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On Wednesday, the first parking station for Vancouver’s future e-scooter sharing system was installed, joining hundreds of other cities around the world – and several others in the Lower Mainland – that already have shared e-scooter programs in place.

Last month, Lime Technology, a U.S.-based company that operates so-called “micromobility” transportation systems on five continents, was selected to lead Vancouver’s first scooter-share program.

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Now that the launch date is getting closer and more details are available, here’s everything you need to know:

When can we ride the scooter?

Starting Thursday, September 12, riders in Vancouver will be able to begin renting scooters, Lime confirmed Wednesday.

How does it work?

The system will work similarly to Vancouver’s bike-sharing system Mobi, which has been running since 2016. Using the Lime app on their smartphone, customers can find an available scooter at a parking station in Vancouver, rent it, ride it around and then return it to any station in the same area.

In BC, e-scooters have a speed limit of 25 km/h and are allowed on roads and bike paths, but not on sidewalks.

Where can you find the scooters?

Vancouver’s shared scooter service will launch in the city’s northeast. The first 29 stations will be located in two East Van neighbourhoods – Grandview-Woodland and Hastings-Sunrise – along major arterials and side streets north of Hastings Street between Commercial Drive and Boundary Road, and in the corridor between Commercial and Nanaimo Streets south to East Broadway.

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First, riders must stay within the designated zone. If they cross the boundaries, the scooter’s engine will be turned off and will not start again until they push it back into the area.

The plan is to expand Lime’s service to the rest of Vancouver over the course of 2024 and 2025.

What does this cost the taxpayer?

The program is designed to be “revenue neutral or revenue generating” for the city, according to the city administration’s May report, which recommends selecting Lime as the operator.

Under the contract, Lime will pay fees to the city for each ride, said Danielle Wiley, Vancouver’s deputy director of road use management. Depending on how popular the system is with users, it could generate revenue for the city as early as the second year, Wiley said, “but either way, it’s not at the taxpayers’ expense.”

What costs do drivers incur?

Lime’s prices for Vancouver will not be announced until the launch in September. In Richmond, the Lime app this week showed that e-scooters cost $1.15 for each ride, then $0.36 plus tax per minute.

In addition, monthly and annual passes will be available at significantly lower prices, said Wiley. This is intended to support the city’s transport and climate goals of reducing people’s dependence on private cars.

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How have shared e-scooter systems performed elsewhere?

E-scooters, operated by several companies such as Lime, are growing in popularity around the world but have also drawn criticism. Paris banned e-scooter rentals last year after complaints from pedestrians, and just last week Melbourne followed suit, with the mayor saying it was time to “end the chaos on Melbourne’s sidewalks and make our city safe again”.

Closer to home, Lime already operates e-scooter systems (as well as e-bikes) in Richmond, Coquitlam and Kelowna. Other cities do not require scooters to be parked at stations as long as they are parked within certain geographic locations. There are rules in place to ensure users do not park their scooters inappropriately, but in some places, including Coquitlam, there have been complaints about abandoned e-scooters blocking sidewalks. (Despite mentioning these concerns, Coquitlam city councillors voted earlier this year to extend the shared scooter program until at least 2028 because of its popularity with users.)

Vancouver staff wanted to avoid the problems of parked scooters clogging sidewalks reported elsewhere, Wiley said, so “having physical parking stations was hugely important to us.”

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The Vancouver contract required the e-scooter operator to install a system of physical parking stations, prompting Lime to design a system different from all of the other 280 cities in which the company operates, said Sonia Kandola, director of government relations at Lime Canada.

“We’ve designed a completely customized solution for the city of Vancouver,” Kandola said. “This is the first place in the world where Lime is creating physical parking stations for the city… We’ll learn from this.”

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