City of Vancouver expands contract with U.S. e-scooter company
There are now more e-scooters available for rent in downtown Vancouver, however, a local company is questioning why the contract was awarded to a U.S. company.
Lime, a U.S.-based company, in partnership with the City of Vancouver, added 28 new scooter parking stations in the downtown area, which brings the number of stations around the town to 98.
There are 525 scooters available for rent.
Stewart Lyons, CEO of rival scooter company, Bird, questions why city hall chose to partner with Lime instead of his all-Canadian company.
'There was a lot of, you know, a little bit of big talk when the whole buy Canada kind of elbows up conversation started,' Stewart Lyons, Bird CEO said.
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'But it didn't really continue that for that long or that far. And that's disappointing to us. I mean, we really have to start supporting our own.'
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Lyons added that if Canadians want companies to stay in Canada, they have to step up and show their support.
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'Buy Canadian' city scooter challenge
Vancouver Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said they are willing to consider other options.
'When that contract comes up we would of course continue to open it up and to look at options, including Canadian suppliers, but we also need to balance that with ensuring that we get the safety and the reliability that Vancouverites deserve,' she said.
Lime says more than 11,000 riders have used its service since it launched in Vancouver last September.
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