3rd Annual Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report

Authors: North American Bikeshare & Scooter Share Association Date: August 2022 Abstract: NABSA is pleased to present our third annual Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report. In 2021, the industry continued to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with shared micromobility filling critical gaps in essential mobility. The industry continued to rebound and demonstrate tremendous resilience, with the number of systems growing past pre-pandemic levels. This report tracks that progress and the trends that are emerging in the industry. To inform this report, we have collected data across a wide variety of topics, including ridership metrics, user profiles, employment, equity, and community benefits. Our data sources include surveys sent to shared micromobility operators and public agencies across North America, supplemented by research reports on shared micromobility, census data, and other data that is tracked by NABSA. This 2021 State of the Industry report shows a snapshot in time, providing a comparison for tracking trends with previous years and marking successes and challenges as the industry continues to evolve. See page 19 for detailed notes on methodology. View...

NABSA sets micromobility baseline in first ‘state of the industry’ report

Kristin Musulin, December 14, 2020 The assessment is the first of its kind in North America to show aggregated metrics of the micromobility industry at-large, according to NABSA. The report points to 264 cities in the U.S., 17 in Mexico and 11 in Canada that had at least one bike-share or e-scooter system in 2019. “Before this, there was really a gap in this kind of data about the industry, and filling this gap was a need that was made particularly prominent to us by a member priorities poll that we conducted in early 2019,” said Herr. She went on to say this report can  now serve as a “baseline to track future trends and success in the industry.” … Read the full article...

Covid has spurred a bike boom, but most U.S. cities aren’t ready for it

Natalie Zhang, December 8, 2020 Bikes have been a hot ticket item during the Covid pandemic. In early 2020, bike stores struggled to keep up with the demand. Bicycle sales reached $1 billion in April, an increase of 75 percent from the previous year, according to market research company NPD Group. Major U.S. cities even adjusted to the demand. They temporarily closed streets to give residents more room to travel and restaurants more curbside room while maintaining a social distance. In some cities like Seattle, it has led to a permanent move toward more bicycle-friendly streets. With more bikes on road — along with more mopeds, scooters and motorcycles — transportation experts say this moment appears prime for a transit upheaval. … Watch the full video.  ...
How St. Louis Took a Proactive Approach to E-Scooter Regulation

How St. Louis Took a Proactive Approach to E-Scooter Regulation

Cinnamon Janzer November 14, 2019 As practically anyone living in an urban area has experienced first hand, e-scooter companies have tended to take an “ask for forgiveness, not permission” approach to deploying fleets of e-scooters in cities across the world with little to no notice beforehand. While this disruption-based method has left many cities scrambling to reactivity figure out how to manage the chance, St. Louis was able to take a proactive approach, thanks to a failed public bikeshare program. When the bikeshare program didn’t pan out after a grant failed to come through, the city’s bikeshare working group did produce a permitting system that was ready to be applied when e-scooters descended on St. Louis in early 2018. With equity top of mind, “the permit identifies a number of neighborhoods where we require there to be a percentage of dockless bikes or e-scooters every day,” explains Scott Ogilvie, the transportation policy planner in the Planning and Urban Design Agency for the City of St. Louis. The city requires 2.5 percent of the minimum fleet of each area and a minimum of 20 percent of the total fleet to be in neighborhoods outside the central corridor at the start of each day. “We don’t want to offer a new amenity in the city that’s not available to a large portion of the city. That’s part of the permit we’re proud of,” Ogilvie says. The flexibility that comes from…   Read the full article...