This morning Durham Regional Council passed a new By-law allowing 'kick e-scooters' on Regional roads only.
The Region is leaving it up to the lower tier municipalities to sort out their own regulations whether they want to opt in and pass their own e-scooter By-laws or opt out until more data is available on the consequences of having them on the road (according to the Province of Ontario they are prohibited on sidewalks) Note the City of Toronto Council twice voted to ban them. Here is a link to the Regions new By-law: https://calendar.durham.ca/.../6bbcbc45-4167-4ce8-a449...
Ajax Mayor Collier asked 'what is in it for us'? He was asking about revenue sharing, saying there needs to be some financial benefit because there will be costs.
At one point the Chair said this is about the PROPOSED BY-LAW not the product.
Imo it is problematic that the Region can say on the one hand 'compatibility with the lower tier municipalities is critical' and then say the lower tier municipalities can work out their own acceptance rules, which seems to put the lower tier municipalities in a box. Reality check is needed. All Regional roads intersect with local roads.
At one point a Councillor described recently being quite startled when a e-scooter zipped by on a sidewalk.
Another asked who is liable when a senior is startled and falls and breaks a hip.
The Chair asked about the Region Trails where there are X-treme Sport mountain bikers, and there are X-treme e-scooters that can travel 50km an hour, how safe is that combining the two, and how can it be monitored for example in Uxbridge and Durham Forest?
Region staff answered maybe they should be banned from the Durham Forest.
When Region Council voted to approve the new e-scooter By-Law this morning no one requested a recorded vote.
Although when the verbal vote was called some No votes could be heard among more Yes votes. Imo sad to say it seemed no Council member had the courage to request a recorded vote, so the names of members in support vs those against were not made public. Ducking a controversial vote before the election?
Looking up more info on X-treme e-scooters, it seems Chair Henry is behind on the speeds...they can go much higher, making 50km seems slow: check out the top speeds listed here: there are 10 brands that have speeds between 120kmh and 80kmh
https://electric-scooter.guide/.../fastest-electric.../
The Region is leaving it up to the lower tier municipalities to sort out their own regulations whether they want to opt in and pass their own e-scooter By-laws or opt out until more data is available on the consequences of having them on the road (according to the Province of Ontario they are prohibited on sidewalks) Note the City of Toronto Council twice voted to ban them. Here is a link to the Regions new By-law: https://calendar.durham.ca/.../6bbcbc45-4167-4ce8-a449...
Ajax Mayor Collier asked 'what is in it for us'? He was asking about revenue sharing, saying there needs to be some financial benefit because there will be costs.
At one point the Chair said this is about the PROPOSED BY-LAW not the product.
Imo it is problematic that the Region can say on the one hand 'compatibility with the lower tier municipalities is critical' and then say the lower tier municipalities can work out their own acceptance rules, which seems to put the lower tier municipalities in a box. Reality check is needed. All Regional roads intersect with local roads.
At one point a Councillor described recently being quite startled when a e-scooter zipped by on a sidewalk.
Another asked who is liable when a senior is startled and falls and breaks a hip.
The Chair asked about the Region Trails where there are X-treme Sport mountain bikers, and there are X-treme e-scooters that can travel 50km an hour, how safe is that combining the two, and how can it be monitored for example in Uxbridge and Durham Forest?
Region staff answered maybe they should be banned from the Durham Forest.
When Region Council voted to approve the new e-scooter By-Law this morning no one requested a recorded vote.
Although when the verbal vote was called some No votes could be heard among more Yes votes. Imo sad to say it seemed no Council member had the courage to request a recorded vote, so the names of members in support vs those against were not made public. Ducking a controversial vote before the election?
Looking up more info on X-treme e-scooters, it seems Chair Henry is behind on the speeds...they can go much higher, making 50km seems slow: check out the top speeds listed here: there are 10 brands that have speeds between 120kmh and 80kmh
https://electric-scooter.guide/.../fastest-electric.../
