Ottawa’s Electric Kick Scooter Pilot Program – 2023 Season

Through a competitive process in 2022, and Council approval for a “Follow-On Contract”, the City has selected two providers for the 2023 electric kick scooter pilot program. The 2023 providers are Bird Canada and Neuron Mobility (the same providers from the 2022 season).
The 2023 season is approved to operate until November 15, 2023 (weather permitting). Residents and visitors can unlock an e-scooter through the providers app between 6 am and 11 pm throughout the season.
This year’s pilot will again have a total combined fleet of 900 e-scooters available for residents to use.
The season will begin in a few pre-selected neighborhoods and expand to a larger operational area in the coming weeks to ensure the new required technologies are functioning as required.
The 2023 program will focus on continuing to reduce accessibility impacts, such as sidewalk riding and improperly parked e-scooters.
Check out this video for tips on how to properly ride and park e-scooters:

Scoot with safety

Shared and personal e-scooters are not permitted to operate on sidewalks. E-scooters can operate on the City’s multi-use pathways, cycling facilities like cycle tracks and bike lanes and on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or lower.
Shared e-scooter providers use geofence technology to create “no ride”, “no park” and “slow zones” including transit stations, NCC pathways, the ByWard Market (with the exception of York Street) and City of Ottawa parking garages.
An interactive map is available on Ottawa.ca where riders can click through the map to see the 2023 e-scooter deployment area. You will also see no-ride zones and slow-ride zones.
Riders can also explore the City’s network of cycling facilities and multi-use pathways using the Official Cycling Map.
The Electric Kick Scooter By-Law allows for Ottawa Police Services to issue fines for violations such as sidewalk riding which is a $180 fine.
Riders under 18 must wear a helmet when operating an e-scooter. Ottawa Public Health strongly recommends all users wear a helmet due to risk of injury.
As per the Highway Traffic Act riders should not operate e-scooters while impaired.

E-scooters emit a continuous sound when in use to alert other residents of their approach.
The City is helping lead the industry in using this technology in advance of any worldwide standard.

Providers are continuing to use technologies to deter sidewalk riding and improperly parked e-scooters.
The latest GPS technologies and Artificial Intelligence allow for more accurate location of individual e-scooters, improving the geofencing.

E-scooter provider apps only allow riders to end their rides in either the City installed physically designated parking areas or approved virtually designated areas in appropriate sidewalk adjacent furniture zones (only on sidewalks at least 2.0m wide).
If an e-scooter is improperly parked, the rider will continue to be charged a fee until it’s properly parked or retrieved by the provider.
Providers have implemented fines and will remove users from their app who disregard the local rules, including sidewalk riding and improper parking.
E-scooter providers have committed to respond to mis-parked e-scooters within 15 minutes.
Providers will have staff proactively patrolling, monitoring and communicating with riders.
Residents and businesses can report mis-parked e-scooters via a City e-form on Ottawa.ca.
There are dedicated By-law officers monitoring parking and relocating/impounding e-scooters as required.

Reporting concerns/inquiries about e-scooters

Residents can report any e-scooter related concern or inquiry through an e-form online at ottawa.ca or calling 3-1-1.