Understanding who is using micromobility across Canada

Micromobility is filling a need for sustainable, economic transportation options (Abduljabbar et al., 2021). However, Canadian cities are struggling to adapt policies and plan for these new modes, lacking data on where, who, how many and for what purposes people are using micromobility (Robertson et al. 2025).

Vélo Canada Bikes (VCB) is a national organization providing a voice for everyday cycling. VCB advocates for using evidence-based research to inform policies that improve cycling for all Canadians. “Micromobility” describes a broad range of devices, from bikes and e-bikes, to scooters, to numerous others. Policies differ in terms of where these devices can be used. While we see a rapid rise in uptake, anecdotally the patterns of uptake vary across cities. VCB aims to fill in data gaps on micromobility with this project.

VCB has been filling in ridership data gaps across Canada using community science through their innovative count program, Pedal Poll (Winters et al. 2023). This research would adapt Pedal Poll for micromobility categories, providing an understanding of who is riding what (i.e., type of device) and where (type of infrastructure). Harnessing hundreds of volunteers from across Canada, Pedal Poll Micromobility will provide municipalities and health researchers with crucial information.

Faculty Supervisor:

Meghan Winters

Student:

Partner:

Vélo Canada Bikes

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences and Technology; Transportation (excluding aerospace); Clean Technology

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: