Electric scooters to appear in town
Electric scooters will be turning up in town in a pilot project. Users will have to wear a helmet, though, which I suspect will limit their popularity.
An important thing that may be overlooked: these things do not belong on bike paths, including ones like the Lachine Canal-side paths and the Olmsted Trail on Mount Royal. Police seem to be tolerant of folks on vehicles like these, which I spotted not long ago on the mountain. These paths and trails are really not for powered vehicles, though.
The distinction is not “fossil fuel powered vehicles vs. others” it’s “humans and human-powered vehicles vs. powered vehicles”.
Blork 11:40 on 2019-06-22 Permalink
Oh, but those scooters will be all over the bike paths, just like every other electric vehicle that has shown up in the past few years. The problem is they don’t belong on sidewalks, nor do they belong on the streets, so the bike path is the logical place from the POV of the rider.
Scooter primer:
The scooters like the one you photographed are “electric scooters” and they’re basically an electrified version of the standard 50cc gas-powered scooter. The only real difference is the power train (gas vs. electric) but the gas ones require a license plate and AFAIK a driver’s license (but not a motorcycle license). There is probably some designation WRT power levels and speed and whatnot that differentiates low powered ones from higher-powered “street” scooters.
The slower sit-down scooters that you see seniors and handicapped people riding (3 or 4 wheels, with no need to balance them when stopped) are called “mobility scooters.” No license is required and they are definitely built for comfort, not speed.
The small ones that look like a skateboard with a single pole and handlebar at the front are called kick scooters (even when they’re electric). Officially, in Quebec, they are called “low speed electric scooters” and there are definitely rules around their use. In English: https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/saaq/documents/pilot-projects/low-speed-electric-scooters/
The ones that are a single wheel the size of a pizza with a pedal on either side are called “Airwheels” but that’s a brand name. Also sometimes called “self balancing unicycle.” I’ve been seeing a lot of those around, and they go quite fast. People often use them on the sidewalk, which seems dangerous AF as I don’t know how fast they can stop or deke around pedestrians. (https://airwheelunicycle.com/Airwheel-X3)
There are also self-balancing one-wheeled skateboards showing up. Those also seem dangerous AF.
I will admit that if I were 20 years old I’d be losing my mind wanting to try all these crazy electric vehicles, so I can’t really blame people for liking them. It’s too bad that a lot of riders are careless, irresponsible, and self-entitled, and they’ll ruin it for everyone. (That seems to be the theme of the 21st century so far, BTW.) Bones will be broken.
Chris 15:10 on 2019-06-22 Permalink
The solution is simple: reallocate public roadway space away from cars towards active transportation. But there’s no will.
John B 17:08 on 2019-06-22 Permalink
On Scooters vs. Bikes vs. other things, I used to be pretty hard in the “bike paths are for human-powered things” camp, but have softened. Most e-things that people are using to get around are alternatives to cars, so we need to find a way to welcome them into the city. For most of these scooters, e-bikes, air wheels, hover boards, etc, they go about the same speed as a bike, and take up about the same space as a bike, so we might as well all share bike paths.
The “vehicles like these” Kate linked to are, I believe, classed as e-bikes, because the electric drive won’t go over 35km/h and there are pedals in there somewhere, (I think folded underneath). This is also an e-Bike, but the people using it are more likely to be professionals commuting to work than old dudes with keg bellies & no shirt, and for some reason we tolerate them more, (if we even notice them). I do think the people on the “vehicles like these” seem to be more oblivious to their surroundings, (I just passed one stopped in the middle of the bike path talking to his friends at the Verdun beach), but all of us on 2, (or 1), wheel can share the space.
Blork 19:12 on 2019-06-22 Permalink
John B, the “vehicles like these” might be classified as an e-bike (personally I don’t think so) but nobody calls that an e-bike. E-bikes are exactly like your “this is also an e-bike” bike. The main difference is that absolutely nobody will go around pedaling that first type, but the second type is designed for pedalling — if you don’t pedal you don’t move; the motor provides “electric assist” not full-on drive.*
The two vehicles have very different user types. E-bikes are rapidly growing in popularity; I see a bunch of them every day. They look like regular bikes, so it’s hard to tell if you’re not looking. My e-bike in particular looks like a regular bike; even the battery just looks like a water bottle if you don’t look closely.
There are a number of different designs of e-scooters going around. There are the ones like “vehicles like these” that look like 50cc gas scooters, and there are smaller ones that look like a cross between a 1970s banana bike and a trail bike. I see a lot of Uber Eats delivery people using those downtown, and I see clusters of tourists riding them around on “electric scooter tours.”
Note: a few e-bikes come with a “throttle mode” that lets you ride without pedaling but most do not; in fact, throttle mode is not legal in most of Europe and other places so most e-bike manufacturers don’t bother providing it.
Kevin 19:38 on 2019-06-22 Permalink
If it goes more than 32 km an hour, you need a license plate and a driver’s license. That’s the law
Blork 21:50 on 2019-06-22 Permalink
That’s correct. The vast majority of e-bikes (the type you pedal; actual “electric bicycles”) have an upper speed limit of around 28-29 km/hr after which the pedal assist conks out. You can go faster, but only under your own power, or gravity (I hit 37 going downhill on the Jacques-Cartier bridge the other day). They build this in because most places have such regulations, although the speed limit changes from place to place.
Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle_laws
Chris 10:40 on 2019-06-23 Permalink
I’ve always known these things as ‘mopeds’ not ‘scooters’.
Ephraim 18:15 on 2019-06-23 Permalink
Interestingly enough… Minimum age for electric bike is 14. For those 14 to 17 driving an electric bike… You must have at least a driver’s licence bearing Class 6D authorizing you to operate a moped or scooter. Once you are 18, you don’t need a licence. And BIKE helmet is mandatory. Scooters also have mandatory BIKE helmets, not motorcycle helmets, but you have to be over 18.
If you can do over 32km/h or over 500W, a MOTORCYCLE helmet is mandatory.