Shared e-scooters are coming to select cities across the Greater Toronto Area this spring.
Electric transportation company Bird Canada will be the exclusive operator of shared e-scooters in Hamilton beginning April 3, and will operate shared e-scooter fleets in Brampton and Oshawa in the coming weeks.
“All three launches follow rigorous RFP processes in which Bird was selected based on its commitment to safe, sustainable, and reliable transportation,” the company said in a press release on Thursday.
After rolling out in these new cities, Bird will be operating in a total of five Ontario cities, including Ottawa and Windsor, as well as 11 other cities across Canada.
To celebrate Bird’s launch in Hamilton, the company will host an event at city hall where participants will be able to ride scooters, and get a free helmet on Apr. 3 at 12:30 p.m.
“Since our earliest days, we’ve been committed to partnering with cities to expand access to reliable, sustainable transportation through shared micromobility programs and expanding in the Greater Toronto Area has long been a high priority for us,” Bird President Stewart Lyons said in a statement.
The company will bring 450 Bird Three e-scooters to Hamilton, 250 to Brampton, and 300 to Oshawa, and the scooters will be available in locations throughout each city.
The Bird Three is the company’s latest vehicle and includes a longer footboard and high capacity IP68-rated batteries.
Bird says riding and parking rules will be available on each city’s website
The company began operating in Canada in 2019, and says riders have taken over three million trips and travelled over eight million kilometers.
“In just four years, this has saved 316,483 litres of gasoline from being used and over 2,150 metric tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere,” reads the release.
That data is based on assumptions that 45 per cent of all trips taken would have been automobile trips.
In a Nov. 2022 survey of more than 3,000 Bird Canada riders, 98 per cent of respondents (in all locations) said the program made a positive impact on their community.
While the company is expanding into more Canadian cities, it has not publicly said any plans to come to Toronto.
Currently, e-scooters are not allowed to be operated, left, stored or parked on any public street in Toronto.
In spring 2021, Toronto’s city council unanimously voted not to opt-in to the provincial e-scooter pilot, citing safety concerns and accessibility barriers that the e-scooters would create.
