Riders rack up a quarter million kilometers on e-bikes, e-scooters

A stock photo of the new e-scooters now available to rent within Waterloo region as of April. 15 (submitted: Neuron Mobility)

Residents in the Region of Waterloo are racking up the kilometres on e-scooters and e-bikes with more than 250,000 kilometres travelled since April.

This comes from Neuron Mobility, a company that has been providing e-scooters and e-bikes during a pilot project that launched in April.

According to Neuron Mobility, the average trip was 2.5 km and took 17 minutes, suggesting that rental e-scooters and e-bikes are being used for short trips around the city.

In May, the company said riders traveled over 50,000 km, with riders averaging 18.5 minute trips and covering an average distance of 2.6 km.

“Overwhelmingly, there’s been positive feedback from our riders and we are delighted to expand Waterloo Region’s riding area to serve even more parts of the community,” said Ankush Karwal, head of market for Canada at Neuron Mobility. “Many people are making trips they wouldn’t otherwise have made and it is great to see e-scooters and e-bikes benefit local businesses and the community as a whole.”

Nueron Mobility said throughout the first three and a half months of the program Neuron has prioritized safety with the company incentivizing riders to learn more about their local riding rules through in-person ScootSafe events and its online ScootSafe Academy

Neuron recently expanded the riding area to include the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Conestoga College in Waterloo and Belmont Village.

“Diversifying alternative transportation enhances the culture of sustainability on campus and further integrates sustainability into the Region of Waterloo’s transportation system,” said Eric Meliton, manager of the Sustainability Office at Laurier in a news release. “We are happy to use the feedback from past iterations of the Sustainable Transportation Survey, released in partnership with TravelWise, to provide Laurier students, staff and faculty alternative transportation options on campus.”