REGINA - Be ready to see plenty of orange and blue e-scooters on the streets of Regina.
As of this week E-scooters are now available in the City of Regina. On Wednesday they announced the launch of the shared e-scooters program which as of Wednesday are now available to rent.
The program will be provided by two vendors, Bird and Neuron, who will provide hundreds of the shared e-scooters through their apps. By downloading their apps, people can also learn more about where the e-scooters can ride and locations where they can be rented.
Neuron is launching 250 e-scooters across the city, and Bird is also launching 250.
Isaac Ransom, head of corporate affairs for Neuron Mobility Canada, said you’ll be able to log onto the Neuron app and be able to see where each of the scooters are available in real time to be able to rent.
“You will be able to find those throughout the city today, whether it’s Wascana Park, up into some of the residential communities, downtown — there’s a lot of great areas of the city for riding and residents shouldn’t have a problem finding a scooter as of this morning.”
The e-scooters are 60 kilometres to a charge and so most residents should be able to get where they need to go.
Alexandra Petre, Chief Operating Officer for Bird Canada, said it had been a very long journey and they were excited to have scooters there. Regina is their 20th city in Canada where this is being offered.
“I think as Canada embraces more and more this new mode of micromobility whether it is e-Scooters or as well as e-Bikes. We are seeing that Canadians are extremely passionate about making a green and sustainable choice for transport and it’s really exciting that we can finally provide this option to folks of Regina as well.”
At the launch event Wednesday both Mayor Sandra Masters and Councillor Bob Hawkins got to try out the new e-scooters. They both seemed to enjoy the experience, although Hawkins noted it took some getting used to at first.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Hawkins. “I was really nervous, couldn’t figure out how to go fast, couldn’t figure out how to go slow, got it in 15 seconds and had a great time.”
“We have incredibly beautiful summers here, and we all know we have incredibly long winters, and so that ability for another mode of transportation, which is easily accessible and fun and the ability to hop on, and then enjoy our pathway system here and our park space — we have frankly, in my opinion, the most beautiful inner city park in the country and in North America,” said Mayor Masters. “I’ll be fascinated to see the uptake and the enjoyment folks get out of it.”
There are rules surrounding the use of all the e-scooters. You must be 16 or over to use it. Helmets are mandatory, in fact requiring a photo of yourself wearing the helmet in order to start riding.
The shared e-scooters are allowed on bike lanes, park pathways, multi-use pathways and roads with a speed limit of 50 km/hour or less, but they are being not allowed on sidewalks, due mainly to concerns about those who are hard of hearing who might not hear an e-scooter nearby.
These e-scooters are limited to maximum speeds of 24 km/hr on roadways, but 15 km/hr on pathways. As well, when it goes on a sidewalk it will disengage and come to a safe stop. There is geofencing which prevents the e-scooters from travelling where they are not meant to go.
It’s expected the e-scooters will be available until October, when the weather gets cold. There are some cities such as Calgary where they are used year round.
Regina council had approved use of private e-scooters back in April, seeing e-scooters as a way to help the city achieve their sustainability and net-zero goals.
Saskatoon had already gotten a head start by bringing in e-scooters on May 18, and have seen users logging 100,000 km of rides. There had been some concerns about abandoned e-scooters, although Ransom saw these as isolated incidents. He noted often the e-scooters are left in places where they are allowed to be, particularly in residential areas, to wait for another rider.
Both Bird and Neuron see Regina as an Ideal place for an e-scooter launch, due to its flat surface and extensive trail system. Ransom said in Saskatoon people were using the e-scooters on short trips and enjoying the trail system, and expects the same to happen in Regina. He expects they will adjust based on feedback they receive.
“Riders are going to tell us the things that they enjoy and don’t enjoy about the service, and then we’ll optimize it. Our approach is always to be a great stakeholder with the City and with our riders to ensure that we create the best riding area possible. We’re seeing that in Saskatoon, 100,000 km of rides is quite a bit in a month, so people must be enjoying the service.”
