MONTREAL -- The official opposition wants the city to eliminate some electric scooters and bikes.
Ensemble Montreal says Montreal should stop the Lime, Bird and Jump companies from operating in the city, but continue to work with local company Bixi.
Party leader Lionel Perez says the city’s decision to finance Bixi with $46 million over 10 years and then allow competing companies to work in Montreal just doesn’t make sense.
He says some users of Lime, Bird and Jump don’t return the scooters and e-bikes properly, scattering them haphazardly throughout the city, leaving them in garbage cans, the metro or even in the Lachine Canal.
“We’ve all seen - whether it’s the electric scooters or the Jump bikes - placed anywhere. It’s become a new urban furniture, unfortunately,” Perez says.
Bixi Montreal uses docking stations to endure all bikes are properly returned.
Lime General Manager Michael Markevich, says in a statement that in Lime’s short period of operation, Montrealers “demonstrated clearly that they value scooters as a transportation option, with more than 200,000 rides taken by 50,000 users.”
Mayor Valerie Plante says that getting people out of their vehicles is still a priority.
“More people that use active transport are less people that use their car," she says.
Ensemble Montreal will be filing a motion at city council Jan. 27.
