AODA Alliance
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update
United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities
Web: www.aodaalliance.org
Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com
Twitter: @aodaalliance
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aodaalliance/
Sign Up Fast to Tell Ottawa’s Accessibility Advisory Committee Tonight to Oppose the Ottawa City Staff Proposal to Again Allow E-Scooters that Endanger People with Disabilities, Seniors and Others
February 1, 20222
SUMMARY
Please sign up before 4 pm today to speak at a virtual meeting of the Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee tonight. That Committee will receive and comment on a very harmful proposal by Ottawa City staff. That staff report proposes that Ottawa again allow electric scooters (e-scooters) in Ottawa this year, even though they have been proven to endanger people with disabilities, seniors, children and others.
Below we set out our comments that the AODA Alliance will submit to the Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee and City staff this evening. We also set out the text of the report that Ottawa City staff will present at the virtual meeting tonight.
It is unbelievable that in 2022, the Ottawa City staff are proposing that people with disabilities and others in Ottawa serve as guinea pigs for a big experiment to help the e-scooter corporate lobbyists market their products. Remember that this year is a municipal election year.
To sign up to speak for up to five minutes at tonight’s virtual meeting, email a request before 4 pm today to Carole Legault CaroleA.Legault@Ottawa.ca
To attend to watch or speak at the meeting, here is the Zoom link and meeting number:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81100740377
Webinar ID: 811 0074 0377
Learn more about the dangers that e-scooters pose to people with disabilities and others by visiting the AODA Alliance website’s e-scooters page.
MORE DETAILS
AODA Alliance’s February 1, 2022 Presentation to Ottawa’s Accessibility Advisory Committee on Electric Scooters
We call on the Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee to press Ottawa City Council to categorically reject the proposal by Ottawa City staff that Ottawa conduct a third “pilot project” in 2022 with e-scooters. The report that Ottawa City staff are presenting today, set out below, demonstrates that e-scooters endanger people with disabilities, seniors, children and others.
These are especially dangerous when ridden on sidewalks, despite the fact that they are not permitted there. They are also especially dangerous when they are left lying on the sidewalk, abandoned.
We warned Ottawa and its mayor in advance of these pilot projects that this would happen. The experience in other cities where e-scooters are allowed shows that these are real dangers. Nevertheless, Ottawa plowed ahead with its two pilot projects in 2020 and 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, knowingly creating these dangers.
The data in the Ottawa City staff report to be presented today demonstrates that the new disability barriers about which we forewarned Ottawa in fact materialized. This is hardly a surprise.
The Ottawa City staff report includes:
“79% of all survey respondents encountered sidewalk riding, of which:
67% did not report to City, providers or police
64% felt uncomfortable and unsafe”
- “83% of all survey respondents encountered mis-parked e-scooters (up from 69% in 2020), of which
77% left them where they were
Approx. 16% reported them to the City or to the e-scooter providers”
It is inexcusable that the Ottawa City staff report did not include any substantive discussion of the impact on people with disabilities, seniors or other vulnerable people, nor does it address the data from other cities that allowed e-scooters and that show the dangers they present.
It is also a huge disservice to Ottawa that the Ottawa City staff report fails to address any of the detailed analysis of the 2020 and 2021 Toronto City staff reports that we provided to Ottawa City staff. Those are the most thorough reports on this topic we have seen from a Canadian municipality. They led Toronto City Council to vote unanimously against conducting an e-scooter pilot.
In this third pilot, Ottawa City staff are proposing that e-scooters be required to emit a constant sound. Yet from feedback we heard from people with disabilities who took part in Ottawa’s discussions on this, no audio level was discovered that was felt to be safe. Of course, this measure also does nothing for people with hearing loss.
The Ottawa City staff report makes it look like Ottawa City staff are closer to a marketing or advocacy outlet for the e-scooter rental companies, rather than public servants serving the public. This is crystallized where the report proposes that to hold the proposed third pilot with e-scooters, ” Ottawa will be demonstrating a global leadership role in this area.”
Ottawa would instead be exemplifying how a city government should never so callously disregard or marginalize the safety of vulnerable persons such as people with disabilities, seniors and children. Indeed, this distorted claim by Ottawa City staff seems remarkably similar to the claim last year by e-scooter corporate lobbyists to the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee that Ottawa is the “gold standard” for how to allow e-scooters. (See the AODA Alliances March 30, 2021 brief to The City of Toronto on e-scooters)
Ottawa City Council should not allow another e-scooter pilot. This is especially so as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage. The City of Ottawa should not use its residents, including vulnerable people with disabilities, seniors, children and others, as unwilling guinea pigs in yet another dangerous and ill-conceived social experiment.
Text of January 2022 Ottawa City Staff Report to the Ottawa Accessibility Advisory Committee Proposing a Third Pilot Project with Electric Scooters
Ottawa E-Scooter Pilot
Update to AAC
February 1, 2022
Ottawa
Agenda
Actions since December 14, 2021
Key 2021 data
Program recommendations
Next steps
Actions since December 14, 2021
Reviewed December meeting feedback from AAC
Completed data analysis of 2021 season
Drafting report to Transportation Committee
Key Data 2021 Season
Multiple data sources:
City data collection activities
Other City Departments
E-scooter providers
Direct feedback
End of season survey (1,732 respondents):
38% rode an e-scooter in 2021
23% rode an e-scooter during both 2020 and 2021 seasons
60% did not ride an e-scooter in either season
2021 Data Highlights (May 28 — Nov 30)
Total trips: 492,000 4 increase of approx. 260,000 trips compared to 2020 (+79 days )
127,000 unique riders 4 increase of approx. 54,000 riders compared to 2020
Average daily trips: 2,600
July and August, average daily trips: 3,200 (weekdays) 4,400 to 5,500 (weekends)
Average trip length, duration: 2.0 km, 14 mins 21 secs
Average daily utilization rates: 2.64 trips/scooter 4 decrease from 4.69 in 2020
Busiest period for usage: evening (6pm-10pm)
Highlights from Survey Data
From respondents who rode an e-scooter:
Increase in ‘utility’ type trips
Decrease in e-scooter usage for leisure or to test out
Almost half reported visiting a local business or restaurant
Of these approx. 45% reported spending over $50 on a typical visit
— Riders who completed more than 10 e-scooter trips grew from 23% (in 2020) to 43% (in 2021)
Highlights from Survey Data (confd)
74% of respondents indicated using e-scooters changed the way they travelled
Increased use of transit
Decreased use of personal vehicles (as driver or passenger)
33% of respondents connected to/from another form of transportation at least once
Of these, 92% connected to transit (up 3% from 2020 survey)
40% reported they walked more (up 11% from 2020 survey)
Key 2021 Data — Sidewalk Riding
Sidewalk riding monitoring: ‘trend line’ decreasing throughout season
Miovision traffic cameras at key locations
Data from providers
Complaints to City
79% of all survey respondents encountered sidewalk riding, of which:
67% did not report to City, providers or police
64% felt uncomfortable and unsafe
31°/0 of respondents believe riding behaviour has improved since the 2020
pilot and 30% believe it improved over the course of the 2021 pilot season
Key 2021 Data Scooter Parking
Mis-parking monitoring:
On-site surveys by City staff of key retail and commercial corridors
Data from providers
Complaints to City
Overall ‘trend line’ decreasing as season progressed
83% of all survey respondents encountered mis-parked e-scooters (up from 69% in 2020), of which
77% left them where they were
Approx. 16% reported them to the City or to the e-scooter providers
Where We are Headed
Competitive selection process
Newest proven technologies — that must be demonstrated first
No sidewalk riding
More precise parking
Sound emissions
More streamlined processes for reporting and enforcement
Recommendations Overall Program Management
Reduce number of e-scooter providers to a maximum of 2
Reduce combined max fleet size to 900
Increase fee structure to fund City operational resources
Update evaluation criteria aimed at adhering to better compliance
Streamline the mechanisms used to report and track issues
Recommendations Parking
Competitive procurement process that favours:
Newest proven technologies that must be demonstrated during evaluation process
Provider-led initiatives to comply with City standards
Improved verification of proper parking
Reducing provider response times to 15 minutes
More physically demarcated parking areas
Increased enforcement by City staff
Recommendation Sidewalk Riding
Competitive procurement process that favours:
Newest proven technologies that prevent sidewalk riding that must be demonstrated during evaluation process
Provider-led initiatives to comply with standards
Recommendation Sound Emissions
All shared e-scooters (in use) must have continuous sound emissions
City will provide specific criteria (frequencies, amplitudes, volumes, etc.) that providers must comply with on Day 1
Providers will be required to adjust sound parameters during season as more refinement of sound is undertaken (monitoring of effectiveness)
Education to riders about sound
Ottawa will be demonstrating a global leadership role in this area
Recommendation Enforcement
Temporary By-law Officers dedicated to e-scooter enforcement
Funded by e-scooter provider service agreement fees
Reporting and spot-checking provider response times
Empowered to impound any mis-parked e-scooter without warning
Ottawa Police Services to continue enforcement blitzes
With data and/or support from By-law Services
Updates to City By-law
Recommendation Reporting
Streamlined process(es) to collect complaints and track all data
In development with Innovative Client Services Department
All methods directed to one City platform (e-form) for comprehensive data collection
Automated redistribution to appropriate City departments for action as needed
Next Steps
AAC to provide comments
Finalize staff report
Present to Transportation Committee and Council (March 2022)
Issue Request for Proposal for 2022 season
Evaluate potential providers against selection criteria
Questions? Comments?
Ottawa