Scooter pilot project an exciting initiative

By Letter to the Editor on May 26, 2021.

Editor:
I’m really excited that Lethbridge is going to try the e-scooter pilot project.
I have used these scooters when in Edmonton a number of times and they’re an amazing addition to an otherwise dull downtown. They’re a blast!
But listening to and seeing comments on social media, and from other sources, you’d think that City Hall just unleashed a scene from Mad Max.
I adore Lethbridge, but one of the things that makes me bonkers about the place is its characteristic (and, frankly, extraordinarily predictable) anti-anything-new-attitude.
Jesus could return to earth and certain people in Lethbridge would worry about what it would do to their property taxes, complaining that the noise of the Rapture is too loud for city streets.
Come on folks, the city has a six-figure population now, it ain’t a sleepy little town no more. So from one who has some experience with these scooters, let me provide a bit of information and maybe help alleviate some fears:
The two chief complaints I’ve heard so far are that the scooters will get wrecked or stolen.
In Edmonton, a number of the scooters were vandalized or thrown in the reflecting ponds at the Legislature. It happens. But the vast majority were just fine.
The company that owns and runs them includes this risk in their business model, and they also collect the damaged or vandalized ones. They don’t just lay there for weeks on end.
How do they find them? Well, that leads into the second worry, that they’ll get stolen. Each of the scooters uses GPS, which is how you can actually find them and use them via your smartphone. It’s also not like you just jump on these things and they whiz you off. You have to register to use them and pay for them via an app on your phone. In other words, you’re tracked in using them.
For those worried about them being used by rampaging hordes of wannabe Hell’s Angels, the company can actually set electronic gates in certain areas that prevent them from exceeding a certain speed and can also prevent their use in certain areas using the same technology.
Friends, I know new things are inherently scary for some. But this one is fun and economically beneficial to downtown Lethbridge. 
I’ve ridden these and no seniors, small furry animals, or rattlesnakes were ever hurt.
Aaron Roth
Lethbridge