A Merritt resident penned a letter to Merritt City Council on the common council assembly of March 22, 2022, requesting that the City contemplate becoming a member of a Province of BC Electric kick scooter, or E-scooter, pilot project.
Currently, it’s unlawful to function an E-scooter on a street outdoors of a pilot neighborhood, of which there are solely eight province vast: Kelowna, Nanaimo, North Vancouver, Richmond, Vancouver, Vernon, North Vancouver and West Vancouver.
The City of Merritt has labored extensively on its Active Transportation Plan, below which pointers relating to E-scooters would possible fall, with City CAO Sean Smith saying, “Our Active Transportation Plan in the City of Merritt, it’s very strong, it’s one of the strongest plans that we have in place right now, I would say.”
Councillor Adam Etchart did increase security issues, noting that Merritt doesn’t have shared lanes or devoted bicycle lanes which could possibly be used to accommodate E-scooter customers.
“I like the idea of it because you see in the cities, people riding their scooters all over the place, and I support it, I’m just not seeing all the spaces where you can really ride on the side of the road in so many spots around town,” stated Etchart.
Councillor Kurt Christopherson echoed these issues.
“Safety is something that I would want to make sure is factored into this,” stated Christopherson.
“I’m very excited to see us exploring this possibility, I think it’s one of many types of ways that communities and small cities and big cities can encourage the use of, not only active transportation, but also alternative modes of transportation,” stated councillor Travis Fehr.
City of Merritt workers did attain out to the province to inquire whether or not or not they had been nonetheless taking candidates for the pilot project and the province did present a response with acceptable instructions essential to observe up. However, Planning and Development Services Manager, Don McArthur indicated that workers want to discover the likelihood additional by talking to different communities concerned and assessing monetary and logistical implications of the project.
If Merritt had been to hitch the pilot project, it will be the smallest neighborhood by far with a inhabitants of roughly 7,000. Vernon, the present smallest metropolis to participate, has a inhabitants of simply over 40,000.
A movement asking workers to discover the E-scooter project additional handed unanimously.
“At $1.92 a litre for gas I think a lot of people are going to be looking at the E-scooter as a very viable mode of transportation,” joked councillor Etchart.