E-scooter companies ready to roll this spring despite 'restrictive' policies

The two e-scooter companies chosen for the fourth year of Ottawa's pilot program say they plan to be ready to roll come mid-May, even though one of the companies said ridership was down last year because of the city's "restrictive" policies.

On Thursday, the city's Transportation Committee voted in favour of a fourth — and possibly second-last — year of the pilot program.

The program hasn't been smooth riding over the first three years. Last year, the rollout was delayed to July as the companies worked to meet the city's new requirements.

Neither Bird Canada nor Neuron deployed the total number of scooters they were allowed. Ridership was also down by more than 400,000 rides compared to the year before.

Limited parking areas an issue

One of the changes implemented last year meant scooters had to be parked in designated "digital parking corrals," which one company said is behind the dramatic drop in riders.

"Ottawa is unique in having such a restrictive parking model," said Alexandra Petre, a senior director at Bird Canada.

"It is quite a complex set of requirements that we had to meet in Ottawa last year and we know a lot of these will carry into this year."

Petre said the parking rules became too similar to a bike sharing program, which meant many people were unable to end their trips in front of their homes.

Some of the other requirements implemented last year include having the scooters emit a continuous noise and restricting riders from using them on sidewalks.

Neither Bird Canada nor Neuron plan to launch a full slate of vehicles right away come mid-May.

In a statement to CBC, Neuron said it plans to deploy 450 e-scooters over the season.

"We continue to see Ottawa as a great market for shared e-scooters. While use was slightly down in 2022, we expect it to rebound and be even stronger this year," wrote Ankush Karwal, head of market for Neuron.

Bird, meanwhile, said it would ramp up to a full slate within a matter of weeks.

"We would be very excited to be able to deploy our entire fleet, however, we are aware of the fact that some of these requirements are very strict and we want to make sure that we meet them properly," said Petre.