As a manual laborer, Toronto resident Kyle Ott relied heavily on cars to get to various jobs in the GTA — often using ride-hailing apps like Uber.
Four months ago, he bought an e-scooter.
“I figured, why not? I’ll try,” Ott said.
“It gets me from point A to point B in my own time, whenever I want. I don’t have to wait for anyone. And it’s comfortable and fun.”
Ott estimates he saves about $800 a month by not relying on ride-hailing apps to get him from his Upper Beach home to various jobs.
Ott is just one of many Torontonians making the transition. Retailers say e-scooters have grown in popularity in recent years, and the spike in gas prices is only attracting more customers. However, e-scooters remain banned in the city.
Sales are booming
Ott, who says he now rides his e-scooter regardless of the weather, says the transition has not only been cost-effective, but also better for the environment.
“It’s a huge bonus … And there’s really nothing it can’t do for a passenger that a car can’t do,” he said.
Roman Izquierdo plans to make the transition himself – and is now waiting for his newly purchased e-scooter to arrive.
“The main reason here was to save money on gas and get a portable device that could get me from A to B, B to C back home where I could maybe take the device and put it under my desk,” said a Toronto local who also cited concerns about bike theft as a reason for making the change.
Roman Izquierdo recently purchased an e-scooter due to the rising price of gasoline. He says he was also looking for a portable device that, unlike a bicycle, can’t be easily stolen. (Derek Hooper/CBC News)
He hopes to use his new electric scooter to commute from his east end home near Woodbine Avenue to downtown.
Converts like these keep e-scooter marketers busy.
“As soon as the pandemic hit, our sales just skyrocketed,” said Aaron Binder, chief experience officer at Segway of Ontario.
“Going back to 2019, we’ve probably seen about a 1,000 percent increase in sales … just for this particular device that’s right in front of me,” Binder said as he stood in front of a Ninebot-branded e-scooter he sells at his store in Distillery District.
Aaron Binder is chief experience officer at Segway of Ontario, where e-scooters have been disappearing from stores since the pandemic began. (Paul Borkwood/CBC News)
Binder says rising gas prices have brought in more customers.
“There are so many people who come in and say specifically gas, specifically insurance. The cost of owning a car is astronomical.”
Barry Nissan, owner of Epic Cycles, says they’ve seen “exponential” sales growth over the past five years, but he agrees that recent gas price spikes are attracting even more customers.
“People say to me: ‘Listen: with this scooter I save instantly. Within two months, it pays for itself because I’m no longer taking expensive Uber rides or giving up the car.”
Technically forbidden
Despite their growing popularity, e-scooters remain banned in Toronto, although it’s unclear how the city enforces it.
In 2019, the province introduced a five-year e-scooter program that will allow municipalities to pass their own bylaws to allow e-scooters to operate on roads.
Barry Nissan is the owner of Epic Cycles, which has a location in Toronto and one in Vaughan, Ontario, just north of the city. (Submitted by Barry Nissan)
Last spring, Toronto City Council voted to drop the program, citing safety concerns. Disability advocacy groups noted a variety of issues, including unsafe riding on sidewalks and the problem of improperly parked e-scooters tripping pedestrians.
In a statement to CBC News, the City of Toronto said in part: “Council voted unanimously against allowing e-scooters to be operated, left, stored or parked on any public street in Toronto, including bike lanes, bike paths, paths, walkways, sidewalks or parks.”
But e-scooter advocates are urging the city to change course.
“Legalizing e-scooters will reduce emissions and traffic and promote road safety in Toronto,” said Andy Kim, president of the Toronto Electric Scooter Network.
He says other major cities have started to regulate and allow e-scooters and claims they haven’t had any major safety issues. On Wednesday, the city of Ottawa launched another e-scooter sharing program in which the devices have improved safety features to address concerns raised by disability advocates.
“My guess is that whether they’re legalized or not, we’re going to continue to see more and more of them, whether it’s privately owned or through rental companies,” said Binder, who says many dealers retailers are doing their part to advocate for safety best practices.
Two Neuron e-scooters on Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa. This week, the city launched an e-scooter sharing program. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
“We agree that we need to take care of people with disabilities. We agree there are safety concerns. But the best way to respond to them is to work together with companies like mine at the city level.”
“I think in this day and age when we’re trying to reduce gas emissions and greenhouse gases and all that, we have to be creative,” Izquierdo said.
“And I don’t think it’s a good idea to have hard bans on creative, innovative engineering solutions.”
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