琉璃神社 should continue to allow a competitive e-scooter sharing market while beginning a search for a lone e-bike-share service provider, staff told council on Monday (Feb. 1).

In June 2020, council requested staff devise a report on the implications of offering exclusivity to a single provider to handle all of the city鈥檚 e-mobility sharing programs 鈥� both e-bike-share and e-scooter share. This would prove challenging, staff said Monday, as currently only one company currently offers the services in tandem.

As a result, active transportation co-ordinator Matt Worona suggested the city allow e-scooter share programs to continue as it previously did through summer 2019 with a competitive market built by several providers. While the city wouldn鈥檛 incur any financial penalties in cancelling those permits to allow for a single provider, it could hurt the city鈥檚 reputation with service providers, Worona told council.

鈥淗istorically, the City of 琉璃神社 has allowed and encouraged competition in the private delivery of shared transportation services 鈥� think taxis, ride-hailing, car-share,鈥� Worona said, adding that the 鈥渇lux鈥� of the industry could cause service interruptions if given to a single company.

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However, Worona said offering exclusivity for e-bike-share services could pique operators鈥� interest, which is lacking under the current application system.

Council agreed with Worona, directing staff to come back with an amendment to the city鈥檚 micro-mobility program which would allow operators to apply to become the city鈥檚 exclusive e-bike-share provider. The amendment would not affect operations for rental programs.

While e-scooters are not currently allowed on city streets, the provincial government is expected to soon amend legislation to change that 鈥� until then, e-scooter services won鈥檛 return to 琉璃神社, staff said.

Currently, all mobility sharing programs in the city remain suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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