BRAMPTON: The City of Brampton, in partnership with Bird Canada, Neuron Mobility and Scooty Mobility, has launched Brampton’s first ever E-scooter program. Up to 750 scooters will be available for public use across #\Brampton. Since the launch of the E-scooter pilot program, the City of Brampton has seen 8,250 users signed up and more than 17,500 trips in two weeks!
• The E-scooters can be used on roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less; Bicycle lanes and Multi-use paths.
•They are not for use on sidewalks.
It was in January, 2020, the Province of Ontario announced a 5-year e-scooter pilot project as part of the Open for Business Action Plan. Under the pilot, municipalities are able to pass local by-laws to allow the operation of e-scooters on their roadways, along with other regulations to permit providers of shared e-scooter systems.
On June, 2021, the City of Brampton’s Committee of Council provided direction to enact the necessary by-laws to permit and regulate the use of e-scooters in the City and direction to develop a pilot program to assess the uptake and impact of an e-scooter shared system in the City for Council’s consideration and approval. The pilot program will allow City staff to assess the performance and operation of a micromobility system under a test environment and gather data to support recommendations for a possible permanent solution.
Micromobility refers to transportation over short distances provided by a range of small, lightweight vehicles operating at speeds typically under 25 km/h and driven by users personally. These new modes of transportation, like electric (pedal-assisted) bycicles and scooters are supported by the Council-guided principles outlined in the Transportation Master Plan Review and Update and provide an example of how the City can encourage more sustainable, green, attractive, healthy and safe travel options for the community.
During the extent of the pilot, City staff will closely monitor the program and make adjustments as appropriate to support the safety and well-being of all users of the roads.
A procurement process issued by the City in June, 2022 selected 3 shared e-scooter operators as partners for the pilot program for a trial period.
Once the pilot project is complete, the summary recommendation will be brought to Council for evaluation and a decision will be made on whether to make the program permanent.
Following a competitive procurement process, the three companies were selected to operate shared e-scooters in Brampton.