Survey suggests rental e-scooters bring economic boost to Waterloo Region businesses

Neuron Mobility says their e-scooters are popular with riders, while businesses are seeing benefits too. CTV’s Alexandra Holyk that story.

The season of orange e-scooters on Waterloo Region roads may be over, but a new survey suggests they’re leaving a lasting economic impact.

According to Neuron Mobility, the company that contracts the scooters in Waterloo Region, 55 per cent of trips between April and October included a purchase at a local business, averaging $25.

“Which has injected over $3 million in the local economy over the past year,” noted Isaac Ransom, the company’s head of corporate affairs.

Ransom said the company gathers data from an annual ridership survey.

“It’s providing riders with a way to get to and from businesses and other establishments where they’re going to be investing their dollars,” said Ransom. “So we know that if e-scooters aren’t present in general, these trips don’t happen.”

Ransom said the survey results suggested that riders typically spend their money at coffee shops and lunch spots, but their trips included daily commutes and errand runs.

“Uptown Waterloo, downtown Kitchener, downtown Cambridge, around the shopping centres in these areas, we do see a lot of trips ending and starting,” said Ransom. “Which would lead us to believe that there’s a lot of spending going on in these areas.”

While it can be difficult for businesses to notice customers scooting in, the Uptown Waterloo BIA said the program’s rollout has had many benefits.

“It helps folks to get around and even for the neighbourhood folks, to get to different events and activities in Uptown,” said Uptown Waterloo BIA executive director Jeyas Balaskanthan. “Every little accessibility and mobility access helps our businesses.”

E-scooter statistics

This year’s Neuron e-scooter season ran from April to October, racking up statistics that Ransom said came as a surprise.

“Our most extensive trip, by one rider in one trip, was 45 kilometres,” he said. “And one rider accumulated 95 km of travel this year.”

In total, regional riders clocked more than 235,000 km, a number Ransom described as “impressive.”

But the scooters have also sparked safety concerns, including from one Waterloo, Ont. business owner.

David Adlys owns and operates the Huether Hotel on King Street North. He said he sees the scooters mostly at night.

“They’re fast and they rock and roll,” said Adlys. “And I think they’re dangerous, especially in the core.”

According to Waterloo Regional Police, there have been 19 e-scooter incidents on the roads so far this year, but it isn’t clear how many, if any, involved Neuron Mobility.

The company said keeping riders safe is a top priority.

“The safety profile of these devices is much higher than a private-use scooter or other incidents that may have been reported here in the region,” Ransom said.