City officials are recommending changes to Calgary’s shared electric scooter program, trying to improve safety for both riders and pedestrians.
The changes were approved Wednesday at a meeting of the city’s transportation committee and it’s expected city council will formalize them early in 2020.
One new initiative involves using technology to limit the scooters’ speed in areas of high pedestrian traffic.
During the first part of the e-scooter trial project in Calgary, the scooters were set at a constant maximum speed of 20 km/h.
The changes approved on Wednesday come after the city reviewed responses from more than 9,000 Calgarians in an online survey, and also reviewed extensive data collected while the scooters were in use.
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Many people told the city that e-scooters are a convenient and fun way to get around Calgary quickly.
There were also concerns about safety and complaints were made about close calls between e-scooters and pedestrians.
In response, the city is bringing in new fines for dangerous riders.
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The city is also planning on putting in designated parking spots for the e-scooters, but riders would not be required to park in them.
The city will probably allow an increase in the numbers of scooters when the second half of the trial program begins in the spring of 2020.
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