New rules and four year extension for e-scooters in Kelowna
Over one million trips have been made in Kelowna on e-scooters since 2021 and there are about to be a whole lot more with British Columbia extending its e-scooter pilot for another four years.
With this extension comes some new rules and policies related to e-bike and e-scooter use in the city, according to a report going to city council on Monday, Jan. 22.
In 2023, there were more than 18,000 warnings and fines issued by e-scooter operators for improper riding and trips. New rules around parking aim to prevent more of these issues.
Designated parking spaces downtown will become mandatory for downtown riders to better manage accessibility issues and obstructions.
Riders will not be able to stop their rental until they have parked in one of the designated spaces. Outside of this area, riders will have to abide by the current city rules.
The e-scooter program, also known as a shared micromobility program, would change from a permit model to a contract. This means that the city would only have one e-scooter operator with a maximum fleet of 700 e-scooters and 300 e-bikes.
Amendments will also need to be made to the city’s traffic bylaw to allow privately owned or shared e-scooters to be ridden in Kelowna after April. 5.
The province’s original pilot project was supposed to end in April this year, but now e-scooters will likely stay on the streets until at least April 2028.
And with good reason.
Micromobility is more popular in Kelowna than almost any other region in Canada.
The city has the sixth-highest ridership of the 30 Canadian cities involved in the program and has one of the highest uses per capita.
READ MORE: Okanagan leading the way with e-scooter use in B.C
Safety concerns have been a continuous debate around e-scooter use since the sharp rise in scooter-related accidents when the program began in 2021, with 72 visits to the emergency department in Kelowna alone.
That number only decreased slightly in 2023, with 41 visits. However, out of the 324,000 trips taken, 99.99% were finished without serious incident.
In 2023, e-scooters were added to the UBC Okanagan campus. In one year, close to 90,000 trips were made from the university, making up 15% of Kelowna’s total ridership.
According to the city, the scooters have proved an effective, eco-friendly alternative to driving.
Shared micromobility has prevented 900,000 kilometres of driving since 2021, the report said. That also comes with an estimated annual public benefit of $500,000 to $600,000 in terms of reduced emissions, collisions and deferred infrastructure costs.
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