E-scooters: To scoot or not to scoot?
They’re just as fast as they are risky, if unregulated
Lime e-scooters are available at KPU’s Richmond campus. (Diego Minor Martínez)
E-scooters are becoming harder to ignore in Metro Vancouver.
They are small, fast, and convenient, but they also create a challenge for cities to find an appropriate place for them on the road.
The City of Surrey banned e-scooters on public roads, sidewalks, and parks — so they’re only allowed on private property.
E-scooters should have a place in Surrey’s transportation system. However, that place needs to be clearly defined and designed for them.
Banning e-scooters from public spaces does not solve the main problem: if a rider cannot safely use the road and legally use the sidewalk, where should they go?
Busy intersections like King George Boulevard and 104 Avenue are major transportation corridors, with a nearby SkyTrain station and packed bus loop, mall, city hall, and Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus.
Bikes, including e-bikes, are allowed in Surrey and part of the city’s transportation ecosystem.
E-scooters are typically smaller than e-bikes but can travel at similar speed. Without separate lines, riders can end up navigating between busy roads and crowded sidewalks.
This doesn’t mean e-scooters aren’t risky. The Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program survey documented 10 deaths, 12 intensive care admissions, and 26 hospital stays among young users from e-scooter accidents.
A 2022 study from the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada journal found 523 motorized scooter injuries between 2012 and 2019. More than half of the incidents resulted from falls, with head injuries being most common.
Making e-scooters legal also means making them more regulated. While Surrey already mandates its own rules around age limits, more regulations for speed limits and helmet requirements are needed.
Safety concerns should not prevent infrastructure development. We should give e-scooters a clear and risk-minimized space within the transportation network instead of treating them as something that doesn’t belong.
Infrastructure is one of the main concerns when it comes to e-scooter safety. Surrey is already working on finding and building ways to separate different road users. The city’s cycling plan includes multi-use pathways, cycle tracks, and quieter local bikeways. The same approach could help answer the e-scooter problem.
Cities should create marked lines where bicycles and regulated e-scooters can travel. Clearer signals, physical separation, and safe crossings can help reduce possible conflicts between different road users, especially at busy intersections.
E-scooters are a new form of transportation, and ignoring them won’t help — we need to adapt. If cities want residents to choose alternatives to cars, they need to make those options accessible.
