Brampton Venture Zone's Scooty seals partnership with city on clean transportation option
Scooty, a startup that began in TMU’s DMZ and most recently completed the Brampton Venture Zone’s Launch program, is part of a shared e-scooter program in Brampton that launched in April.
The City of Brampton is now the first city in the Greater Toronto Area to have a shared e-scooter program for its residents, thanks in part to a Brampton Venture Zone (BVZ) startup. Scooty, an e-scooter and micro-mobility company (external link) , was founded by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) alum Shoaib Ahmed (external link) , incubated at The DMZ, and was most recently part of the BVZ Launch program.
Back in 2020, Scooty (external link) , in partnership with the City of Brampton, launched micro-mobility at Brampton’s 100-hectare Chinguacousy Park. With feedback from residents, Brampton approved a city-wide shared e-scooter pilot in 2022. Under this pilot, which began last month, Scooty is providing e-scooters as a transportation option to residents and visitors. Up to 500 Scooty e-scooters will be available at various locations around the city.
“We’re grateful to be chosen and to be able to support the growing demands of the city,” said Ahmed, a Brampton resident himself. “We couldn’t have reached this point without the local support we received from the City of Brampton and the insights and understanding we gained from BVZ.”
Ahmed says that micro-mobility and e-scooters support Brampton’s 2040 Vision to promote growth through innovation, technology and economic development. It’s a natural fit for Scooty, which focuses on refinement and innovation.
“Our research showed that e-scooters are more convenient than the traditional bike-sharing programs seen in cities like Toronto. They are easy to use, intuitive and take up less space than cars and even bikes,” he said. “You can move more people using an e-scooter for short-distance travel.”
Based on feedback and insights from residents via a survey, Scooty incorporates features that incentivize users to choose e-scooters as a transportation option. Scooty has the first audible turn signals on an e-scooter in Canada, puncture-proof tires with a tread and a phone holder and fast-charger so riders can track their trip and charge their phones.
Ahmed also notes that e-scooters will help reduce carbon emissions because residents may choose to use an e-scooter instead of a car for short distance trips. “Short-distance automobile trips produce more pollution and greenhouse gas emissions because of a number of factors like cold engines, more stopping and starting and accelerating and decelerating,” said Ahmed.
Scooty’s partnership with the City of Brampton is the next step for the startup, which started in TMU’s DMZ in 2019 and moved to the BVZ in 2022. Ahmed attributes a lot of this success at Scooty to the support he received through the TMU Zone Learning initiatives. “As an immigrant I know that great things happen when communities get together. I brought together a team of experienced city builders, engineers and transit experts. Together we built a foundation at the DMZ and the BVZ, led by Dr. Usha Srinivasan and the team have helped us grow the company to a whole new level.”
Anyone in Brampton can access Scooty e-scooters through the Scooty App. For more information about Scooty and to start riding in Brampton, download the Scooty app (external link) .