NACTO Shared-Micromobility in 2018 Report is now available!

On April 17 2019, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), an association of 80 major North American cities and transit agencies, released its annual comprehensive count of all shared micromobility (shared bike and e-scooter) trips in the United States.

The concept of shared micromobility

As we know, shared micromobility is a valuable concept of sustainability: it enhances the shared use of transport modes, while providing users with short-term access to these modes as soon as they are needed.

As of today, cities are proactively thinking about how to harness the incredible potential of these shared services in the public right-of-way. As said by Corinne Kisner, Executive Director of NACTO, modern State legislators "must ensure that cities have the ability to plan, regulate, and manage shared micromobility systems for safe, sustainable, and equitable outcomes”.

The report

As well as the promising doubling of shared micromobility trips with scooters and station-based and dockless shared bikes in 2018, the report has shown other interesting trends.

Dockless pedal bikes, for example, have largely disappeared from most U.S. cities; in part replaced by shared scooters. Indeed, between 2017 and 2018, most dockless bike share companies retooled their fleets to focus on e-scooters, and, as of today, there are now tens of thousands of e-scooters on the ground in U.S. cities.

As noted in the report, the shared micromobility vehicles with the most use (as measured by rides/vehicle/day) are still e-bikes, which are driven twice as frequently as pedal bikes. Major municipalities, like Boston, Santa Monica, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and New York City, are currently investing on the transition of their current pedal bike fleets into total or partial electric ones.

Another interesting aspect analysed by the report is the different trip types for which different shared micromobility modes are used. Indeed, station-based bike share is most heavily utilized during traditional rush hours, whereas scooter share rides are more evenly dispersed throughout the day, with the highest ridership on Fridays and weekends.

An opportunity