Electric scooters are now legal in Quebec

Electric scooters will be able to travel on roads with a maximum permissible speed of less than 50 km / h, as well as on bike paths.

This order amending the Highway Safety Act will go into effect on July 20. The decree will be in effect for three years.

Users must comply with the same road safety rules as cyclists. For example, they will not be able to ride on sidewalks unless necessary.

This ordinance also covers other motorized personal transport devices (MPTAs), including unicycles and skateboards.

According to Minister Guilbault, It is necessary to experiment with its wider use in relation to road safetysince Pilot projects do not allow for the full measure of using electric scooters.

Illegal, but it does exist

Although electric scooters are currently illegal A fact that already exists on Earthnotes Magali Bibron, program director for Vélo Québec.

As Éducaloi reported on its website last June that that even if electric scooters were more common everywhere in Quebec, our current laws do not allow you to use them for road travel.

Guillaume Hergat, director of the Noaio store in Montreal, which sells exclusively electric scooters, confirms that large majority [de sa clientèle] He knew it was illegal, but it was tolerated [sur les voies publiques].

It’s never a good thing when we have some kind of legal ambiguity that doesn’t allow us to act, measure, and regulate. […]then you come and frame all this, it’s good newsthought Mrs. Bebronne.

Alba Zuniga Ramos, spokesperson for the opposition Montreal City Hall of Active Mobility, is also pleased. To find out that electric scooters and other precision motion devices are allowed […] This will put an end to the regulatory ambiguity.

Last month, a Montreal group launched a petition asking the Quebec government to allow these motorized vehicles to circulate in order to allow the city to regulate their use.

Coexistence problems to predict?

Magali Bebronne points out that this new mandate for scooters will require adjustments in terms of urban development. coexistence [sur les pistes cyclables] Already it makes people oscillate between good old bikes, new forms of micromotor, electric bikes, etc.she explained.

” It will be a call for cities to develop their network of bike paths, which perhaps will become active commuting paths, in a much broader sense. »

According to her, the expansion of bike lanes, inspired by what it was done for REV Saint-Denis, it will be necessary to enable Using different speeds to coexist more harmoniously and perform safe overtaking maneuvers.

We have some cycle tracks that were built in the 1980’s, which are usually very narrow, and often two-way as well. This makes overtaking maneuvers more dangerousindicate.

A new beginning for self-service scooters

In the past, the ban on e-scooters has been subject to exceptions in several pilot projects that have made self-service scooters available from Bird and Lime operators.

But the arrival of this mode of transportation in Montreal in 2019 did not go smoothly. After just one season, the city of Montreal abandoned the project.

Illegal parking was the problem: In its report on the pilot project, the City of Montreal estimated that only 20% of the 700 scooters in circulation were parked in the designated spots.

But Montreal will try the experiment again this summer, during a pilot project limited to the territory of Parc Jean Drapeau. This time, the city required operator Bird to install GPS on every scooter. According to officials, this measure will prevent cars from closing outside authorized areas.

The City of Laval will have to adjust its self-service electric scooter rental pilot project, which was scheduled for June 2023, in order to comply with this new ministerial order. We’re still aiming for commissioning for this summerassures Philippe Derry, head of public affairs for the city of Laval, who was unable to give an exact date.