E-scooter program expands into several Cochrane neighbourhoods

Bright yellow-coloured e-scooters have been rolling through town for the past seven weeks, and they're proving to be a popular mode of travel for Cochranites.

Back in August, the Town approved a two-year pilot program with Roll Technologies, making 60 dockless electric scooters available in Cochrane's Historic Downtown.

CCO of Roll Technologies, Arda Ertürk says that after a very successful launch, they have expanded the service into more local communities.

"It's been one of the most successful pilot projects in North America," explains Ertürk. "We're doing a phase-by-phase approach, so we're increasing the service area based on the demand and have expanded into more neighbourhoods."

These new communities include Heritage Hills, Heartland, Riviera, Riversong, Rivercrest, The Willows, and Fireside.

Ertürk says that over a seven-week span, Cochranites have taken thousands of trips on the shared e-scooters, making greener and cleaner choices locally.

"There have been more than five thousand trips in Cochrane and the distance travelled is over 16,000 kilometres [of pathway]," explains Ertürk. "This equates to four tons of carbon saved using Roll scooters compared to using a combustion engine vehicle."

Ertürk says that rider education, communication, and enforcement have been the major focus of the pilot program and he commends Cochranites for their compliance efforts.

 "So far no safety incidents have been reported," explains Ertürk. "In terms of parking and in terms of riding behaviour there's a great compliance rate."

He continues to say that based on Roll Technologies' experience in working in other areas, Cochrane riders have actually been the 'most compliant' so far "with a parking compliance rate of 99.7 per cent."