E-scooters hit the road in Brampton this April
Published February 23, 2023 at 2:39 pm
Brampton residents will have a new way to get around town this spring as the City is rolling out the GTA’s first shared e-scooter program.
Hundreds of electric kick-style scooters will be coming to Brampton streets this April as the City launches its e-scooter pilot project that’s years in the making.
In January 2021, the province began a 5-year electric kick-scooter pilot project allowing municipalities to enact a by-law to permit and regulate the use of e-scooters.
Now, Brampton’s e-scooter program is set to start on April 1 and will see three companies -Neuron Mobility, Bird Canada, and Scooty Mobility – each roll out a fleet of 250 to 500 e-scooters that can be rented for a period of time with the use of a smartphone.
Changes to City bylaws will allow for the tiny electric vehicles to be used on City streets. The City says scooters “will be treated similarly to bicycles in that they will be permitted to operate within the road right-of-way as a vehicle and not be permitted to operate on sidewalks.”
Scooters will be limited to a maximum speed of 20 km/h and can even be “geo-fenced” to reduce speeds to 15 km/h when operating in parks, high-pedestrian areas, and paths.
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Similar programs have been launched in other Canadian cities including Calgary and Ottawa, and the city says it is focused on safety while providing a new micro-mobility option for residents.
Neuron Mobility will be bringing an initial fleet of 250 of its high-visibility “safety-orange” e-scooters to Brampton this year with safety features like integrated helmets, geofencing control, a 911 emergency button, and topple detection.
Ankush Karwal, Head of Market for Canada at Neuron, said safety is the company’s top priority and that e-scooters in Brampton “will be a great way for locals as well as tourists to travel in a safe, convenient and environmentally-friendly way.”
The capital and operating funds for the pilot program fall to each of the three selected commercial operators, while all the City’s administration and enforcement costs will be recovered through program fees and fine revenues.
Under Ontario e-scooter rules, municipalities are required to collect data on any scooter incidents and collisions and submit to the province by request. But because electric scooter injuries are not currently monitored by Peel Regional Police, the City has partnered with Mississauga and the Region of Peel to request both cycling and electric scooter collision data be included in a Ministry of Health research program.
The City also has earmarked funds in the 2023 budget to enlist Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) to work with research groups
and investigate what impact micro-mobility will have in Brampton.