E-Scooter presentation to council (image credit- CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

ELECTRIC KICK SCOOTERS

E-Scooter pilot receives green light from Kamloops council

Dec 12, 2024 | 4:52 PM

KAMLOOPS — You’ve likely seen them in 23 different participating communities around the province, including Kelowna and Vernon, but this week, Kamloops council approved a motion to bring electric kick scooters to the Tournament Capital.

“Riders must be 16 years or older, they must always have a helmet and you must follow traffic rules. You must also be aware of your surroundings while riding and you won’t be allowed to ride on sidewalks,” said Nii Noi Akuetteh, City of Kamloops transportation engineer.

Bringing the program to Kamloops will help the city begin to properly regulate the privately owned scooters while also providing access to rental scooters for the general public. For the time of the pilot, scooters are restricted to 25 kilometres per hour.

“The opportunities with a shared service provider are endless, in the sense that we will be able to establish development zones ahead of time, we will be able to define parking areas, we will be able to use a lot of their technology such as geo-fencing, low speed zones, no ride zones and so forth,” said Akuetteh.

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While the pilot has run for a number of years in other communities, it hasn’t been without hurdles. Council voted 8-1 in favour of the pilot project which run until April of 2028, with Margot Middleton in opposition.

“They must do a better job of collecting and not having scooters lying around on the sidewalks. But I see these things everywhere, lying on sidewalks, I can’t quite wrap my head around how that type of a program would be a benefit to our city,” said Middleton.

Joining the pilot after the initial intake also allows the city to utilize best practices learned by other communities.

“This will look like either triangles or mats at the end of each block. Where if you are a rider, you park it before you are able to end your ride,” said Akuetteh. “And we have these opportunities with the venders of e-scooters where you will not be able to end a ride until you park it in a designated parking spot. That typically solves that issue of hap-hazard parking.”

The city is hoping to secure a rental service in the second or third quarter of next year.