Bird Canada has announced that over 1.3 million trips were taken this year on Bird e-scooters – across Ottawa and Windsor in Ontario; Kelowna in British Columbia; and Calgary, Edmonton, Okotoks, Red Deer, and St. Albert in Alberta – by more than 200,000 unique riders. Based on a combined distance travelled of more than 2.9 million kilometres, Bird riders saved roughly 147,000 litres of gas and prevented an estimated 800 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
“The significant increase in the number of trips taken and jump in the average distance travelled reinforces that Canadians are increasingly adopting e-scooters as a micromobility solution,” said Stewart Lyons, CEO of Bird Canada. “Given the immediate environmental and economic impact of e-scooters, we anticipate many more cities across the country to explore e-scooters pilots in the future.”
From getting groceries to scooting to a business meeting across town, this year e-scooters were a preferred mode of transport for many, with an average e-scooter trip of 2.8km in 2021, an increase over the 2020 average of 2km. While riders in Windsor had the longest average trip length of 4.3km, the longest single journey of 58km was taken in Calgary, followed by 43km in Windsor, 39km in Edmonton, 31km in Okotoks, 28km in Red Deer, 27km in Kelowna, and 15km in St. Albert.
As the Canadian city with the longest-running e-scooter pilot program, Calgary took the top spot for number of trips taken, representing an increase of 187% over 2020.There were 244,467 trips in Ottawa (an increase of 52% over 2020) and 212,386 trips in Edmonton (a 78% year-over-year increase). In the first year of its e-scooter pilot, Windsor riders took 137,298 trips and travelled more than half a million kilometres (564,866).
Based on a recent Emory University study on the economic impact of micromobility on local businesses, Bird Canada estimates that during the 2021 scooting season, e-scooter riders generated $19.8 million in incremental revenue for businesses across the seven Canadian cities in which it operated this year.
In 2021, Bird Canada handed out 1,900 free helmets during safety events, festivals, and community initiatives it participated in.
About Bird Canada
Powered by Bird, Bird Canada Inc. operates an electric vehicle sharing program. Bird Canada is a Canadian-owned and operated company that offers Canadians, and visitors to Canada, a new way to avoid congestion and get around that is affordable and uses the latest and most innovative last-mile mobility solutions for urban areas. For additional information, visit Bird online, on Twitter, and on Instagram.
