A new St. Albert business is hoping to generate a buzz in the Edmonton region but it might create a debate at city hall along the way.
Edmonton E-Ride, located on Riel Drive in St. Albert, sells low speed electric scooters, which are classified as power bicycles by provincial legislation because they don't exceed 32 km/h.
Because St. Albert allows bicycles on its sidewalks, these Vespa look-alikes can be legally ridden on any sidewalk or the paved trails throughout the Red Willow Park system, said bylaw supervisor Aaron Giesbrecht.
"Yes, a power bicycle is allowed on a sidewalk," he said.
The scooters all have detachable pedals that allow them to be propelled by muscle power but the pedals are generally kept in a storage space on the machine, said Al Long, owner of Edmonton E-Ride.
In 2005 St. Albert city council tried to restrict sidewalk use of bicycles to children under 12 but a public outcry caused council to continue allowing people of all ages to ride on the sidewalk. The resulting traffic bylaw defines a bicycle as "any cycle powered by human muscular power" but bylaw officials interpret it as including power bicycles, Giesbrecht said.
"If it can be propelled by human muscular power then it would be considered a bicycle. That's the interpretation that we see but [it's] something that may have to be reviewed and looked at," Giesbrecht said.
St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse described the interpretation as "pretty liberal." He foresees a day when council finds itself reworking the bylaw.
"Likely we're going to either have to vote on the interpretation or change the words," he said.
"We'll have to see what happens with the sales and the use of them and we'll take it from there," he added. "We haven't crossed this path before. We'll have to cross it likely."
St. Albert's traffic bylaw makes no distinction between sidewalks and paved trails, Giesbrecht said. The bylaw requires operators of all types of bicycle to ride in a safe manner, he said.
Provincial legislation requires no driver's license, insurance or registration to operate a power bicycle. Operators must be at least 12 and wear a helmet.
Giesbrecht noted that there are already power bicycles around and there have been no sidewalk clashes so far.
"As they become more and more common, I guess that's yet to be determined but at this point there's no red flags being raised," he said.
Bylaw debates often follow the introduction of E-Ride dealers to a new city, said Edmonton E-Ride owner Al Long.
"Most city halls across Canada so far have decided to leave them on the bike trails but not on the city sidewalks," he said.
“A ton of interest”
Long opened his doors about 10 days ago and had a booth at St. Albert's trade show in April. The bikes have generated "a ton of interest" and he's sold five, he said.
"We got into it thinking a lot of it's going to be kids but we're finding it's adults," he said. "We're really excited."
The former farmer learned of the scooters while living in Kimberley, B.C. His whole family became so enthralled that he bought a franchise for Edmonton and northern Alberta while his son bought a franchise for London, Ont.
"It's the future," Long said of the electric vehicles.
His line-up of Motorino brand scooters, which are Canadian-designed and Chinese-made, has seven models available. The vehicles closely resemble their gas-powered cousins, including some with the distinctive look of a Vespa.
Their range is 50 to 60 km on a single charge. An optional extra battery pack boosts the range to 80 to 100 km. The bikes cost around $2,000 and weigh about 82 kg or 180 lbs.
Long thinks the bikes have great sales potential. He's not alone. A number of companies, such as Ontario-based Daymak eBikes and California-based eCruiser are looking to add distributors in Alberta.
The experience of Motorino dealers is that about half of buyers use them for leisure while the other half uses them for basic transportation.
"A lot of people are using them in town just to commute. It costs them eight cents a day to charge it," Long said.
Street legal
Regarding street use of the vehicles, motorists must accept that the much slower scooters are legal to ride along the curb, said Const. Rob Leitch of the St. Albert RCMP's traffic unit.
"We all have to make allowances for the other users of the highway," he said.
Leitch doesn't think the streets will be flooded with the scooters.
"Mopeds have been around for quite some time now and our streets aren't full of mopeds," he said.
Edmonton E-Ride is located at 6-B Riel Dr. in St. Albert.
