E-scooters, e-bikes given green light on Vancouver cycling paths
![E-scooter A person rides an e-scooter in this undated stock image. (Shutterstock)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/4/9/e-scooter-1-6839619-1712676010176.jpg)
The Vancouver Park Board approved the use of e-scooters and e-bikes on designated cycling paths at a meeting Monday night.
Park staff said it's hard to get a clear count of how many people are using e-scooters and e-bikes, but estimate a 25 per cent growth from 2022 to 2023.
During Monday's meeting, commissioner Tom Digby said he's concerned about how busy the Stanley Park seawall will get with these new rules, adding he'd like to see the return of the Stanley Park Drive bike lane. That temporary bike lane was removed last year, when the park returned to pre-pandemic traffic levels.
City staff said e-bike users are permitted to use Stanley Park Drive, but Digby suggested they may not feel safe to do so.
"On any sunny Sunday, you're just going to have a zoo on the seawall and I think people need to be better protected," Digby said.
Some Vancouver cyclists have already raised similar concerns about capacity. Last summer, Travers, a sociology and anthropology professor at Simon Fraser University, told CTV News Vancouver the current cycling infrastructure in the city is "bursting at the seams."
At the time, they said the city needs to expand the space to accommodate more cyclists and users of these e-devices.
"If we have more protected bike lanes, you’ll just see more and more uptake," Travers said.
"And this has the potential to resolve issues around traffic congestion, it will reduce our carbon emissions and it’s a form of active transport."
Park staff acknowledged many people were already using e-scooters and e-bikes on cycling paths, but the bylaw change will make it legal. Hover boards, however, still aren't allowed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
AS IT HAPPENED Wildfire reaches Jasper Wednesday night, causes 'significant loss'
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Alberta calls in army to assist with wildfire situation
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Vacations, meals, booze: Contractor used $100K of charity's money for personal expenses, B.C. court finds
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Male, female killed, 2 others injured in 'gun battle' outside Toronto plaza: police
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.