E-scooters keep rolling as council mulls expansion into Burquitlam

Objects in motion are set to remain in motion.

Coquitlam council recently voted to extend the city’s e-bike and e-scooter arrangement with Lime Canada to April 2027. The arrangement includes an option one-year extension to 2028.

Council’s unanimous vote Sept. 9 comes amid reports of fewer scooters being left on sidewalks and crosswalks.

Speaking to the Dispatch in 2024, Lelainia Lloyd discussed the hardship faced by residents with mobility disabilities. Residents with wheelchairs were forced to manoeuvre around the scooters which were “dumped all over the city,” Lloyd said.

However, there was a dramatic improvement when Neuron closed and Lime became the city’s sole operator.

“It used to just be crazy, and now it’s very reasonable,” Lloyd said earlier this summer.

Coun. Craig Hodge concurred.

“I will admit that it is better now than it has been in the past,” he said, noting he’d previously raised concerns about: “scooters littering neighbourhoods.”

The city logged a total of 45,000 micromobility trips in 2024 and 33,000 trips in the first eight months of 2025.

“We’re definitely heading in the right direction,” said Coun. Matt Djonlic, who added that it made sense to align with Port Moody.

The City of the Arts launched a two-year micromobility program in August. The initiative includes 46 parking locations across the city.

Port Moody has “expressed a desire for Coquitlam to expand service into Burquitlam,” according to a Coquitlam city staff report. That expansion would allow for easier trips from Burquitlam Station to Glenayre.

Coquitlam staff are set to investigate the feasibility of the expansion, reporting back to council early in 2027.

Coquitlam’s extension is set to include about 30 dockless parking stations across the Town Centre neighbourhood. The stations would be marked and confirmed by GPS but require no physical infrastructure.

Since the 2023 launch, Lime has issued 44 parking fines totalling $413.

Over the program’s first 18 months, city staff estimated 35,000 car trips were replaced by e-vehicles.