Shared Micromobility is a Climate Solution
Guest post by Cassie Smith, Strategic Lead, Transportation at EnviroCentre, a non-profit social enterprise based in Eastern Ontario.
Shared micromobility is more than just scooters and bikes. It is climate action in practice. It is simple, inexpensive, and solves immediate needs while reducing pollution. Bikeshare and scootershare deserve a prominent spotlight as climate solutions.
Reducing transportation emissions will not happen without replacing car trips. This is not an easy feat in North America, with cities shaped by the car. But, according to NABSA’s State of the Industry Report, 35% of shared micromobility trips replace a car trip. There were a record-breaking 225 million shared micromobility trips in North America in 2024. That’s a lot of trips shifting from cars to bikes and scooters. And it speaks to the need to provide more mobility options in our communities.
In Ottawa, climate organizations have been leading the charge to bring bikeshare back, after a private operator stepped away in 2018. EnviroCentre and the Ottawa Climate Action Fund commissioned a 2024 report called Bike Share in Ottawa-Gatineau: A Missing Piece of the Local Transportation Puzzle. The report highlights the climate impact and other benefits bikeshare could bring to the region. That report created momentum for more. The next step was a feasibility study to identify exactly how bikeshare could operate in the region. Funding came from another climate supporter — the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund.
The study was just released, and it strengthens the case for bikeshare as a climate solution. Based on its initial service area, 1 of every 6 bikeshare trips in Ottawa-Gatineau would replace a car trip. That would mean 1,100 tonnes of CO₂ emissions reduced each year, equal to more than 2,500 barrels of oil. The initial area is central with many short trips expected. As a bikeshare system expands to more suburban areas, emissions reductions would grow. This is because the number of long trips and car replacement trips would also increase.
That is especially true when you look to e-bikes. E-bikes make it easier to travel longer distances, arrive without breaking a sweat, and return to biking even if it’s been a while since you last gave it a try. If the goal is replacing car trips, e-bikes are essential since they can replace between 25 – 60% of car trips.
The climate impacts of shared micromobility don’t stop at the handlebars. When residents have transportation options, more can choose to live car-light or car-free. That enables more dense, walkable neighbourhoods. With less space required for cars, cities can plant trees and rain gardens for urban greening and stormwater management. Shared systems can also reduce waste as operators have trained staff to repair and maintain their equipment. In fact, bikes and stations from Capital BIXI, Ottawa’s first foray into bike share from 2009-2014, are still in use in Montreal and Washington D.C.
Across North America shared micromobility systems are changing the way people get around. By supporting these clean, efficient transportation options, cities are accelerating climate action.