Council member Jesse Ramos said he would definitely be in favor of e-scooters down the road, but he would like to see if the companies can achieve profitability first. He also said that he didn’t think the companies were as close to wanting to launch in Missoula as some members of the council and general public seemed to think they were.

Ben Weiss, the manager of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian program, said providing infrastructure for bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes would address most of the safety concerns.

“It’s providing a safe space to ride that gets people off the sidewalks,” he said.

He noted that on Higgins north of Broadway, where there is an off-street dedicated bike lane, the city has counted far fewer people riding bikes on the sidewalk compared to south of Broadway, where bicyclists are at risk of getting doored by parked cars or getting hit by driving vehicles.

Council member Mirtha Becerra said she supports e-bikes being allowed on commuter trails. However, she currently opposes the idea of bringing e-bike or scooter companies to Missoula.

“The concept of commuting and using an e-bike is appealing to me and a lot of community members and the concept of removing the commuter trails seems illogical to me,” she said. “I agree that a bike, either motorized or not, is a vehicle, but we have a system of commuter trails that we need to include in order to make that effective."

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