This week, Langfeite electric scooters have officially arrived on Edmonton streets for the 2023 season alongside other e-scooter brands like Bird and Lime. According to Shewkar Ibrahim, director of traffic operations with the city, they don’t anticipate any major changes to the program, outside of expanding service areas.

Lime, one of the e-scooter brands, saw a 21% increase in rides in 2022 compared to the previous year. They are excited to launch the 2023 season with new neighborhoods added to the program and more vehicles to meet the high demand for surging ridership.

This year marks the fifth year of e-scooter and e-bike sharing services being available in Edmonton. Based on data released by the city, there were about 397,400 trips taken between June and October 2022. The average trip length was around 18 minutes, with an average distance of 2.6 km.

Despite being promoted as a commuting option, the data shows that e-scooters and e-bikes were used most frequently on Friday and Saturday nights, with a peak around 8 to 10 p.m. The most popular areas for usage were central areas like Oliver, Strathcona, and Garneau. Downtown was the most popular area for starting or ending trips, with over 200,000 trips recorded.

E-scooters were the most popular option, accounting for the majority of trips, with only about 9% of trips taken by e-bikes. The city allows e-bikes and e-scooters to be ridden on bike lanes, shared paths, and roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less. However, they are not allowed on sidewalks or park trails that are not maintained by the city.

Wearing a helmet is mandatory when riding an e-bike, regardless of the rider’s age. There are currently no helmet rules for e-scooters. The city allows e-scooters and e-bikes to be parked on sidewalks, as long as they don’t block any area where people are walking, biking, or driving, or any doors, emergency exits, ramps, bus benches, or shelters.