Photo: Castanet/file

The City of Kelowna is getting ready to begin the process of finding a company to provide shared e-scooter and e-bike rentals in the city for the next two years.

Late last year the province extended the e-scooter pilot program for another four years, prompting council to pass a resolution to continue Kelowna's participation.

Staff say they will be looking for a single operator to provide e-scooter and e-bike rentals for a two-year period with two optional years at the city's discretion based on that operator meeting "performance objectives."

The proposed contract terms being presented to council for its approval Monday lays out fleet size, parking and safety objectives, education and enforcement and location tracking along with other performance measures.

As is the case now, fleet size would be restricted to 700 e-scooters and 300 e-bikes with at least 100 deployed each day and no more than 200 scooters within the downtown area.

E-bikes must also comprise at least 40 per cent of the total fleet on any given day.

In the downtown area, vehicles must be parked within areas established by the city. The operator is responsible for ensuring vehicles are in those designated areas at the start of each day.

Outside downtown vehicles are to be parked in such a way as not to hinder pedestrians or other vehicles.

Failing to meet those standards could result in a fleet size reduction of 50 vehicles every two weeks.

A successful operator would also be required to provide 24/7 customer service, informing customers how to use its services and how to operate and park vehicles legally, continual education of its customers around common behavioural issues such as riding without a helmet and double riding and share a data feed of vehicles locations with the city at all times.

The operator must also have the ability to geofence or restrict slow speed, no-parking or no-riding areas.

The geofences would have to be tested by the city before the operator could begin offering the service.

At the present time Lime is the only company providing e-scooter and e-bike rentals in the city.