E-scooters now available in downtown Saskatoon

Saskatoon’s newest mode of transportation hit the downtown area during the May long weekend.

The city’s new e-scooters make travelling through the downtown area and neighbouring streets more accessible when it comes to short commutes.

Senior city transportation engineer Sheliza Keltz said the process began in 2021 after some push from the downtown core.

“Every time I see somebody walk by these devices, they kind of look at them and smile and they look curious, right? They’re interested in them, so we’ll see how it rolls out over this two-year pilot,” Keltz said.

Companies Neuron Mobility and Bird will assist in the two-year pilot program, supplying scooters for downtown, Riversdale, and the Broadway District.

“We’ve been very interested in coming to Saskatchewan since our initial launch in our Alberta and Ontario markets and saw Saskatchewan as a natural, next place to be,” said Isaac Ransom of Neuron Mobility. “I know there’s enthusiasm in the city. I know that people want to ride these e-scooters. I know they want to get out and explore their city on them and I think people are going to have a great time this summer on them.”

The most important thing the city is stressing with the introduction of the scooters is safety.

“Keep safety top of mind for yourself and for the people around you on the pathways, on the roadways, wherever you’re planning on using the devices,” Ransom said.

Parts of the bylaws indicate that e-scooters can be used on shared-use paths and streets with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less that don’t have a cycle track or shared-use path.

They add that they can’t be used on sidewalks unless they are a shared-use path.

People operating e-scooters need to yield to pedestrians, and also can’t have passengers.

Positive feedback from the pilot program could mean expansion in the future to different districts in the city.

— with files from Global News’ Brody Langager