Red Deerians are now able to ride e-scooters again.
This is the third and final year of the Shared Electric Scooter Pilot Program, launched by the City of Red Deer in 2021.
Neuron Mobility, one of the companies with e-scooters in the city, announced in a press release on Friday that its 2023 season has officially begun.
“It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm Red Deerians showed travelling by e-scooter since the program began and we can’t wait to get going again,” said Ankush Karwal, Head of Market for Neuron in Canada.
“Safe, sustainable transport drives local economic activity and we were proud to reintroduce e-scooters to Red Deer’s transport mix.”
The city’s website also shows Bird Canada as the other e-scooter company with a Red Deer presence.
Mayor Ken Johnston said Red Deerians have embraced e-scooters.
“It’s great to see reports that outline the positive economic impact e-scooters have made, which has given our local businesses a boost,” said Johnston.
“We are glad to see the return of e-scooters again this season, and we look forward to another safe and fun season of mobility, exploring and supporting Red Deer.”
A Neuron report shows more than seven in 10 e-scooter journeys in Red Deer result in a purchase, cumulatively enabling $2.5 million in spending at local businesses a year.
Sixteen per cent of trips wouldn’t have happened at all if the e-scooters weren’t available, meaning local businesses would have missed out on valuable sales, according to the Neuron report.
Most riders in Red Deer said they used e-scooters for leisure and recreation (85 per cent), while many also made purposeful journeys like commuting to work or school (35 per cent) and running errands such as shopping (27 per cent).
Neuron riders traveled over 460,000 kilometres in Red Deer and 43 per cent of trips replaced a car journey, avoiding 32 tonnes of CO2 emissions since the e-scooter trial began.
Erin Stuart, general manager of development services with the City of Red Deer, said city staff is pleased with the e-scooter program.
“We hear time and time again about the benefit our e-scooter providers have brought to our community, and we look forward to continuing to see the program grow and flourish thanks to the extraordinary vendors who offer this service to our city,” Stuart said.
Following the 2023 season, Red Deer council will consider the future of e-scooters in the city.
Send your news tips
Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter