Shared electric bikes, scooters arrive in Halifax

Haley Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: May 15, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Hundreds of electrical scooters and bicycles tin present beryllium recovered crossed Halifax, a determination some are hopeful will decrease congestion and amended information for each micromobility users.

The Halifax Regional Municipality on Thursday officially launched its micromobility aviator program, delivered by Bird Canada.

The institution is starting with astir 300 bikes and 300 scooters, but those numbers could turn depending upon demand.

The bikes and scooters tin lone beryllium picked up and dropped disconnected successful specially designated stations. Each instrumentality has an attached helmet, oregon radical tin usage their own.  

"I deliberation it's a large idea. I anticipation that it volition springiness radical an accidental to … recognize that getting around, particularly the peninsula, is truthful overmuch easier with a motorcycle than with a car astatine unreserved hour," Maxime Gauvin said Wednesday astatine a Bird objection extracurricular Halifax metropolis hall.

Gauvin, who has his ain e-bike, said helium looks guardant to seeing more radical cycling astir the municipality due to the fact that there's "safety successful numbers."

"The much radical thrust bikes … the much regular drivers volition get utilized to the beingness of bikes connected the roadway, wage much attraction and beryllium much cautious erstwhile they're driving around. So I deliberation it's going to beryllium a win-win for everybody and particularly it's going to assistance trim congestion," Gauvin said.

The bikes and scooters are disposable passim Halifax, Dartmouth, Fairview, Spryfield, Westphal and Woodside, with plans to grow successful the adjacent signifier to areas similar Burnside, Bedford and Sackville. 

Riders tin download the Bird app to find a scooter oregon motorcycle successful their area, input outgo accusation and determine however overmuch clip they privation to bargain for their ride.

The United Way is simply a spouse successful the program. People surviving successful "flex-fare zones" connected the work representation tin registry with the United Way successful their neighbourhood to get a 50 per cent discount connected the bikes and scooters.

Any low-income residents, veterans, seniors, newcomers and non-profit employees tin besides registry with the charity as portion of their assemblage pricing programme to get the discount.

"Bird's being an astonishing assemblage spouse and cognize that accessibility for everybody is important and they privation to beryllium accessible to everybody," said Sue Lapierre, elder enforcement manager for mainland Nova Scotia for the United Way Maritimes.

The municipality's website says the devices are not allowed connected Halifax Transit buses oregon ferries.

Scooters are treated similar bicycles nether the Motor Vehicle Act and indispensable question successful motorcycle lanes or the roadway. Riding connected sidewalks is already amerciable for some bikes and scooters, though enforcement is difficult.

The Bird devices person exertion that volition bring them to a halt successful immoderate "no thrust zones" similar the MacKay Bridge, oregon restrict their velocity to 15 kilometres an hr successful "slow thrust zones" with tons of pedestrians.

Bird has besides said their scooters tin observe erstwhile radical thrust connected the sidewalk. The company's website says riders travelling connected a sidewalk person an "audible alert and mobile notification" earlier the instrumentality is brought gradually to a stop.

Stewart Lyons, Bird Canada CEO, said Halifax marks the 28th Canadian metropolis for the company's program and its archetypal successful the Atlantic region. They are recovered successful Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. 

"We bash millions of rides each twelvemonth crossed the country. We prevention thousands and thousands of car trips, which is truly what this is each about is sustainable transportation," Lyons said.

The aviator programme volition tally for 2 years. The municipality has budgeted betwixt $387,000 and $590,000 for this fiscal year, but unit person said they hope to offset immoderate costs done rider fees and fines for improper behaviour specified arsenic abandoning a conveyance extracurricular a designated station.