Arrival of rentable e-scooters in Regina and Saskatoon comes with growing pains
Hygiene concerns, abandoned scooters among issues raised
Rentable e-scooters are now available in Regina and Saskatoon. Anyone who has a phone, a credit card and a few minutes can take one of the vehicles out for a ride.
Regina announced last week that companies Neuron and Bird, which also operate in Saskatoon, were bringing the vehicles to the provincial capital. Many of the e-scooters were put to use during the Canada Day long weekend.
Saskatoon launched its two-year pilot program for e-scooters in May. Neuron, one of the vendors, said riders have already racked up a total of 100,000 kilometres.
However, the introduction of the scooters to the Saskatchewan market has not been without its challenges.
The province's Traffic Safety Act requires people who rent the scooters to be at least 16 years old and wear a helmet. All of the scooters come equipped with a helmet, but not everyone is putting the safety equipment to use.
"I did not wear my helmet when I rode the scooter because I was afraid to get head lice," said Sarah Anthony on Tuesday morning in Saskatoon.
Andrew Barrie, who was also in Saskatoon, agreed.
"It's not as sanitary as bringing your own helmet if you have one, right?" Barrie said.
Both Neuron and Bird said they have sanitization schedules for their helmets and e-scooters to make sure they are clean, and that helmets are also regularly swapped out.
Austin Spademan, a senior account manager with Bird, said that while there may be some rule-breaking as people get acquainted with the new vehicles, the company is hard at work educating customers on what's expected.
"I think this is going to be rarer and rarer, throughout the course of the program, of people not abiding by the local rules and regulations," Spademan said.
Police can ticket people for not wearing helmets
Saskatchewan Government Insurance has a list of rules around the use of e-scooters posted online.
The guidelines state that people renting the scooters must drive without passengers and riders must wear a helmet.
Local police are responsible for enforcing the rules.
"Police do have the ability to ticket somebody not wearing their helmet while riding on the scooter, just as they have the ability to ticket somebody not wearing a helmet if they were riding a motorcycle," said Tyler McMurchy, a spokesperson for SGI.
WATCH | Introduction of e-scooters to Sask. market has not been without challenges:
Another complaint about the e-scooters is that they have been abandoned on the side of the road in neighbourhoods throughout both cities.
The City of Regina's website for frequently asked questions about the e-scooter program is littered with comments asking the city to relocate scooters found in inconvenient locations.
Regina officials are directing those complaints to the respective companies, who are responsible for wrangling any wayward vehicles. The same goes for Saskatoon.
Bird and Neuron said the scooters are equipped with technology that allows them to locate the scooters, allowing their employees to go retrieve them if necessary.
"That's a constant process that we actually work all throughout the day, pretty much non-stop actually," said Spademan.
LISTEN | How the city's e-scooter rental program is going after a month on the roads:
And not everyone takes issue with the scooters being scattered about.
One Regina resident, who spoke with CBC News on Tuesday, said his first time using one of the scooters was after finding it on the sidewalk.
"I left my car here, so I was walking to my car and I saw one of the [scooters.] It was dropped off somewhere over there, so I just took it and just came here like within five minutes," said Riyad Islam.
Islam said he's likely going to use a scooter again in the future.
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With files from Radio-Canada's Genevieve Patterson and Perrine Pinel