Shared Micromobility

This article is about shared, small, human- or electric-powered vehicles such as bicycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters. For shared-use systems of automobiles, see Car Sharing. For demand-responsive, small vehicle fleets, see Microtransit. For services that allow people to use a mobile device to hail a ride from drivers who drive their own personal vehicles, see Ride Hailing Services.

Overview

Shared micromobility services allow people to rent bicycles and scooters (human powered and electric) at kiosks or using a mobile app. Shared micromobility services include docked and dockless bikeshare and scootershare. From 2010 through 2019, over 342 million trips were taken using shared micromobility services in the United States.  

Shared micromobility is not a brand-new concept. However, in 2018, the emergence of dockless electric scooters and the guerilla approach to the roll-out of these devices pushed cities to think about how to regulate these systems. Since then, cities have formalized regulations and partnered with various private companies to provide these services to the public.  

Electric scooters are the most popular form of shared micromobility, with 86 million trips in 2019. In contrast, people took 40 million trips on station-based bike share systems and 10 million trips on dockless e-bikes.  

Timeline

• 1991 – Coin-deposit bicycle stations were launched in Denmark
• 1996 – The University of Portsmouth in England implemented docked bikeshares that were membership-based
• 2000 – Dockless “Call a Bike” systems were launched in Germany, which enabled users to unlock dockless bicycles with a phone call or text message
• 2005 – Bikeshare stations that could be unlocked using contactless smart cards in Vienna
• 2008 – Washington, DC created the first bikeshare pilot in the US called SmartBike DC. Many other cities adopted similar programs following SmartBike’s success.  
• 2013 – Dockless bike pilots began appearing in the US, mainly by a company called Social Bicycles (now JUMP)
• 2018 – Bird, a company founded in 2017 based in Santa Monica, deployed dockless electric scooters in cities on a large scale. Companies such as Lime, Skip, and Spin followed suit soon after. Scooters quickly became the most popular form of shared micromobility.

Analysis of Implications

Personal Travel Demand

Shared micromobility devices can replace short automobile trips, including taxi and ride-hailing trips. Bikeshare and e-scooters can also increase transit use by solving the first/last-mile problem. In addition, e-bikes can enable the expansion of bicycle delivery services.

Transportation and Land Use

Parking and riding dockless bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters pose significant regulation challenges. Because these devices must be parked, used, and sometimes charged on public right-of-way, planners are figuring out how cities should allocate space for privately-owned vehicles in public spaces. Higher speeds of e-bikes and e-scooters may pose danger to pedestrians on sidewalks or even slower-moving non-electric bicycles in bike lanes, but the unprotected status of riders makes it difficult for them to mix safely with vehicular traffic. One solution is to add light vehicle lanes, but this may be challenging if the streetscape has limited space.

Policy and Planning

Safety is a major consideration for planners. Managing interactions of e-bikes and e-scooters with the street and its users is paramount. Many city officials have formalized regulations on shared micromobility companies such as data sharing requirements, parking policies, device caps, and distribution requirements. City planners have found ways to implement and enforce parking sites that do not interfere with access to public spaces. The goal of these policies is to reduce street clutter and ensure that sidewalks and ramps are clear for wheelchair users. Public officials have grappled with liability as well. For example, Assembly Bill (AB) 1286 in California proposed that shared micromobility companies could not require users to sign liability waivers. This makes companies liable for injuries that may caused by user negligence, reckless riding, or bad road design. This bill has since been amended and the provision removed. AB 1286 was passed in 2020 and will require micromobility companies to obtain permits from the jurisdictions where they want to operate. It also raises insurance coverage on micromobility companies.

Equity is another key topic of concern. Many services use an app linked to a credit or debit card, which can be challenging for unbanked users. New efforts to link micromobility services to transit passes can remedy this problem. Additionally, scooters and bikes are often ridden in one direction, concentrating in downtown areas or financial districts. Cities have required e-scooter and bikeshare companies to distribute a certain percentage of their devices in low-income communities. Many city bikeshare programs have low-income pricing plans that can make these services more affordable as well.

Permit fees collected from micromobility providers can be used to fund updates to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. In 2019, Santa Monica, CA used the public right-of-way fees paid by micromobility providers to update nineteen miles of existing bike lanes.

Pandemic Response

In March 2020, COVID-19 hit cities across the United States, causing many cities to remove shared devices, citing concerns about keeping shared devices sanitized. Many pilot programs went on hold as city officials shifted their focus away from new programs, focusing on providing safe and frequent transit service as transit agency funding plummeted. However, shared micromobility rebounded as companies provided discounts or free rides to essential workers. People were also looking for alternatives to public transit because of social distancing concerns.

Case Studies

San Francisco: The First Permitting System

The City of San Francisco introduced the Bay Area Bike Share pilot in 2013, which was sponsored by Ford Motor Company in 2017 and implemented at no cost to taxpayers. Annual membership is $149 per year or $15 per month, and single rides are also available starting at $2. 20 percent of bikeshare stations must be in low-income communities. Cash payments are accepted, and anyone who qualifies for a Muni Lifeline pass, CalFresh, or PG&E's CARE utility program can sign up for an annual membership for $5 for the first year, and $5 per month after the first year. San Francisco was the first city to create a robust regulatory and permitting framework to address dockless bikeshare. City guidelines limit the number of dockless scooters and bikes in the city, set requirements for distribution and parking, and required providers to have a department to address complaints. The permit program collects a number of fees and requires a Community Engagement Plan and a Low-Income Plan, as well as a Labor Harmony Provision.

Los Angeles: The Mobility Data Specification

The Mobility Data Specification (MDS) is a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) focused on dockless scooters, bicycles, mopeds, and carshare. This specification aims to provide a standardized way for agencies to ingest, compare, and analyze data from mobility service providers. It was originally created by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and is now used in over 80 cities and public agencies worldwide. Cities use MDS to verify how many scooters are operating, where they are being deployed and parked, ensure compliance with device caps and operating regulations, and inform infrastructure planning efforts.

Norfolk: A Slower Roll

Following Bird's rapid roll-out of dockless electric scooters in August 2018, the city of Norfolk, VA immediately impounded all dockless vehicles and charged a $90,000 fee per vehicle. At around the same time, the city launched a bikeshare pilot with Pace Bikes. Then, in January 2019, the city released an RFP for dockless electric scooters geared towards solving the first/last mile problem. Lime was approved to operate in the city in June 2019.

Players in the Field

• Micromobility Companies: Bird, Lime, Spin, Scoot
• Rideshare Companies: Uber, Lyft
• Sponsors: CitiBank (New York City Citibike), Ford (San Francisco GoBike), Nike (Portland Biketown)