Council approves continued micro mobility in Lethbridge

By Lethbridge Herald on February 16, 2024.

Scooters and e-bikes could be back in Lethbridge later this year.

Lethbridge city council unanimously voted this week to continue to permit shared micro-mobility services in the city. The decision was based on a presentation at the February 1 Assets and Infrastructure Standing Policy Committee meeting.

“We know these e-scooters and e-bikes have been popular, so bringing them back is a positive move for our residents,” says Mark Campbell, deputy mayor and chair of Assets and Infrastructure SPC. “We are also pleased that some of the original concerns residents and users had with micro mobility have largely been addressed by administration, and the service provider and will continue to be monitored moving forward.”

The two-year pilot with Neuron is ending soon, and the micro-mobility service provider will again be selected through a competitive process, which is similar to the previous approach used in the pilot project. In the pilot, Neuron was charged an annual fee of $7,500 to offset estimated costs to the city.

“A single service provider is efficient to administer and simplifies follow-up relating to customer complaints as there is only one service provider,” says transportation engineer Adam St. Amant. “The competitive process allows the city to set expectations around shared micro-mobility services and allows potential service providers to propose programs that meet or exceed city expectations. Once awarded the permit, micro-mobility service providers can focus on delivering quality service without the need to compete directly for riders.”

Since launching in April 2022, Neuron users have racked up more than 740,000 kilometres, with 52 per cent of all trips replacing a car journey. Neuron states that more than six in 10 e-scooter trips have been reported to result in a purchase at a local business, where riders are spending an average of $22 per trip, and each e-scooter contributes an estimated $6,300 to the local economy each year.

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