Should mini electric shuttle services be allowed in Downtown Vancouver? | Daily Hive

Should mini electric shuttle services be allowed in Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park?

Neighbourhood Zero Emission Vehicles (NZEVs). (HeyYa Carts Rentals)

A Vancouver city councillor wants the municipal and provincial governments to enable the expanded use of small, zero-emission, battery-electric passenger shuttles to operate in Downtown Vancouver peninsula areas such as Stanley Park, Gastown, Canada Place, and Coal Harbour, as well as Granville Island.

Next week, the Vancouver City Council will consider Green City Councillor Pete Fry’s motion that directs City of Vancouver staff to explore a potential licensing option for Neighbourhood Zero Emission Vehicles (NZEVs).

Vancouver’s municipal government already allows NZEVs on streets with speed limits of 50 km/h or less, subject to rules such as requiring them to travel in the right-most legal curbside lane. They are not permitted on bike lanes, greenways, pedestrian paths, or sidewalks.

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However, Fry’s motion states that while the municipal government currently licenses NZEVs as rentals that people can drive themselves, the City does not have a framework for licensing them as passenger-directed vehicles — the provincial category used for commercial for-hire services such as taxis, limousines, ride-hailing vehicles, and some shuttle services.

Such expanded allowances for miniature battery-electric vehicles would enable guided tours, shuttles, and other passenger transportation services. It could be particularly helpful in places where walking distances are longer, public transit is limited, or larger vehicles are less practical. The 1,000-acre Stanley Park, for example, has far-flung areas that can be difficult for some visitors to access without a long walk, bike ride, or vehicle trip.

The idea is aimed at creating another option for shorter trips in busy, visitor-heavy areas, where a full-sized tour bus, taxi, or ride-hailing vehicle may not always be the best fit.

Neighbourhood Zero Emission Vehicles (NZEVs). (HeyYa Carts Rentals)

“There is an opportunity here to create a whole new mobility and transportation option for folks getting around some of the more congested parts of our city,” said Fry.

“For seniors, shoppers, people with disabilities, families with small kids, tourists and visitors, it’s a game changer. This has the potential to unlock destinations like parts of Stanley Park that are otherwise inaccessible to large diesel tour buses, and we have seen BIAs elsewhere successfully use these as shuttles to support local shopping.”

Given their appearance, the vehicles are often compared to golf carts, but Fry’s motion emphasizes they are different. NZEVs are street-legal, low-speed electric vehicles that can travel between 32 km/h and 40 km/h. They must be registered, plated, insured through ICBC, operated by a licensed driver, and equipped with features such as seat belts, lights, mirrors, turn signals, and parking brakes.

“I get why people hear ‘small electric vehicle’ and think golf cart,” added Fry.

“These aren’t that. They’re real vehicles, properly equipped, driven by licensed operators. The motion is about encouraging an option for clean, green passenger-directed vehicles for quick trips and tours around our city and popular destinations downtown.”

Neighbourhood Zero Emission Vehicles (NZEVs). (HeyYa Carts Rentals)

As part of the motion, Fry also wants Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, on behalf of City Council, to formally ask the provincial government to consider enabling licensing for NZEV passenger services, particularly in high-tourism areas such as Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park.

According to Fry, more than 30 municipalities across British Columbia already permit NZEVs on roads with speed limits up to 50 km/h. He also points to existing examples of their use, including Purolator’s last-mile delivery vans, vehicles manufactured by Vancouver Island-based Might-E Trucks, municipal fleet vehicles in Victoria, Burnaby, and Tofino, and North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale Business Improvement Association’s (BIA) free StreetCart shuttle.

The motion notes that in Vancouver, HeyYa Carts Rentals holds a business licence to rent NZEVs to the public for self-drive use and shuttle-style contexts. The new Oakridge Park mall also used seven HeyYa NZEVs as complimentary overflow parking lot shuttles during its grand opening weekend in May 2026.

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