Micro-mobility plans not in motion in Winnipeg
'We’re at a standstill waiting for someone to be interested,’ former public works chair says
E-scooter and e-bike sharing options are not on the horizon for Winnipeg any time soon, despite past interest from micro-mobility firms and pilot projects in other Canadian cities.
“There’s still work to do on this,” said former public works chair Coun. Matt Allard.
Winnipeg started preparing for the arrival of micro-mobility sharing companies in 2019, when one of those companies, Lime Canada, visited the city to lobby for a licensing agreement.
Micro-mobility firms like Lime allow devices like e-bikes and e-scooters to be rented and dropped off by users anywhere in the city, all by using an app. Lime is already in four cities across Canada, including Edmonton, Richmond, B.C., North Vancouver, and Kelowna.
The hope was that micro-mobility firms could be able to come to Winnipeg in 2020, according to a public works committee meeting agenda.
But Allard, who chaired the public works committee in 2019, said there hasn’t been much interest from firms looking to bring their services to Winnipeg.
“There has been little publicity regarding e-bike, e-scooter firms coming to Winnipeg. The matter appears to be dormant,” said Allard, referencing the city’s public service who looked into the issue in 2019.
And while some Canadian cities like Saskatoon have launched pilot projects that allow micro-mobility devices to be rented and shared, Winnipeg has no plans for a project of its own, according to Julie Dooley, spokesperson for the city.
“[The city] would work with any e-bike/e-scooter/bikeshare/micromobility firm interested in developing a sharing service in the city,” Dooley added.
Allard said the reason for firms' apparent lack of interest might be because of the province’s Highway Traffic Act, which does not include any specific regulations about e-scooters.
“It's not clear what's allowed and what's not allowed,” he said.
“If somebody were to bring [e-scooters] in, like in a significant way, then they'd be taking risk that the government would ask them to not do what they're doing. And so, there's uncertainty now. So that makes the potential investors nervous.”
When asked for an update on Lime Canada’s interest in bringing its services to Winnipeg, spokesperson Jacob Tugendrajch said Lime hopes to continue to expand to new places in the coming years.
“We believe the future of micromobilty in Canada is bright, and we look forward to continuing productive conversations with municipalities hoping to build shared e-scooter and e-bike programs, including Winnipeg,” Tugendrajch said in an email.
‘Less effort, but more fun’: e-bike user
E-bikes and e-scooters are being embraced in cities across the globe, with advocates hailing their convenience and ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from car trips.
Patty Boge, a new e-bike user in Winnipeg, bought an e-bike in early January. She said she started e-biking to cut down her commuting time on her regular bike. After just a couple weeks of using it, she said she plans on selling her car.
“I really embraced that idea that I can get anywhere on a bike, and the e-bike just made that just so much more achievable. Less effort, but more fun,” said Boge, 49.
In a city with an incomplete active transportation network, e-biking is much less time-consuming than regular biking, Boge said. Her bike to work is now about 20 to 25 minutes shorter, she added.
“The fact that Winnipeg isn't really a really strong cycling city makes you need to have an e-bike so that you can, you know, get anywhere faster,” said Boge.
Someone needs to make the first move, councillor says
A licensing model in which a firm would rent out micro-mobility devices but pay a fee to the city to administer the program would work well for Winnipeg, Allard said. But either a firm or the city needs to step forward to get the ball rolling, he added.
“We’re at a standstill waiting for someone to be interested,” said Allard.
In the meantime, people will continue to buy their own e-bikes and e-scooters in Winnipeg, Allard said.
“There's things to sort out and we're not sorting them out right now. People are going and doing their thing.”