Vancouver e-scooter shop sees boom in sales as health authority urges caution

A year into a pilot project allowing the use of e-scooters in Vancouver the popularity for the alternate mode of transportation has left demand at one shop so high, it’s selling almost a dozen a day.

Bradley Spence, the co-founder of ‘eevee’s’, has sold thousands of e-scooters which range in price from about $500 to $5,200, since opening just 15 months ago.

“We sold inventory in the first two weeks we opened, and we were like ‘Woah, we need a lot more inventory,'” he said.

“We didn’t think we would be where we are today until about five years from now. So we blew our investors away and everyone kind of involved. We went from two co-founders working the store to 14 staff members now.”

Spence believes high gas prices are one of the reasons they’re so popular.

“Some people just recently sold their car, they come in with a wad of cash, and we tell them deposit in the bank and come back cause we don’t take cash and it happens almost everyday. Sometimes it’ll be a family that sold their minivan and they’re buying four scooters for their entire family.”

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But this new way to get around still comes with risks.

“Some of the injury data that we have from around the world does find that a variety of different injury types have occurred with these scooters,” Michael Schwandt, medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health said. “Naturally enough, this is relatively new technology for most people to be using. So we do see some injuries due to falls, due to collisions with other users or with pedestrians, and sometimes with other objects entirely.”

On Monday, Vancouver Coastal Health issued an e-scooter safety guidance, which is urging legally required helmet use as more riders hit the road.

Schwandt adds riding on protected lanes, calm streets with limited traffic, and avoiding alcohol and substance use when riding can all help prevent people from injuries when on an e-scooter.

Taking an e-scooter out for a spin this summer? It’s important to keep safety on your mind (and a helmet on your head)!

Here are a few simple things you can do to reduce your risk of injury and keep your fellow road users safe: https://t.co/SLz4zwY8tV pic.twitter.com/TgYYBZ2XnR

— Vancouver Coastal Health (@VCHhealthcare) June 20, 2022

Vancouver Police Sgt. Steve Addison adds that as the weather warms up and more people get outside, the department expects to see more of these e-scooters out and conflicts to arise with various road users.

“When it comes to e-scooters, the rules are essentially the same as a bike. You can’t take it on the seawall, you can’t ride it on the sidewalk, you can’t ride it on the major street.”

The City of Vancouver confirms a slight increase in e-scooter complaints since the start of the pilot – with most concerns related to sidewalk riding and high speeds.

“You can take them in bike lanes, you can take them in side streets. You can’t take them over 24 km/h,” Addison explains.

“Our staff and my fellow co-founder, every time we see someone on the sidewalk, we stop them, kindly, and explain why it’s not good to ride on the sidewalk and one of the big reasons, other than pedestrian safety, is we want these things to move forward and become more legal after the pilot program,” Spence added.

This pilot will last another two years and includes Vancouver, District of North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Kelowna and Vernon.