The city of Toronto has voted against joining the Ontario eScooter pilot program. This means you can purchase an eScooter online or in-store, but are not legally allowed to ride them around the city. Our mission is to collect 10,000 signatures in support of eScooters, in order to have the Toronto City Council vote in-favor of joining the provincial pilot program. The next vote is in April 2022.

Most eScooter owners are not aware that riding their eScooter, such as a Segway Ninebot, is illegal in the city of Toronto. In fact, this includes most other micromobility devices, with the exception of eBikes and bicycles. 

The purpose of this petition is to have the City of Toronto, namely the Infrastructure Committee, vote in support of joining the Ontario Provincial eScooter Pilot program, launched in November 2019. Since then, the City of Toronto has voted against joining this pilot program (twice!), most recently in May 2021.

Our goal is to collect 10,000 signatures to show the City that there is mass demand for eScooters and support for Toronto joining the Ontario pilot program. We would like the city to support private use of eScooters, focusing on safety, sharing the roads and rider training/education, before approving rental programs, like Bird or Lime, which provide commercial eScooter rentals.

As the Ontario program press release states, “E-scooters have the potential to help hundreds of thousands of commuters get to transit connections, reduce congestion and open the Ontario market to a new and growing sector.” 

In addition, eScooters are an affordable and equitable means of transportation for those who cannot afford a car, who want an alternative to a bicycle (not everyone is comfortable riding a bicycle), or have accessibility needs but do are not ready or desire to use a wheelchair. 

During the pandemic, eScooters have provided many riders with a safer means of transportation to/from work that reduced their risk of exposure to the Coronavirus. 

Not to mention, micromobility devices are a green alternative to cars and could reduce traffic congestion and pollution. There are countless reasons and different groups of people for whom eScooters offer a means of transportation to work, a ‘first/last mile’ solution, support a livelihood - as we see with delivery riders, support those with injuries or accessibility needs, or simply ride for fun to enjoy the outdoors. 

Whatever the reason is, our goal at Scoot Safe Toronto is to have the city vote in favor of joining the provincial program and we need your signature to help make that happen. 

For more information, or to share your eScooter story, please visit scootsafe.ca