Rentable e-scooter program to launch next week in Kamloops

Kamloops is following its neighbours in the region with rentable e-scooters rolling out next week.

Riders in the city’s downtown or North Shore can pick one up starting Monday, March 2, before they expand throughout the city.

City transportation manager Nii Noi Akuetteh said the soft launch will start in the city’s more central areas as Kamloopsians finally get a chance to step on the rentals for the first time.

“It’s been in different cities for a long time,” he said. “So it’s exciting to see.”

Kamloops first joined the provincial pilot project last spring. While anyone with their own e-scooters were legally allowed on local roads for the first time, the first rental fleet will be rolled out by Bird Canada.

Okanagan cities — Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon — have offered them for a few years already, so Kamloops was able to learn from mistakes elsewhere before launching, Akuetteh said.

One major concern was parking.

Some approaches were less strict on parking rules, leading to clutter and complaints after riders were done with their scooters, he said. In Kamloops, parking will be more regulated.

“We want to start stricter and if it’s successful and we see areas where we can loosen them, then we will do it,” he said. “Bird Canada is going to give us a lot of data to see where riding is happening and where destinations are, so we’re making decisions based on data and not just shooting blind.”

Since launching the pilot project in 2021, BC has restricted ridership to people aged 16 and older and all riders are required to wear helmets.

According to a 2025 BC government report, 18 per cent of scooter-related injuries at Kelowna General Hospital were underaged riders, while 85 per cent weren’t wearing helmets.

They also reduced greenhouse gas emissions, with Kelowna seeing 127,000 fewer vehicle trips in that year, saving an estimated 354 tonnes in emissions, according to the report.

With the soft launch starting on March 2, riders will see the rental fleet expand out to neighbourhoods like Brocklehurst, Sahali or Valleyview until the full launch, which is planned for March 21.