At this time last year, e-scooters had been patrolling Edmonton streets for almost a month.
This year, they have yet to make their debut — and likely won’t until the end of this month at the earliest.
According to a city operations report to city council dated May 2, administration is updating the city’s e-scooter program “based on the results of a program review, jurisdictional scan and public engagement,” adding it will “provide more consistent service across the city and improve supplier compliance” and that suppliers for a three-year period will be announced at the end of the month.
It also says new program features will include parking locations, no-parking zones, slow zones and no-ride zones.
The report is slated to be discussed by members of city council’s urban planning committee on Thursday.
Last year, Bird Canada and Lime operated e-scooters and e-bikes in Edmonton in the final year of a two-year permit program, with Bird deploying 750 e-scooters and 250 e-bikes on city pathways, Lime about 1,500 such vehicles.
According to data in the city operations report, e-scooter trips increased 124 per cent from 2022, e-bike trips went up six per cent, and total trip kilometres increased by 98 per cent.
E-scooters have already made their debut this year in other Canadian cities such as Regina, Saskatoon and Ottawa. E-scooters operate year-round in Calgary.