Port Moody residents getting around town on electric scooters are no longer breaking the law.
Tuesday, council voted to enroll the city in a provincial pilot program allowing the personal mobility devices on designated roads and off-street pathways, along roads with a speed limit of 50 kph or less and in marked cycling lanes on roads with a speed limit greater than 50 kph. They won’t be permitted to travel on sidewalks.
But residents keen to use a shared e-scooter service will have to wait until staff can further investigate the available options and address concerns about the devices being left strewn about town after users reach their destination.
It was just such a worry, as well as a complicated application and implementation process, that discouraged Port Moody from participating in the provincial pilot program when it first started in 2021, said the city’s general manager of engineering and operations, Jeff Moi. But a subsequent pilot that launched in April is much simpler. It runs through 2028.
Moi said while the use of e-scooters is regulated by the province’s motor vehicle act which is enforced by police, Port Moody’s participation in the pilot program will allow the city to set some of its own regulations that would be enforced by bylaw officers.
The provincial rules for the e-scooters include:
- maximum speed of 24 kph
- equipped with a bell or horn as well as front and rear lights when operated between a half hour before sunrise and a half hour after sunset
- no seating
- users must be at least 16 years old and wear a helmet
- no passengers or riding abreast
Penalties for users breaking those rules range from impoundment of their e-scooter to fines ranging from $109 up to $2,000.
Coun. Kyla Knowles said following the rules will be key to wide acceptance in the community of the e-scooters.
“I’m looking for more regulation so people know how to behave,” she said.
Mayor Meghan Lahti said getting Port Moody into the pilot program will buy the city time to devise a program that would eventually allow for a shared service as well, without some of its unintended consequences.
“They’re not picked up,” she said of shared scooters she’s seen in other cities, like neighouring Coquitlam. “Every time I drive past a pile of scooters I think thank god we don’t participate in that.”
But Coun. Callan Morrison said there would be value in a shared e-scooter service, if it’s implemented and managed properly, as it would allow users to travel more easily between communities.
“It’s a balancing act,” he said. “How do we make it so everyone wants to use these but also make it so they’re not parked away from where they should. be?”
Moi said just such a consideration will be top of mind as staff investigates scooter sharing options.
“We would not go ahead with anything without council’s approval,” he said.
