After months of sky-high gas prices, e-scooters cruise to popularity in Toronto
CBC
As a worker in the trades, Toronto resident Kyle Ott relied heavily on cars to get around to different job sites across the GTA – often using ride-hailing apps like Uber.
Four months ago, he purchased an e-scooter.
"I figured, why not? I'll give it a shot," said Ott.
"This gets me from point A to point B on my time, when I want. I don't have to wait for anybody. And it's convenient and fun."
Ott estimates he's saving approximately $800 a month by not relying on ride-hailing apps to get him from his home in the upper Beach to various job sites.
Ott is just one of many Torontonians who are making the transition. Retailers say e-scooters soared in popularity in recent years, and the spike in gas prices is only bringing in more customers. Despite this, e-scooters remain banned in the city.
Ott, who says he now rides his e-scooter rain or shine, says the transition hasn't just been cost-effective, but better for the environment.
"It is a huge bonus … And there's really nothing this can't do that for a single passenger that a car won't," he said.
Roman Izquierdo is planning to make the transition himself — and is now waiting for his newly purchased e-scooter to arrive.
"The main reason here was to save money on gas and to get a portable device that could take me from A to B, B to C back home, where I could maybe take the device and put it under my desk," said the Toronto resident, who also cites concerns about bike theft as a reason he's making the change.
He hopes to use his new e-scooter to commute from his home in the east end near Woodbine Avenue to downtown.
It's new converts like these who are keeping e-scooter retailers busy.
"As soon as the pandemic hit, our sales just skyrocketed," said Aaron Binder, the chief experience officer at Segway of Ontario.
"Going back to 2019, we've probably seen about a 1,000 per cent increase in sales ... just for this particular device that is right in front of me," said Binder as he stood in front of a Ninebot brand e-scooter he sells in his shop in the Distillery District.