Toronto should not allow wider use of e-scooters, say city staff

Thestar.com
April 22, 2021

City staff are recommending council stay out of the province’s e-scooter pilot project, a decision that would effectively shut the door on legalizing the use of the peppy two-wheeled vehicles on Toronto’s streets.

In a report released Wednesday, city transportation staff said that “based on extensive research and feedback,” they had concluded the problems related to accessibility, safety and insurance posed by e-scooters “remain unresolved,” and solutions proposed by the industry “are not satisfactory.”

“The current regulations that prohibit the use of e-scooters in public spaces make sense as they will prevent an increase in street and sidewalk-related injuries and fatalities, and their associated costs,” staff wrote.

The report will be debated next Wednesday at the city’s infrastructure and environment committee before going to council, which will have final say on whether to approve the recommendation.

E-scooters are motorized, battery-powered versions of the familiar kick-style children’s toy. In recent years they have enjoyed a boom in popularity around the world, for both private use and as part of app-enabled e-scooter sharing programs. Proponents say they’re an effective “micromobility” solution that could help reduce reliance on polluting automobiles.

But their rapid rise has been met with pushback, and some cities banned them after complaints about riders leaving the vehicles littered on sidewalks and other public spaces at the end of their trips.

The use of private or rented e-scooters is generally prohibited on Ontario roads and other public spaces, but in January 2020 the province launched a five-year pilot project that allowed municipalities that opted in to allow the vehicles on their streets. Although cities like Ottawa and Windsor have joined, Toronto has been reluctant to sign on, despite non-stop lobbying at city hall by major e-scooter companies like Bird and Lime.

The staff report concluded the city lacks sufficient enforcement resources to ensure e-scooters aren’t used on sidewalks, and there are problems securing insurance to cover injuries suffered by riders or pedestrians. It also echoed disability advocates who have warned the vehicles pose hazards to people with mobility issues, who are at risk of tripping over e-scooters if they’re left in the street, or being struck by riders improperly using them on sidewalks.

David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility For Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, urged council to follow city staff’s advice. Council “should stand up for people with disabilities and must stand up to the e-scooter corporate lobbyists who are unleashing a feeding frenzy of lobbying at City Hall,” he said.

Jonathan Hopkins, director of strategic development for Lime, said the new staff report “sells the city short” and the company hopes council “has more faith in the city of Toronto and its ability to do world class things.”

Lime, which is based out of San Francisco and has been valued at over $1 billion, has deployed e-scooter sharing programs and other electric vehicle operations in more than 135 cities, including Los Angeles, Paris and Berlin. Hopkins said other jurisdictions have addressed the concerns raised by Toronto staff.

For instance, Chicago has required e-scooter sharing services there to institute a “lock-to” system that requires riders to lock their vehicles to bike racks or similar fixtures at the end of each trip to avoid cluttering public spaces. E-scooter sharing companies can also use geofencing technology to deactivate the vehicles if riders intrude on sidewalks.

“Virtually every peer (city) of Toronto is doing this,” Hopkins said.

He noted that a new Nanos poll commissioned by Bird and Lime found 70 per cent of adults in the city support opting into the provincial pilot.

Stewart Lyons, CEO of Bird Canada, which operates e-scooter sharing services in Calgary and Edmonton, said many the concerns raised by Toronto staff about e-scooters could also be applied to bicycles, yet the city regulates and allows them.

He accused city staff of “sticking their heads in the sand” and charged that the report doesn’t reflect “the many positive experiences that other cities have seen” with e-scooters.

In a statement, Lawvin Hadisi, a spokesperson for Mayor John Tory, wouldn’t say whether the mayor will support the staff recommendations, but stated he takes the safety and accessibility concerns raised in the report “very seriously.”