Gearing up for year-round e-scootering in Kelowna

Despite cold weather hitting the Okanagan this week, at least two of Kelowna’s e-scooter sharing companies are opening or expanding their operations.

“We are increasing our fleet as part of Zip's general growth,” Zip Scooter founder Luke Mydlarz told iNFOnews.ca in an email. “Also, we will be operating year-round. For winter operations, we won't release scooters on select days like if there are weather events like snow storms.”

Most days there will be 25 to 50 scooters available.

They’ve also expanded their service area to include the recently paved portion of the Rail Trail from Gordon Drive to Ellis Street.

The scooters operate fine in temperatures down to about -10 C, he noted.

“We will also be releasing a redesigned app for both iOS and Android in the next few months,” Mydlarz added. “That will make is easier for users to use Zip scooters."

Roll Technologies, which was hoping to launch their e-scooters this Friday, have put that off until Nov. 9.

“We just want to make sure that everything runs smoothly,” Chief Communications Officer Arda Erturk said in an email.

They are planning to launch with 100 scooters. Their e-bikes are expected to arrive at the end of November.

All the e-scooter companies are anxiously waiting for the province to change the rules to allow e-scooters to operate, on a trial basis, on city streets but, even when that legislative change is made, it will take some time before it’s implemented.

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