Port Moody residents won’t be getting around the city on shared electric scooters and skateboards anytime soon.
At a meeting Feb. 11, city council said it didn’t have enough information about a proposed pilot program being pitched by the MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam, Rick Glumac.
In a letter sent by Glumac to council, he said, “E-mobility devices have the potential to reduce congestion and transform how people move around their communities.”
The former Port Moody councillor added that the pilot project will help the Ministry of Transportation modernize rules that govern roads as well as help the province meet its climate targets and make active transportation options easier and safer to use.
But the city's general manager of engineering and operations, Jeff Moi, said the looming deadline of March 6 to apply to participate in the pilot project and the lack of staff resources means the city would have to spend up to $10,000 for a consultant to put together a proposal with no assurance from the province about how much of that money it would fund. He said there then might be additional costs to monitor the program over its three years.
Coun. Meghan Lahti urged caution as e-scooters have caused problems in other communities.
“I have seen these things completely littering the waterways and trails,” she said. “We would need to do our own due diligence.”
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Coun. Hunter Madsen agreed, saying there’s nothing preventing the city from pursuing such an initiative with a private partner on its own timeline.
Mayor Rob Vagramov said he’s not opposed to e-scooters and e-skateboards eventually becoming a part of the city’s landscape, noting, “I have great interest in pursuing any opportunity like this.”
