E-scooters

How much shared scooter parking is needed to meet demand and reduce noncompliant parking? Drawing on Lime data from a dozen cities in the US and Europe, this report provides three key planning and policy recommendations for cities to consider as they work to integrate scooters into the overall transportation system:

This policy brief summarizes some of the key findings from a comprehensive literature review (submitted for publication) on the impact of shared mobility services and GHG emissions.

Vehicle sharing services (bikeshare, carshare, and e-scooters) offer the potential to improve mobility and accessibility for disadvantaged populations. This article reviews research related to equity and vehicle sharing, focusing on race/ethnicity, income, gender, age, and disability. We find evidence of disparities in use of shared vehicles, which is only partly explained by lack of physical proximity. Some studies reveal additional barriers to use, particularly for bikesharing.

Shared micro-mobility services are rapidly expanding yet little is known about travel behaviour. Understanding mode choice, in particular, is quintessential for incorporating micro-mobility into transport simulations in order to enable effective transport planning. We contribute by collecting a large dataset with matching GPS tracks, booking data and survey data for more than 500 travellers, and by estimating a first choice model between eight transport modes, including shared e-scooters, shared e-bikes, personal e-scooters and personal e-bikes.

Technology-enhanced bikeshare features a dockless system with GPS-tracked electric bikes and a mobile app. As an additional transportation mode, it offers users greater accessibility and more flexibility compared to traditional bikeshare. This paper examines the causal impact of a tech-enhanced bikeshare program on public transit ridership, using evidence from a mid-sized metropolitan area in the Midwest of the United States. 

Re-allocating space on streets to accommodate new uses – particularly for walking, biking, and being – is not new. COVID-era needs have accelerated the process that many communities use to make such street transitions, however. Many communities quickly understood that the street is actually a public place and a public good that serves broader public needs more urgent than the free flow or the storage of private vehicles. This book captures some of these quick changes to city streets in response to societal needs during COVID, with two open questions: 1) what changes will endure post-COVID?; and 2) will communities be more open to street reconfigurations, including quick and inexpensive trials, going forward?

In this report, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) evaluates the second e-scooter pilot project conducted in Portland, Oregon. PBOT used data and feedback from the community to evaluate the e-scooter pilot project, specifically evaluating "the potential for e-scooters to advance equity, ease traffic congestion and reduce climate-harming emissions."

COVID Mobility Works is an independent platform dedicated to collecting, synthesizing and sharing mobility initiatives that are keeping the world moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this platform is to help policymakers, innovators, researchers and advocates rise to the challenge of creating more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable transportation systems for all.

"Developed for cities, by cities, this guidance outlines best practices for cities and public entities regulating and managing shared micromobility services on their streets."

This article details a study done in the neighborhood of Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia to understand the relationship between e-scooter riders and non-riders in terms of e-scooter parking and pedestrian safety.

"The City of Santa Monica designed a pilot program to test shared electric scooters and bikes operated by private companies, using a flexible approach that could be responsive to community needs, technological advancements, and a nascent and evolving industry."

The purpose of this study is to go beyond cataloging pilot projects to determine the lessons learned, emerging trends and considerations, and examples of promising practices from pilot projects in the United States and Canada. Researchers assessed 220 pilot projects and 11 case studies. Based on that assessment, they recommend 10 actions for pilot projects generally. The study resulted in 31 lessons learned organized by pilot goals, evaluation, implementation, outcomes, and policy and infrastructure implications.

Shared micromobility, which includes shared bikes, e-bikes and scooters, is becoming more popular in the US.

This is a fact sheet suitable for use as a printed handout on Urbanism Next's topline research findings regarding micromobility.

Sustainable, inclusive, prosperous, and resilient cities depend on transportation that facilitates the safe, efficient, and pollution-free flow of people and goods, while also providing affordable, healthy, and integrated mobility for all people. The pace of technology-driven innovation from the private sector in shared transportation services, vehicles, and networks is rapid, accelerating, and filled with opportunity. At the same time, city streets are a finite and scarce resource.These principles, produced by a working group of international NGOs, are designed to guide urban decision-makers and stakeholders toward the best outcomes for all.

This purpose of this report is to help the cities of Gresham, Oregon and Eugene, Oregon understand the potential impacts of new mobility technologies – with an emphasis on autonomous vehicles (AVs) – and prepare a policy response. While Gresham and Eugene are case studies, it provides communities of all sizes information on how new mobility services could impact their communities and what they can do about it, from broad strategies to specific policy responses. While this work focuses on the various new mobility and goods delivery services that currently exist, the framework that is discussed here is also applicable to emerging technologies that haven’t yet been introduced, such as AVs.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a near future reality and the implications of AVs on city development and urban form, while potentially widespread and dramatic, are not well understood. This report describes the first order impacts, or the broad ways that the form and function of cities are already being impacted by forces of change including⁠—but not limited to⁠—AVs and related technologies.

This document contains the permit requirements for Portland's 2018 E-Scooter Pilot Program.

This document outlines all the permit requirements for vendors participating in Portland's 2019 E-Scooter Pilot. This set of requirements is largely based on the 2018 E-Scooter Pilot requirements but features more comprehensive requirements related to data sharing and the longevity of the vehicles.

This report created by Toole Design and commissioned by the City of Spokane provides analysis of a micromobility pilot launched in 2018. Toole Design considered survey results, field evaluation, and data reports when forming their recommendation for the city.

"This document describes the permit process for the City of Fremont’s Shared Active Transportation pilot program. Shared active transportation (SAT) programs consist of bicycles, electric bicycles, and/or motorized scooters (“SAT vehicles” or “devices”) that are deployed in the public right of way for use by members, subscribers, customers, or the general public. This document describes program terms and conditions, required application contents, and the process and timeline for review of applications. The objective of this permit process is to facilitate the creation of shared active transportation programs and the realization of their potential benefits, while avoiding potential negative impacts of such programs on the health, safety, and welfare of the general public."

The City of Milwaukee's Department of Public Works launched an e-scooter pilot program in 2019. This document outlines the requirements for participation in the pilot as well as the goals for the pilot.

The City of Baltimore launched a six-month dockless mobility pilot program on August 15, 2018. After evaluating trip data, community surveys, and injury reports, city planners recommended in this report that the City of Baltimore permanently integrates dockless bicycles and e-scooters into its transportation network.

The City of El Paso, Texas adopted a set of Shared Use Mobility Device Rules and Regulation on May 1, 2019. Included in the rules and regulations document are permit requirements for participating in a pilot program.

Using public survey results and data provided by micromobility vendors, the City of Denver's Public Works Department created this evaluation report roughly six months after the pilot began.

The City of Charlotte added e-scooters to their Shared Mobility Pilot Program in May 2018. This report focuses on four important aspects of e-scooter implementation (safety and education, infrastructure and parking, operations and permitting, and data sharing and learning) and looks at the current practice and next steps for the City of Charlotte in each category.

"This document provides an evaluation of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA’s) Powered Scooter Share Pilot Program (Pilot) at the mid-point of the 12-month pilot period per the August 28, 2019 Pilot Powered Scooter Share Permit Program Policy Directive."

This report contains findings from all of the community engagement the City of San Antonio conducted during its six-month Dockless Vehicle Pilot Program which began on October 19, 2018.

These are the permit requirements for the Chicago E-Scooter Share Pilot Program, which ran from June 15, 2019 to October 15, 2019.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) report provides a preliminary analysis of an E-Scooter Pilot Program conducted in Portland, Oregon, from July 2018 through November of the same year. The report includes ridership data, public perception and concerns, areas for improvement, and proposed next steps for implementing e-scooters in Portland.

This report categorizes and summarizes efforts that are already underway in cities across the world to rethink curb management, to outline the key takeaways from the one-day workshop that involved city staff from Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, and to identify major research gaps.

Bird and Scoot announced that Bird is acquiring Scoot, the San Francisco-based electric vehicle pioneer. The acquisition is a strategic decision from two like-minded companies.

Lime has joined rival Bird in establishing a safety advisory board tasked with helping the e-scooter industry shape local regulations—and shake its risky reputation.

"Seven companies operating electric scooters in Chicago have been fined by the city for not living up to the terms of their pilot program contract."

Inclusive of manufacturing, transportation to the US, and the use phase, this study looks at the environmental impact of e-scooters compared to the use of alternative modes of transportation.

This document provides background on micromobility and what it is, answers the question "Who uses shared micromobility?" and identifies current policies and practices.

The immense mobility needs in black and brown neighborhoods are the result of systematic, significant and sustained disinvestment. Here's what the mayor can do to reverse the damage.

"The purpose of this research is to help cities mitigate these issues and answer any questions related to scooter implementation with a thorough understanding of scooter regulations. This research is designed to provide cities a range of practices for scooter regulations without elevating any regulatory practice as best. Ultimately, this research can be used as a guide for cities when signing an agreement with a scooter company."

This article talks about the Electric Moped as a new mobility launch in Brooklyn. This e-motorcycles can serves as affordable people and provide longer trip distance. How it can integrate with transit, bikeshare and other modes need to be considered.

Chicago’s pilot electronic-scooter program is proving to be a hit with low-income residents who have few transit choices in their far-flung neighborhoods.

"With this white paper, we hope to explore the rapidly changing and disruptive nature of micromobility, and provide city officials useful information to deploy micromobility options in a safe, profitable and equitable way. We begin by defining micromobility and exploring the recent history of docked and dockless bikes and e-scooters. We then explore the challenges and opportunities facing cities, and illustrate a few examples of cities that are addressing these issues head-on. We conclude with a set of recommendations cities can consider as they work to regulate these new mobility technologies."

"This study examines the potential for public e-scooter sharing systems to fill mobility needs within and between Chicago neighborhoods. It explores how availability of this micro-mode of transportation could influence travel time, cost, and the convenience of trips relative to other active and shared-use modes including walking, bicycling, bikeshare, and public transit."

The article summarizes the current scope of the e-scooter, bike and moped scene. It offers the dangers and true benefits of the programs to readers.

"This document is for city administrations, national policy makers, and anyone considering a move to employ cycle logistics. It outlines the major learning points and success factors, and sets out nine recommendations for the most successful implementation. The project demonstrated that e-bikes were popular, efficient, reliable and – above all – saved money compared to the motorized alternative. Most of the participants were so impressed, they are continuing or expanding their use of e-bikes, after the project end-point."

A year ago, electric rental scooters were hailed as the next big thing in transportation. But their troubles in San Diego show how the services have now hit growing pains.

The author introduces a philosophy called the "precautionary principle" as a way to take a more cautionary measure before new technologies or policies are introduced. He uses scooters and ridesharing as an example of how cities should delay their arrival until the logistics are worked out.

This paper is focused on the analysis of the four Italian pilots, three in Genoa and one in Milan, highlighting the peculiarities of each one and investigating the data collected in the 12 months test. Each pilot represents a specific and well defined case study. The data used for the elaboration of this paper have been collected by pilot companies and, for the Italian pilots, elaborated by Poliedra – Politecnico di Milano.

Spin is placing docking stations for its scooters at locations across the District and Northern Virginia where users can pick up and return the rented equipment. Spin said the charging stations, on private property, will not only keep the scooters powered up but will also bring some order to sidewalks where the devices are often left lying around.

Depending on how you look view transportation, bikes and scooters are the key to future, clean urban mobility or a sideshow that distracts from maintaining mobility across large metropolis. But the basic problem – the reason we’re having a hyper-emotional discussion about these transportation modes on both sides – is that we’re not framing the issue right.

As people in cities across Florida track Hurricane Dorian’s path, board up businesses and stuff sandbags, they are also clearing the streets of what could become deadly projectiles in hurricane-force winds: dockless electric scooters.

As more people make the shift to sustainable mobility options like e-scooters, cities are evolving their transportation infrastructure to combat car dominance and to allow human-scaled modes to thrive. In addition to creating dedicated spaces for people to ride shared micro-mobility devices, this transition also includes creating space for them to park when not in use. To explore how cities should think about parking and micro-mobility, Bird sat down for a conversation with parking expert Donald Shoup.

The next big political fight over data privacy may center on an unlikely piece of technology: The scooters currently flying around streets and scattered on sidewalks in cities across the country.

The fight to be an official provider of electric scooters in Paris is driving firms to dredge discarded vehicles from the River Seine, run apologetic ad campaigns, redesign their models and reshape their workforces.

Google Maps will show users where a Lime vehicle is available, how long it will take to walk there, a price estimate as well as battery range.

Segway-Ninebot Group, a Beijing-based electric scooter maker, "unveiled a scooter that can return itself to charging stations without a driver, a potential boon for the burgeoning scooter-sharing industry.