The city will be applying to take part in a provincial pilot program that would legalize use of electronic scooters on Salmon Arm roads.
After more than a year of following up a January 2024 request from Coun. Debbie Cannon, to look into the possibility of bringing an e-scooter program to Salmon Arm, the city's Active Transportation Advisory Committee (ATAC) agreed on several recommendations. Recorded in the minutes of the June 2 ATAC meeting, those recommendations were presented, along with motions, by ATAC chair, Coun. Tim Lavery at the June 9 council meeting.
Before going through each of the recommendations, Lavery stated the topic, "without a doubt, has represented the most nested set of related issues of any committee that I've worked on." However, he said the recommendations "represent strong consensus, I think in almost all cases unanimous of the ATAC."
Soon after taking on the task, ATAC learned for e-scooter use to be legal in Salmon Arm the city has to be taking part in the B.C. government's electric scooter pilot project, which ran initially between 2021 and 2024, and was renewed in April 2024 for another four-year term.
"As it stands right now… it is illegal for anyone who owns their own e-scooter to legally ride on any Salmon Arm road," said Lavery, adding that because of local bylaws, it's also currently illegal to use e-scooters on city sidewalks.
"So we’re faced with the situation: are people doing both? Yes. Are both currently legal? No. And that has been the basis of our consideration…," said Lavery.
The first ATAC recommendation was for the city to apply to take part in the pilot project, which would legalize use of e-scooters on Salmon Arm roads. Lavery's motion was for council to authorize staff to prepare and present the necessary bylaw to do so.
Council voted unanimously in support, with Kevin Flynn stating "this seems like the logical first step."
Council also supported a motion requesting input from the city's Traffic Safety Committee, as well as further information relating to Vision Zero BC, which provides grant money to improve road safety in communities. Regarding existing active transportation (AT) routes, Lavery said ATAC has significant concerns, and noted how Salmon Arm is different from other pilot project communities, in part due to topography.
"Potential users have to navigate hills to get from A and B, and while we’re starting to address connectivity, our AT infrastructure is not up to par with other communities…," said Lavery, urging the city look to the "evidence-based traffic safety approaches" of Vision Zero.
Supportive of the motion, Flynn suggested another that was also supported by council: to have staff find out from the Municipal Insurance Association of B.C. (MIA) how taking part in the pilot project would impact the city's liability insurance.
"We’re admitting right up front we don’t have the infrastructure for the proper safety, and yet we are preparing to go ahead and without an in-depth understanding of our liability insurance." said Flynn. "I’m not comfortable because I know people slip and fall in a parking lot and sue us and make sure we have the proper policies and procedures in place."
Further discussion was had regarding a motion to have staff report to council on the impact of a potential bylaw permitting the use of e-scooters on city sidewalks. Lavery pointed out Kelowna does not allow e-scooters on sidewalks, while Vernon does.
As an e-scooter rider, Coun. Sylvia Lindgren encouraged staff to also look at "whether there’s been any accidents, collisions, lawsuits – whatever it is we want to consider as our metric."
"I would argue there probably hasn’t been any interactions between scooters and pedestrians at this time," said Lindgren.
The final recommendation, and motion, was for council to authorize staff to issue a request for proposals from an e-scooter sharing service to operate within the city.
Again, council was unanimous in support. Coun. David Gonnella said the service could benefit young people and people with limited mobility, providing "opportunities for people to travel around town and have a low-cost transportation option."
