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Alberta Health Services said there have been no reported injuries from e-scooters in Edmonton since they were introduced on Aug. 16 and 17. Calgary has seen 200 e-scooter related injuries since their introduction.

Nathan Carswell, Calgary’s shared mobility program manager, said there have been 185 calls made to the 311 line, and about 70 per cent of them are negative.

“Allowing sidewalk riding is probably our top complaint,” he said. “In saying that, it’s usually people who feel like a scooter sped by them without alerting them and then it evens out below that from people concerned about the speed to improperly parked scooters and general feedback.”

A spokesman for the City of Edmonton said its decision to allow scooters on roadways with a maximum speed limit of 50 km/h followed a review of collision data and e-scooter projects in other cities.

“They ensure people with scooters could still have easy access around Edmonton, the province of Alberta mandated e-scooters could be on roads provided they had a headlamp, tail lamp, a rear reflector, a working handbrake and a kickstand,” a spokesman said, adding 80 to 90 per cent of Edmonton’s roads have a speed limit up to 50 km/h.

The City of Calgary worked with existing bylaws to expedite the scooter rollout process, Carswell said, whereas Edmonton took its time to create the bylaws that will govern e-scooter use in that city.

“I’m not trying to say one is doing it right and the other is not, I think that’s the beauty of having these controlled pilots is that each city’s approaching it how they feel most comfortable,” he said. “We can look at what’s worked in Edmonton and Calgary and what’s not and work with the province in the long run to regulate and ensure these devices are considered as part of a new transportation option and done the right way.”