E-bikes and e-scooters on the way to Mississauga

A plan to get people in Mississauga onto electric bicycles and scooters as a viable and widespread mode of transportation is set to take hold across the city.

Starting in early 2024, a City of Mississauga shared micro-mobility program will make as many as 300 electric pedal-assist bicycles (e-bikes) and 900 electric kick-style scooters (e-scooters) available for people to use at various places across the city including parks, the downtown core and other neighbourhoods.

For a fee, officials say, users will be able to rent e-bikes and e-scooters to get around the city safely and conveniently “with flexibility at a station or at a bike rack closest to their destination.”

The plan, first discussed several years ago and fully supported by councillors at today’s meeting of general committee, is expected to be rubber stamped at Mississauga’s next council meeting.

“This is exciting news for Mississauga. Having a shared micro-mobility system will provide residents with a new way to move around our city,” said Geoff Wright, Mississauga’s commissioner of transportation and works. “We’ll be joining eight other Ontario municipalities with shared micro-mobility systems including Toronto, Brampton and Ottawa.”

(Photo: City of Mississauga)

Officials note that micro-mobility is a form of travel “using a lightweight device powered by your own body or electricity.”

In October 2019, council supported a recommendation for city staff to look at how a program of shared bikes, e-bikes or e-scooters could be used for travel in Mississauga as part of a Micro-Mobility Program Development Project.

Following extensive analysis and community and stakeholder consultation in June 2022, council approved a recommendation to develop a shared micro-mobility program that offers e-bikes and e-scooters, city officials said.

The city will spend the next few months searching for an e-bike and e-scooter service provider, officials say, and then roll out the program early next year.

City officials stated earlier that there are many benefits to such alternative forms of transportation.

“Micro-mobility devices like bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters are transportation alternatives to vehicles that are lightweight, low-emission and help connect residents to their transit stop or destination. In Mississauga, a shared micro-mobility system could support the city’s greater transportation system, helping residents connect to the Hurontario LRT, the Mississauga Transitway, the active transportation network and key tourism destinations like Port Credit, Streetsville and downtown Mississauga.”