Hi everyone,

Micromobility was a hot topic at the APBP conference in Portland this past August. They defined it as: bikeshare (docked or dockless) and e-scooters. Here is a summary of what we heard during panel presentations and on a tour. Speakers noted that e-scooters are still very new, joking about their lengthy experience being 1.5 years.

For the short version, simply read the Top 10 insights and Top needs below. Or keep reading for lessons learned from a variety of cities along with comments from vendors of bikeshares and e-scooters. And if you're visual, there's a video link at the end.

cheers,

Beth

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Top 10 insights on bikeshares and e-scooters

APBP Conference (Portland, OR) Aug 25-28, 2019

Bike lanes / paths / quiet streets preferred infra for e-scooter users
E-bikes the best bet for bikesharing
E-scooters considered the most financially viable opportunity for vendors
Incorrect parking and illegal sidewalk riding main complaints about e-scooters (along with speed)
Data sharing by vendors essential
Surcharges (or discounts) important to incentivize behaviour of both vendors and users
Low income programs and lowered barriers to access important (eg. PayNearMe, text-to-unload, distribution outside downtown)*
E-scooter collisions more frequent with first time users - intro training program helps
Staff time is significant to set up, permit vendors, and administer program
Ask for more from vendors (public ROW is valuable)

* Recommended to require this data breakout from vendors

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Top needs for e-scooter introduction:

Staff time
Regulation
Procurement framework (permitting vendors)
Fees to incentivize vendor and user behaviour
Set up data reporting standards
Continue to build out bikeway network (encourages ridership & safety)
Know that parking will be an issue
Work closely with other departments and regional partners, e.g. parks dept, universities

Note: APBP is working on a micromobility policy statement that will include key factors for success and recommendations.

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Spokane

They market it as "WheelShare" (covering e-bikes and e-scooters)
Use one vendor only (Lime) - more of a partnership
Post-pilot settled on 100 e-bikes and 1200 e-scooters
Get 3.7 rides/day e-scooters and 1.5/day e-bikes (2019 to date)
#1 complaint - riding on downtown sidewalks (illegal but residents don't believe or know that). About 50% of users ride on dntn sidewalk (34% e-scooters and 16% e-bikes).
Also an issue with scooter parking blocking peds
Scoot Spokane First Ride program for new scooter users
Data from Lime helps them identify where there is demand/need for infrastructure

Minneapolis

Branded as Nice Ride
3100 bikes (combination docked and dockless, and now e-bikes)
Now looking to replace all of their pedal bikes with e-bikes
Scooters are not allowed on sidewalks anywhere
Helmet recommended but not required
Bike network pretty good and also used for scooters
Piloting scooter parking (painted stencil) within buffer zones of dntn bike lane grid
Scooters proving popular; only had 1 serious user injury to date (not life altering)
Vendor permits require distribution with 40% dntn and 30% in areas of concentrated poverty (i.e. less than $46K/yr)
Offer a reduced fare program
35% of scooter users are new (i.e. they are not cyclists)
Avg trip length is 1.3 miles

Seattle

Launched dockless bikeshare pilot in July 2017:

permitted private vendors
regulated operations
collected fees and data
wanted no cost to the city

Jump & Lime now operating in Seattle (Lyft permitted but haven't launched)
Looking to launch e-scooters in 2020
Will permit up to 20,000 bikes but only 5-7K deployed at present
Want more e-bikes but they're more expensive and harder for vendors to provide
Offer low income programs and lowered barriers to access - Jump uses Uber gift card with text-to-unload; Lime uses PayNearMe (7-11s) with text-to-unload
Data collection lesson learned - now wish they'd also required vendors to provide breakout of low income % usage
Partner with Outdoors for All Foundation (adaptive bikes, like Freedom Concepts does in MB) to allow more people to experience bikesharing
Bike parking - added ~150 new bike corrals in 2019 near transit and areas without bike parking (can be used for both bikeshare and personal bikes)
Logged almost 900,000 rides this year
Ongoing fleet audits & infractions:

Bikeshare parking -

2% ADA violations
10-20% obstruction hazards
25-30% improperly parked

Bikeshare maintenance -

1.5% safety maintenance issues
4.8% not in good working order

Portland

Now in their second pilot for e-scooter sharing
Not branded; 6 vendors operating in Portland - Lime, Bird, Spin, Razor (seated scooters), Shared, Bolt
Require data sharing and ensure the privacy of sensitive location data
Report from first pilot found:

71% used e-scooters for transportation
34% replaced driving and ride-hailing with scooter trips
44% of users new to the bike lane
Positive response from 62% of Portlanders
Users prefer low-speed streets and bike lanes

Scooter program also popular with people of colour and low income
After first pilot, found that people wanted more access to scooters in more parts of the city as well as seated scooters
Complaints mostly around incorrect scooter parking and illegal sidewalk riding
Portland Tribune article (August 27, 2019) reported results for first 6 months of 2nd e-scooter pilot:

253,690 trips logged during the first 10 weeks of program
307,456 total miles logged by users
46 emergency room trips linked to e-scooter crashes (source: Multnomah County Health Dept)
16 reports of e-scooter collisions
903 complaints sent to e-scooter vendors by the public regarding bad behaviour
371 emails sent by the public to PBOT
340 total fines and warnings issued by PBOT staff for illegal parking or riding on sidewalks

Vendor permits require deployment in areas outside dntn
Think scooters likely worth it even if it's eating a bit into bikeshare usage
If Portland decides to continue with e-scooters after the 2nd pilot, they may consider partnering with 1 vendor; if the results are still not clear they might continue with multiple vendors
Additional learnings from Micromobility mobile conference tour:

E-scooter users prefer using bike network to other streets
Avg trip length = ~0.6 mile
Scooters not allowed on park greenways along river (most popular/desirable route); lesson learned - talk to your parks dept in planning stages
Low income pass with debit/cash options available for both bikeshare and e-scooters but little uptake for e-scooters (difficult to access)
PBOT doesn't require speed cap on e-scooters (some cities cap anywhere from 5-15 mph)
Vendors are asked to incentive users to return scooters to a designated zone
PBOT provides surcharge discount to place scooters in neighbourhoods with less demand (e.g. 20 cent surcharge in Dntn Portland but 5 cents in East Portland)
Biketown - have 5 motorized (e-assist) trikes to rebalance distribution of bikeshare; also have 2 big transit vans - trikes used to get the bikes to one station for van to pick up a bunch at once
Emissions tracking - this year PBOT is requiring reporting of VMT for redistribution (vans); also analyzing the life cycle of e-scooters to ensure there is an environmental ROI
E-bikes are a game changer (e.g. distance boundaries) but more challenging to rebalance as they're even heavier
Injuries - most scooter users who get injured do so on their first ride (but usually continue to ride)
State law requires helmets on scooters but not for bikes
Surcharges / fees charged to vendors and users goes to support program administration (but not enough to fund infra)
Comments from other tour participants:

Don't use Skip (battery explosions)
E-scooters hard on knees & back due to user's joints absorbing the shock; Lime coming out with front shocks
Kelowna got around provincial legislation by passing a municipal by-law allowing e-scooters on specific multi-use pathways

San Francisco

Offer both dockless bikeshare and e-scooters
12-month pilot ends Oct 14, 2019
2 permittees - Skip and Scoot
Key metrics for pilot project:

Use (# trips & availability)
Safety and accessibility (collisions, lock-to, user education)
Equity and engagement (demographics, programming)
Number complaints / citations

Pilot found 42% of all trips replace auto trips
Lessons learned from pilot -

Ask for more from vendors (public ROW is valuable)
Even though vendors are responsible, the city is accountable (takes flack because it's public ROW)
2/3 of scooters were stolen in the first few weeks of availability
Don't underestimate staff time needed (e.g. even once you've developed the permit requirements, scoring applications incredibly time intensive)

General notes from vendor presentations (Lime, Spin, Jump)

Geofencing used to help enforce city regulations on use (e.g. scooters are not allowed on park greenways in Portland)
Micromobility helpful not only for first/last mile but also in areas not well served by transit
Vendors are interested in cities where there is good bike infra as it's critical for success (influences decision to come and to stay)
Also important is the city's attitude, i.e. openness to collaborate and interest in helping ensure viability
Lime rep noted that a low performing scooter market still does better than a high performing e-bike market (scooters are the real route for vendor viability)
1/3 of Lime riders report an income $50K or less; Lime Access provides 50% discount to qualified individuals along with cash & non-smartphone options; also provide multilingual safety and rider education materials and hire from under-resourced communities.
Spin bought out by Ford last year
Jump Bicycles started out as Social Bicycles (Sobi) but then bought by Uber; now have both bikes and scooters
Jump's data shows only a 13% overlap between bike and scooter users, reinforcing experience elsewhere
Future - looking at kiosks where users can swap out batteries themselves

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APBP Portland: Going Macro with Micromobility (panel video)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc13hqk7OeA

This panel will explore the evolving landscape of micromobility and its integration into cities. Panelists from large and mid-size cities will discuss their experiences and approaches in working with private micromobility providers and adapting programs and facilities to new users and rules of the road. Micromobility providers will shed light on the factors involved in success and profitability, and their experiences as private companies operating in the public realm. Moderated discussions and audience questions will go deeper into the dynamics between public and private entities in the transportation realm, and challenge us to envision the streetscape of the future (including winners and losers in the race for mode share).

0:00 - Melissa May White, AICP, SSFM International, Inc.
1:54 - Rae-Leigh Stark, Toole Design
13:20 - Brandon Blankenagel, City of Spokane
20:34 - Alexander Kado, City of Minneapolis
29:25 - Joel Miller, Seattle Department of Transportation
39:18 - Briana Orr, Portland Bureau of Transportation
51:13 - Jamie Parks, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
1:01:22 - City Panel Q&A
1:11:53 - Gabriel Scheer, Lime
1:22:45 - Kay Cheng, Spin
1:33:54 - Anne Brask, Jump
1:41:46 - Provider Panel Q&A
1:52:55 - William Henderson, RideReport
2:04:04 - Combined Panel Q&A

Recorded at the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals conference in Portland, OR, August 28, 2019.