Skip to main content

Montreal bans e-scooters following rider misuse

The Canadian city of Montreal has outlawed shared electric scooters from its streets after hundreds of riders disregarded rules on parking and helmet use. 
By Ben Spencer March 12, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Not all scooter riders played nice in Montreal (© Vlad Ispas | Dreamstime.com)

The decision follows a project last summer in which Lime and Bird deployed 430 and 250 e-scooters, respectively, at various locations in the city. 

Many users reportedly left the vehicles on the pavement or street instead of returning them to their designated areas.  

Last September, the city imposed $50 tickets on riders caught parking illegally.

Police also issued more than 300 tickets to riders who ignored rules on wearing helmets while riding e-scooters. 

A Montreal Bike Coalition spokesman told Montreal Gazette that there was ‘great potential’ in the scheme.

“The average trip on the scooters was just 1.5km and, in 2019, 25% of the trips were linked to public transit. The problem, of course, is that the operators didn’t do what they had to do to make sure that people who were renting them were following the rules when it comes to parking.”

Lime general manager Michael Markevich, says: “With more than 200,000 trips and 50,000 riders in just three months, it’s clear there was a real demand for greener, more convenient transportation options. We remain open to solutions that address the city’s concerns and are eager to bring the program back as soon as possible.”

Those who own an e-scooter may still use them on some public roads.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • US favours express buses are for intercity travel
    November 26, 2013
    David Crawford records an upsurge in ground travel. Express buses are powering ahead of air and rail as the US’ most-favoured form of intercity travel and major operators are investing in passenger-attracting and retaining technologies. At the same time ‘kayak’-style price comparison websites are emerging to widen rider choice. Modelled on airline industry search engines that find cheap flight deals by comparing carriers’ offers, these new websites aim to fill the same gap for a ground-travel equivalent
  • The case for integrating urban traffic control and parking
    February 3, 2012
    Although urban traffic control and parking management are inextricably linked in so many ways, there remain fundamental differences which undermine closer integration. Car parking guidance systems can have a significant, positive impact on congestion in town and city centres, however conflicting business models still stand in the way of the more profound integration of car parking management and Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems.
  • “There will be no driverless cars on a dead planet”
    October 11, 2022
    ‘Smart’, ‘intelligent’ and ‘advanced’ are great words when they’re applied to mobility – but just make sure they can actually change the world for the better, warns Professor Glenn Lyons
  • Texas goes public on habitual toll violators
    March 24, 2015
    Andrew Bardin Williams considers the effect of the ‘Name and Shame’ strategy adopted in Texas to encourage serial toll violators to pay up. It’s a tough time to be a scofflaw in the Lone Star State. Habitual toll violators - some with tens of thousands of unpaid tolls and fees - are being publically shamed into squaring their accounts with US toll agencies. In November 2013 the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) starting publishing a list of the state’s most egregious toll violators on its website.