The first roll-out of electric scooters is underway in Kelowna, and so far users are all smiles. But the effort to make them a significant transportation option remains a work in progress.
Ogo Scooters (Canada West Segway) is renting them outside the Tourism Information Centre on Kelowna's waterfront pathway. So far they are primarily being enjoyed as a fun activity and a great way to enjoy the waterfront, but the operator and the city are hoping that their use might be freed up in the future to make them a more viable way to get around.
Kyle Leduc said people are loving it. "From everybody's reaction," he said, "the service was well needed and wanted."
So far the scooters' range is limited to what the city's Active Transportation Coordinator calls a "limited corridor." But Matt Worona said it actually does stretch quite a distance. "It goes from the airport, it connects with UBCO, it connects to Landmark through Angel Way Pathway and the Rail Trail, and it kind of sweeps through the downtown using Cawston and the Waterfront Walkway, and it also takes Abbott all the way to the Hospital."
The scooters are set up with Geo-Fencing technology, so if a user strays from the permitted areas, they become inoperable. Both the company and the city are hoping the Provincial Government will agree to relax restrictions so the scooters can become more useful to get around the city.
"Unfortunately," said Worona, "the provincial rules as they are right now don't really permit this on road, which would be the big step in terms of making it a much more viable transportation option."
"We really want to reduce the emissions and we want to increase the green footprint," said Leduc. "And the thing about the scooters is they are all around the world. We are always, it seems Canada is always last to the table."
Meanwhile, the company is working to increase the number of drop zones people can use within the existing corridors. Ogo Scooters is the first of three companies that may be sharing the e-scooter marketplace. There could soon be as many as 400 of them zipping around the city.
Ogo Scooters provides and encourages people to wear helmets while riding, but they are not mandatory.
Some cities have been reluctant to allow e-scooters over concerns about their safety.
