Waterloo city council voted to implement a new micro-mobility solution on Monday.
The pilot project will bring an American e-scooter company to the region.
Lime is a California-based company that provides pay-as-you-go mobility solutions.
The company approached Waterloo to host its electric scooters in part due to its strong technology community.
“When you think about the vibrant tech community that already exists here, I just envision the adoption rate and the user behaviour taking off immediately…” said Nico Probst, strategic development with Lime.
Council decided to approve a pilot project bringing electric scooters to Waterloo.
The city said scooters coming to Canada was imminent, and considered the pilot to be Waterloo’s opportunity to be ahead of the curve.
Waterloo would be the first Canadian city to have the micro-mobility project.
Its arrival in town will allow Waterloo residents to pay to unlock and use the electric scooters by the minute to get around more quickly.
The proposal for the pilot passed on Monday afternoon.
The test route will be made up of a little over five kilometres through David Johnston Research and Technology Park.
These machines have brought questions of safety forward after a wave of scooter-related injuries in the United States.
Two deaths have been reported.
“There is a unit sign-off and a registration component, you know, you should wear your helmet, you need to be 18 years old, follow and obey the rules of the road,” said Ryan Mounsey, senior economic developer with the city.
Helmets are not provided due to sanitary concerns, but they are recommended for riders.
Riders are also instructed to obey road rules, and signage was being produced to encourage safe riding.
A thorough project report was scheduled for Aug. 12 of next year.
With reporting from Christina Succi.
