Snow may still be falling, but that isn't stopping the return of shared e-bikes and scooters to the streets of Windsor.
Bird Canada, which ran a pilot program with the City of Windsor last year to encourage active transportation by using shared e-scooters and e-bikes, will be rolling the devices out this week. For the second season in a row, users can use the scooters and bikes to explore a section of Windsor that includes the riverfront, downtown, Old Sandwich Towne, Walkerville, and Ford City. Bird Canada has also teamed up with the University of Windsor to offer the vehicles on campus.
Bird CEO Stewart Lyons said the community overwhelmingly took advantage of last year's pilot program.
"Windsorites fully embraced our e-scooters last year, making it our most successful first-year roll-out for a city in Canada. We believe we will see even greater adoption this year as riders shift from viewing e-scooters as a novelty to using them as a reliable, alternate mode of transportation," said Lyons in a media release. "We also anticipate renewed interest in our Bird Bikes, which will be widely available throughout the city for the entire season."
Last year, over 22,000 people used the vehicles, with an average trip of 2.8 kilometres and total mileage of 564,866 kilometres.
The Bird app will point out a selection of services and options to support local businesses. Bird is also creating an ecosystem of incentives for users within Windsor.
The boundaries for using an e-scooter or e-bike consist of the riverfront on the north, Prince Road on the west, Tecumseh Road on the south, and Drouillard Road on the east.
Complete information on the Bird vehicles and how to use them can be found on Bird Canada's official website.
