Markham launches e-scooter, e-bike pilot program

Markham residents and people travelling therehave a new way to get around thecommunity with the launch of the city's new electric scooter and bikeprogram.

The municipality is partnering with Brampton-basedScooty Mobility for the two-month e-scooter pilot, which launched Friday and will run through October. Scooty will provide around 100 of its app-enabled e-scooters and e-bikes for rent by the public for riding and testing.

Mayor Frank Scarpitti said the move will help improve "first and last mile connectivity" by providinganother transportation option for people travelling to and from the city'sdowntown.

"We want to make sure that when you arrive here, that you get to your destination as easily, as efficiently and as accessible as possible," he told reporters at a launch event Friday."And that's what this initiative does."

Micro-mobility devices are seeing a rise in popularity, with more and more Canadian cities launching pay-as-you-go bike share programs and e-scooter programsin an effort to curb emissions and reduce vehicle congestion.

Markham is the latest Greater Toronto Area city to test out an e-scooter and e-bike program. The Ontario government launchedafive-year plan in 2020to encourage municipalities to introduce rules and regulations around use of the vehicles.

The province set out requirements for helmets, the minimum age of riders and weight and speed restrictions. Municipalities can choose to opt in and decide where they can operate, park and whether e-scooter companies would have to get business licenses.

Scooty CEO Shoaib Ahmed said people can use the company's app torent the vehiclesin Markham. Riders will be charged$1.15to unlock a vehicle, plus 35 cents per minute.

"Our thesis is specifically to connect people to and from public transport," Ahmed said. "That came from being immigrants to this country when we came here. And I still do rely on public transit. Public transit is our lifeline."

Riders will have to pick up and drop off the e-scooters on rubber parking pads,Ahmed said.The pads will be set up at 11 designated spots in different locations in Markham Centre, according to the city.

Each scooter has a maximum speed of 20km/h on regular roads and that drops automatically to 15 km/hin parks and on trails. They areprogrammed to slow down and eventually stop when driven outsidethe area designated for the program.

"If you have scooters lying all over, all over the place, it becomes a bit of a management problem, operation operational issue. But when we have vehicles at designated locations pick-up and drop-off points, not only are they organized, but it also makes it easy for operations team to manage," Ahmed said.

Scooty is also a part of Brampton's pilot program, which is in its second year. The city said approximately 110,000 riders took 200,000 trips during the first year of the pilot, which saved the equivalent of more than6,000 litres of gasoline, according to a December 2023 news release.

A spokesperson for the City of Brampton said the program generated complaints about alack of parking infrastructure, e-scooters being left on private property as well assafety concerns.

"The city has implemented improvements to address these concerns, including enhanced parking options and continued collaboration with e-scooter operators to ensure proper use and safety for both riders and residents,"Cyrille McGregorwrote.

Meanwhile, e-scooters remain banned on the streets of Toronto, although many people ride them anyway.

"To date, the cty has declined to opt-in to the provincial e-scooter pilot due to reasons of safety, liability and impacts on pedestrians and persons with disabilities," City of Toronto spokesperson Laura McQuillan said.

"E-scooters are not allowed to be operated, left, stored or parked on any public street in Toronto including bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, multi-use trails, paths, sidewalks or parks."