gives us a bit of cool.”