Micromobility

Shared micromobility devices like bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters are space-efficient pieces of the transportation ecosystem. How can micromobility integrate with other transportation modes to achieve city goals?

Bikeshare bikes parked in bike rack on side of city street

Photo by Tareq Ismail on Unsplash

What is driving change?

Change in Vehicle Miles Travelled

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) may increase or decrease total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the future, although most researchers predict the former, citing research on the impacts of transportation network companies (TNCs) on VMT. VMT may also rise if, for example, AVs circle blocks continuously waiting to pick up their passenger rather than parking.

Change in Congestion

Several studies examining the impacts of transportation network companies (TNCs) on congestion have concluded that TNCs are contributing to increased congestion. On the one hand, autonomous vehicles (AVs) could contribute to increased congestion resulting from a combination of induced and latent demand, mode replacement, and increased circulation (e.g., continuously circling the block when waiting to pick up a passenger rater than parking). On the other hand, the potential exists for AVs to help decrease congestion if they are able to travel in closer proximity than human-driven vehicles, resulting shorter headways and narrower travel lanes.

Change in Ease of Travel

While autonomous vehicles (AVs) have been predicted to induce trips and increase congestion within central cities, some studies have predicted that AVs might increase the speed of travel to and from suburban and exurban areas as they take advantage of faster and more efficient travel on arterials, highway, and freeways. This may allow travelers to reach further into the periphery of cities while maintaining their current commute time.

Shift in Modes

The growth of transportation network companies (TNCs) has impacted travel behavior, with preliminary research suggesting that TNCs are among the factors impacting transit ridership. If AVs lower travel costs, potential modal shifts may occur depending on trip distance and purpose.

Future Changes

Electric scooters parked on grass strip next to road

Photo by Zera Li on Unsplash

What Could Happen?

The proliferation of shared micromobility may increase the opportunities for first-/last-mile connections. According to the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, approximately 35% of vehicle trips are two miles or less. Many of the origins or destinations of such trips may be in lower density areas that are more difficult to serve by transit. Whether the entire trip is two miles or less, or the end of a transit trip is such a distance (the first- and last-mile challenge), the increasing prevalence of shared micromobility systems may increase the chances for more of these trips to be taken by something other than a vehicle.
Street designs need to be updated to accommodate increased micromobility usage, including riding and parking to facilitate safe travel, easy access, and multi-modal travel.
Mode interactions may become increasingly complex as a wide variety of modes share limited street space. Interactions between micromobility devices (bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, etc.) and AVs, once deployed, may become increasingly complex. Since AVs will, presumably, be deployed with the technology required to avoid hitting objects, their operation could potentially be disrupted by other road users who may interact differently with AVs than conventional vehicles if the expectation is that it will always stop.

Bikeshare bike on sidewalk in front of newspaper boxes

DDOT DC via Flickr / (CC BY-NC 2.0)

EVIDENCE TO DATE

Efforts to facilitate first-/last-mile micrcomobility connections via mobility hubs have proliferated across the globe. Integration between transit and micromobility have taken many forms including physical, institutional, and digital integration. Research suggests, however, that the integration between micromobilty and transit will only be effective if cities invest in foundational elements including high-quality transit service, reliable and safe active travel infrastructure, and an institutional approach that shared micromobility is part of public transportation.
Shared micromobility growth and its impacts on streets and sidewalks raise important questions about space allocation. Trip data and interviews with transportation professionals suggest that shared micromobility parking should be located every 200 meters to maximize compliant parking, and that parking corral design efforts only affect parking behaviors at the margin. While rates of scooters blocking sidewalks are low in commercial areas, many people equate tidy parking with correct parking. People also become more approving of shared micromobility (including perceptions of parking) after experiencing shared micromobility in their own communities.
Different forms of shared micromobility--such as bikes versus scooters, and docked versus dockless--appeal to different user groups, cater to different travel needs, and expand physical access to shared micromobility.
While 70% of shared micromobility programs have at least one equity requirement, only discount ride programs and geographic equity requirements appear to make a measurable effect in practice.

Quick facts

Si aliae qui ommolenet que prati aut eossitae optatus daepell uptatur andante comni idebit quid moluptio te am quat facculparum recaecte.

157 million shared micromobility trips were made in 2023 across the US and Canada, up 22% from just the year before.
Station-based bikeshare remains the most popular form of shared micromobility, with 81 million trips in 2023, followed by 69 million shared e-scooter, and 7 million dockless bikeshare trips.