Montrealers are again able to benefit from self-service e-scooter rental, but on a limited basis.
Parc Jean-Drapeau, in collaboration with the City of Montreal, has launched a pilot project that will have the scooters available for the summer.
Chloé Trottier is thrilled that, once again after three years, she’s able to rent scooters in Montreal.
“I think it’s really nice to have it back,” she told Global News while picking up her first e-scooter next to the Jean-Drapeau metro station.
People visiting the park are able to rent e-scooters from a number of self-service stations across the park for use on bike paths.
“We currently just launched last week,” explained Harun Hirani, market manager for Bird Canada, the company providing the scooters. “We have about 70 scooters in the park right now and we’ll slowly be ramping up to about 200 throughout the park.”
The pilot project that runs until mid-November this year and is meant to dissuade visitors from using cars, according to Bird Canada.
“They’ll have to pay $1.15 to unlock the scooter and it’s about 42 cents a minute to ride right now,” said Hirani.
Though some people are relieved with the return of rentable e-scooters, they weren’t always popular when they were last available in the city, because of what riders did.
“I haven’t seen one person wear a helmet yet,” complained Alex Halasz to Global News back in 2019. “So many of them are riding on the sidewalk.”
People lodged numerous complaints about e-scooters being strewn all over the city, and things got so bad elected officials decided to ban their use at the end of a pilot project in 2019. However the city kept the door open to the possibility of a return.
The 2023 pilot project with Bird Canada, the city says, is to see how different modes of transport can co-exist and to study how e-scooters can be used safely. Now there are a number of restrictions.
“We have the ability to geo-fence our scooters within certain zones,” Hirani explained, saying if people try to ride the scooter out of the park, it is programmed to shut down.
He added that it’s also set up to prompt the rider to find a proper docking station if someone tries to park somewhere restricted. According to him there are teams on the island 24-7 making sure scooters are properly docked.
Other measures: users must be 18 and older, and helmets are mandatory.
The City of Montreal says there are no plans now to expand their use beyond the park.