While the City of 91大黄鸭 is touting e-scooters as a viable new way to get around town, they are posing new obstacles for some residents with disabilities.

Under a three-year provincial pilot program, 91大黄鸭 residents and tourists are now allowed to use the city鈥檚 road and shared-pathway networks to scoot around on shared or privately-owned electric scooters.

For Spring Hawes, who lives with tetraplegia and uses a wheelchair to get around, the scooter sharing programs are presenting an issue 鈥� specifically regarding parking. She says for herself and other 91大黄鸭 residents with disabilities, improperly parked e-scooters can limit already restricted means of transportation.

Oop. Nother one. Sutherland and Richter.

鈥� Spring Hawes (@SpringHawes)

Since the launch of e-scooter sharing programs in 91大黄鸭 in mid-April, several people, including Hawes, have taken to social media to show photos of scooters parked in the middle of narrow walkways in a way that makes it difficult or impossible for some people to get around them.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen many times where they鈥檙e just left in the middle of the sidewalk and they鈥檙e literally completely blocking the sidewalk,鈥� said Hawes.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a very obvious barrier 鈥� not just for people in wheelchairs, but for all kinds of people who wouldn鈥檛 be able to get around them.鈥�

Hawes said she鈥檚 not opposed to the idea of e-scooters, but with the 鈥榙ockless鈥� system offered by local operators, scooters will continue to be left in inappropriate areas.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 no garbage can, people will still throw their garbage out; if there鈥檚 no place to leave a scooter, people will leave it wherever it stops.鈥�

READ MORE: E-scooters will soon be allowed on 91大黄鸭 roadways under provincial pilot program

READ MORE: 91大黄鸭 council dismayed by lack of EV chargers at Costco鈥檚 鈥�24-pump mega station鈥�

The City of Calgary experienced similar parking-based problems throughout its two-year pilot program for shared e-bike and e-scooter programs. According to the city鈥檚 final report on the pilot from December 2020, staff fielded 255 calls over e-scooter parking issues in 2020 and Calgarians listed parking as their third top concern in a survey on e-scooters.

To address the accessibility issues posed by improperly parked scooters, Calgary implemented 30 parking zones in high-use areas in 2020. Still, those zones experienced relatively low usage with around 2.5 per cent of trips ending in the zones, despite 10 per cent of e-scooters being deployed there by operators.

鈥淚f there were more parking zones and incentives to use them, usage would likely increase,鈥� staff wrote in the report.

City of 91大黄鸭 mobility specialist Matt Worona says growing pains are to be expected with substantial programs like this, and expects adherence to parking guidelines to improve as people become more familiar with them. Through the first week of the programs running in 91大黄鸭, Worona says around 13 per cent of scooters were parked improperly.

鈥淲e hope to see that number trend downwards,鈥� said Worona. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not where we want to see it today, but we think we can get it to a better level.鈥�

Much like in Calgary, operators in 91大黄鸭 will be handing out $10 fines to riders who park improperly. Users have to send a photo of their parked scooter to the operator using the app and park jobs deemed out of line will net fines.

鈥淭he first time, they get a warning. The second time they get a fine and if you continue on (parking improperly), you can get booted from the service.鈥�

Worona is reminding users of any of the city鈥檚 three shared scooter programs, Lime, Roll or Zip, that helmet use is mandatory, scooters are not permitted on the sidewalk and riding drunk is not allowed.

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com

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