Montreal introduces electric scooters with stricter regulations than Calgary

CALGARY (600 NEWS) – Electric scooters are expanding across the country…after first launching this summer in Calgary.

READ MORE: Popularity of E-scooters soaring in Calgary

But depending on the city you’re in, the rules and regulations around this new mode of transportation may be different like whether or not wearing a helmet is mandatory.

“If you went up the road to the city of Edmonton, they probably have different requirements, different aspects they’ve considered because they’re utilization or usage might be different than here in Calgary,” Nathan Carswell, Share Mobility program manager with the City of Calgary explained.

Montreal just launched its own program and Edmonton will have its very own Escooters soon.

Calgary’s didn’t come with a ton of regulations.

“For the scooters, we worked with the province and we felt that encouraging helmet usage was the right thing for this specific pilot (project),” Carswell told CityNews.

Parking is allowed on city property so long as it’s out of the way, and they can be taken on sidewalks and in the bike lanes.

In Montreal, it’s more strict.

Helmets are mandatory and scooters must be parked in designated parking spots.

READ MORE: Popularity of E-scooters soaring in Calgary

They’re allowed in bike lanes and streets with a speed limit below 50 km/h but not on sidewalks.

Users must also take a short online training course before their first ride.

“Each city is going to be different. We want to work with each city to make sure that we can bring… scooters to the people of the respective city, and Montreal is the second place,” Michael Markevich, GM of Lime for eastern Canada.

READ MORE: Fast, not so furious? Europe wrestles with electric scooters

Cities in Europe have been trying to find ways to make electric scooters safer for a while now from looking at complete bans, to speeding tickets, to drivers tests.

In Paris, riding these on a sidewalk is a €135 fine, which is almost $200CAD.

When it comes to these dockless devices, Germany realized more regulations are needed, announcing on-street parking zones for them, rather than being left in the middle of sidewalks.

“I think that that will be a piece of the pilot findings. We would look at how other cities have experienced it and like with anything new, there is learning every month,” Carswell said.

“Specifically in Europe, I understand that a lot of cities that are having challenges are operating quite a lot more scooters than us.”

Companies like Lime do have safety features for their app to verify age and sobriety but whether or not those features are used is up to each city.