Submitted by Noreen Steinacher,
The Meeting Place Tobermory
2025 is the second year The Meeting Place Tobermory (TMP) has offered an Affordable Transportation program to seasonal workers interested in renting E-bikes by the month for work and recreation. This year we had 3 E-bikes to offer and all three were rented by young workers in different sectors for an average of 5 months per bike.
The rental fee is pretty amazing at $50.00 a month and that includes maintenance and insurance. The feedback is positive and the E-bikes with gear assist allows much more distance to be covered with ease and travel time saved. Seasonal workers who rent the bikes sign a contract and agree to care for the bike and payment schedule.
Gregory Shouldice, featured in the article photo, biked into work daily from the end of Warner Bay Road and put on an estimated 1,000 km. He had lots of good feedback for TMP when he turned over the E- bike at the end of the season.
TMP will continue to grow the Seasonal Worker E-bike Rental Program and would like the business community and Chamber to consider supporting this initiative in 2026. We need communication to employees and Chamber members about the program and donations to purchase a 4th E-Bike. The social impact of this program falls in areas of sustainable tourism, active transportation and support to the economic well-being of workers of our community.
By the way, the Tobermory E-Bike Rentals- Powered by Westlake, with 8 E-Bikes designed for visitor rental and enjoyment was a success too. More about that in a future article.
