E-scooter rides replacing car tips in Brampton with over 100,000 kilometres travelled so far

More riders are taking a spin on Brampton’s newest way to get around the city, travelling more than 100,000 kilometres on rental e-scooters in just two months.

A fleet of new electric vehicles hit the road in April under the City’s new e-scooter pilot program, bringing three scooter rental service providers to Brampton.

Neuron Mobility is one of the providers and says it has recorded more than 100,000 kilometres of e-scooter trips in Brampton since the launch of the pilot, and many of those rides are replacing car trips and leading to sales at local businesses.

The average trip on a Neuron e-scooter was around 2.1 kilometres and took 13.5 minutes, suggesting that e-scooters are being used for short trips around the city.

“Overwhelmingly there’s been positive feedback from riders about the service. Many people are making trips they wouldn’t otherwise have made, and it is great to see e-scooters benefit local businesses and the community as a whole,” said Ankush Karwal, Head of Market for Canada at Neuron.

A survey of riders in Canada found that 45% of Neuron trips replaced the use of a car, and Neuron says the rental scooters are becoming part of the daily commute in Brampton.

The data found Sheridan College, the Downtown and Chinguacousy Park are the most popular places for riders to start and end their trips with many riders using the e-scooters to connect to public transit.

A report by Neuron also found that seven out of every 10 Neuron e-scooter trips result in a purchase with a local business with an average purchase of $27 per trip.

And while thousands of Bramptonians have signed up to give e-scooters a spin, some residents have found them to be more of a nuisance than a blessing.

The e-scooters are available from Neuron, Bird Canada, and Scooty Mobility, and the City received over 80 inquiries and service request calls to 3-1-1 or by email about the e-scooters in the first week of the program alone.

Some of the scooters have been seen left on people’s property, discarded in parks and even left in a creek according to residents and users on social media.

E-scooter cannot be parked where they block the sidewalk path of travel, and must not obstruct features like utility accesses, garbage bins, doorways, or curbside zones reserved for buses, taxis or loading.

The e-scooters are only allowed on roads and banned from Brampton sidewalks. The scooters are limited to a maximum speed of 20 km/h and have also been “geo-fenced” to reduce speeds to 15 km/h when operating in parks, high-pedestrian areas, and paths.