Electric scooters: the motion for the service to be offered by BIXI rejected
A total of 200 scooters were deployed by Lime in 2019, but Montreal ended the pilot project in winter 2020.
The Plante administration voted against a motion to allow BIXI to offer an electric scooter service with anchorage in the metropolis.
The opposition had made this proposal during the municipal council of 14 June, in order to avoid repeating the scenario of the 2019 pilot project.
“The only way to meet demand without reliving a fiasco is to entrust the mandate to BIXI, which has proven itself in its ability to manage a self-service transport system,” explained the spokesperson for the company. official opposition on active transportation and BIXI, Alba Zúñiga Ramos, during a press briefing on May 31.
Questioned by Métro, BIXI Montréal had then confirmed that it had analyzed the feasibility of such a project and that if the City so wished, it could add the option of self-service electric scooters to its existing bike-sharing system.
“This would ensure consistency in the self-service transportation system in the city, said Bérengère Thériault, spokesperson for BIXI Montreal. For BIXI Montreal, a structured system with anchor points has always seemed logical in order to preserve a harmonious cohabitation between all road users.”
Not a priority
Despite this, the Plante administration rejected the motion, arguing that it could not, at the current stage, pass it without amendments. However, she added that she was open “to evaluating scooters with anchors when the context allows for it”.
“It would not be responsible to mandate BIXI – whose operations are largely based on public funds – to explore this avenue of micromobility since it is currently impossible to know if the scooters will be able to remain in use on Quebec territory at the end of the pilot project”, indicates the press attaché to the office of the mayor and the committee Montreal executive, Alicia Dufour.
The City of Montreal also indicates that it does not have the right, legally speaking, to favor BIXI to the detriment of other operators.
“Opening the door to scooters at BIXI therefore automatically means opening the leads to the establishment of private operators on the territory of the City”, specifies Ms. Dufour.
She adds that even if BIXI said that it was open to studying the project if asked it would not be a priority of the organization.
“For an administration that claims to be a champion of active mobility, we are extremely disappointed by the rejection of our motion so that BIXI can offer electric scooters with anchorage”, deplores Alba Zúñiga Ramos.
According to the councillor, Montreal must be a leader in this area by offering citizens more modes of transportation and alternatives to the automobile in order to fight against global warming.
